2013 UPenn BSN/MSN Applicants

hopefulnurse24 · Sep 13, 2012

Hey there - I was in the chat also. They said that the GRE is important but not as important as other factors like your grades, health care experience, etc. I think I'd go ahead and give it a go if you're interested. It does seem truly holistic, and I left the chat feeling really good about things.

A few other things that may be of interest to you - with regards to course retakes, they don't calculate a science GPA but they look at everything really holistically... the entire application is important. Also, for anyone interested in critical care, some of the critical care tracks require you to take time off and work, which I wasn't aware of. You can work while in the master's portion as an RN full time, and can attend school part time, but for critical care they ALSO want you to take a year off before beginning the MSN coursework (at least for peds, I'm guessing it's the same for neonatal and adult critical care, too). You can work part time while in the BSN portion of the program by doing research with the school, which is cool. The cost for the BSN is 95k, which is insanely expensive, especially without a loan repayment option like Duke or JHU's hospitals offer. The admissions officer also said that people have to be diligent and persistent in order to secure jobs in the Philadelphia area, but it is certainly possible (I took that as - it happens, but it can be hard to get a job in the area after graduating with the BSN degree). And there ARE fee waivers available for the application, if you qualify. There's also many study abroad opportunities available to students. And switching specialties is not difficult, as long as you have solid career goals. And we have the opportunity to add a minor to our MSN degree, too. You don't pick the minor and add it officially until you are in the MSN portion of the program, but you can note your interest in a minor in your essay if you so choose.

If they feel you are not competitive for BSN-MSN, you may still be considered for just the BSN program and you would have the opportunity to enter their MSN program still (it just wouldn't be guaranteed entry). She said they had 500 applicants last year, admitted around 120 (I think?) and ended up having a class of 83. She said this year they hope to have a class of 75-80 students. This includes BSN-MSN, BSN-PhD and regular BSN students.

If I think of anything else, I'll come back and add it to this thread :)

bardone · Sep 13, 2012

Thanks hopefulnurse, that's a really helpful post.

hollysf · Sep 13, 2012

That was a wonderful recap, hopeful!

I left the chat feeling really great about Penn--with the exception of the details about tuition, yikes. I am probably going to attend the next chat session as well. Most of the things I learned were result of other people's questions.

kdiem · Sep 14, 2012

Thank you hollysf and hopeful! You two are the best! I will definitely try to attend the second meeting.

hopefulnurse24 · Sep 14, 2012

Yes, definitely attend the second chat and plan on being there the entire time! hollysf is right, you learn so much from other people's questions. It was awesome. Oh - average GPA for admits was a 3.5, and she couldn't really give us GRE information because of the new scale.

kdiem · Sep 14, 2012

Are you all planning to submit your apps closer to the deadline? I feel ready to submit mine later this week, but I'm afraid to send it prematurely.

hollysf · Sep 29, 2012

Is everyone submitting their Penn essays in 12pt font? The prompt doesn't specify how large the font should be, and I am tempted to change my essays to 11pt font so I can fit more information in. Do you think this would be a mistake? I feel like I already know the answer to this, but I am curious about what everyone else thinks.

Also, is anyone going to the October 19th information session in San Francisco? I would love to meet up with anyone who can make it!

hopefulnurse24 · Sep 30, 2012

I had mine at 12pt, but if yours is at 11pt, I sincerely doubt it would be an issue. However, I think it may be wiser to just make it 12pt, mess around with the margins, and maybe go a little over 2 pages if need be... I doubt they mind if you go over.

I wish they had an information session near my area!

kdiem · Sep 30, 2012

I'm considering going to the information session if I can get off of work!

hollysf · Sep 30, 2012

Awesome! I hope you're able to.

bardone · Oct 5, 2012

Where's the SF info session being held? I can't find any information about it on the Penn website!

hollysf · Oct 6, 2012

Hey Bardone,

It's at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel on Powell in Union Square/Downtown.

Here's the link to register:

https://register.applyyourself.com/?id=upenn-nurs&pid=2277&eID=44376&rid=1