Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) CRNA 2025 start

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What Members Are Saying (AI-Generated Summary)

Members are discussing acceptance into the VCU DNAP program, with some receiving acceptance emails and others being waitlisted. There is confusion about finding the Facebook group for the program, questions about relocation requirements for the program, and a discussion on the differences between a DNP and DNAP degree in terms of teaching opportunities. Some members share their excitement about getting accepted, while others seek advice on reapplying to the program.

Is anyone in here applying for the upcoming VCU CRNA application cycle for January 2025 start?

Specializes in Medical ICU.
MCSatYS said:

your stats are awesome, don't be discouraged! They probably just want one more year of ICU experience. Keep applying, go broad. I know it's super frustrating but the development of my knowledge between 1-3 years was kinda insane. 
To answer the other person: I got an interview. My GPA was a 3.9. CCRN-CMC. 5 years exp in ICU. Level one trauma, teaching hospital. All devices trained. Code/rapid team. On a council. Policy developer. Leadership role. But tbh I'm not holding my breath. There are so many qualified people and this interview style makes me a lil nervous. We are all deserving, I wish you all so much luck! 

Disagree as schools nowadays seem to favor LESS experience. I know so many nurses with 1-3 years who got in first try at first school, meanwhile I have better stats and have been waitlisted 4 times / 4 years. It's ridiculous honesty.  

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Specializes in CICU.
RNMSICU said:

Disagree as schools nowadays seem to favor LESS experience. I know so many nurses with 1-3 years who got in first try at first school, meanwhile I have better stats and have been waitlisted 4 times / 4 years. It's ridiculous honesty.  

No definitely, people do get into school with 1 year but considering the rest of that persons stats were great I think that's the only thing that I can pinpoint. You also have to know what each school prefers. Some like less experience because it means they were in school not too long ago, which means they may have higher chance of passing boards. Some people with more experience, and are out of school longer, take graduate classes to "prove" they can still get good grades. What VCU prefers I'm not sure, considering there were ~400 applicants, that could be the thing so it was just a speculation on my end. I'm sorry about your application cycles, I wish you luck. It's been SO competitive. 😞

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Specializes in Medical ICU.
MCSatYS said:

No definitely, people do get into school with 1 year but considering the rest of that persons stats were great I think that's the only thing that I can pinpoint. You also have to know what each school prefers. Some like less experience because it means they were in school not too long ago, which means they may have higher chance of passing boards. Some people with more experience, and are out of school longer, take graduate classes to "prove" they can still get good grades. What VCU prefers I'm not sure, considering there were ~400 applicants, that could be the thing so it was just a speculation on my end. I'm sorry about your application cycles, I wish you luck. It's been SO competitive. 😞

Who said they have 400? It's probably more like 700 now LOL. Also there's no correlation of someone being out of school recently to show they'd pass boards better than someone with more experience and emotional intelligence and life experience. 

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I just interviewed for a program and the director said that data shows students with less experience have higher success passing the NCE on the first time. 
I've noticed nurses with less experience get accepted and now I know why. 

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Specializes in CICU.
RNMSICU said:

Who said they have 400? It's probably more like 700 now LOL. Also there's no correlation of someone being out of school recently to show they'd pass boards better than someone with more experience and emotional intelligence and life experience. 

They said they were projected to have 400-500 applicants in their information session. I'm not trying to argue with you, just stating what I've heard from programs and what THEY prefer. That's why people encourage you to take graduate classes. Wish you the best in your journey, we are all going through the same thing and it definitely sucks 

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Specializes in Medical ICU.
RegistetedNerd said:

I just interviewed for a program and the director said that data shows students with less experience have higher success passing the NCE on the first time. 
I've noticed nurses with less experience get accepted and now I know why. 

Which program? So one program says that and it  makes it true? 
 

also some schools lately I've seen have a pretty bad first time boards pass rate so.... LOL doesn't correlate 

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Specializes in CICU.
RNMSICU said:

Which program? So one program says that and it  makes it true? 
 

also some schools lately I've seen have a pretty bad first time boards pass rate so.... LOL doesn't correlate 

I've heard this too 😞 from multiple students in multiple programs 

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Specializes in CardioThoracic Surgical ICU.
RNMSICU said:

Disagree as schools nowadays seem to favor LESS experience. I know so many nurses with 1-3 years who got in first try at first school, meanwhile I have better stats and have been waitlisted 4 times / 4 years. It's ridiculous honesty.  

I've had a very similar experience. 

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Specializes in ICU.
RegisteredNerd17 said:

I just interviewed for a program and the director said that data shows students with less experience have higher success passing the NCE on the first time. 
I've noticed nurses with less experience get accepted and now I know why. 

So they want younger nurses with less experience bc that somehow will make them better test takers? But pass rates are still low? Sounds like they're playing themselves AND these poor patients are getting taken care of by providers who have no clue what they're doing. Industry is going a great direction! LOL

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Specializes in Medical ICU.
icu2bcrna said:

So they want younger nurses with less experience bc that somehow will make them better test takers? But pass rates are still low? Sounds like they're playing themselves AND these poor patients are getting taken care of by providers who have no clue what they're doing. Industry is going a great direction! LOL

LOL exactly. Wild stuff 

 

an experienced CRNA once told me it's honestly a crapshoot getting in. Now I believe it. 

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CRNASC said:

I was rejected. GPA 3.96, nursing GPA 4.0. I have CCRN-CMC, TCRN, CEN. Do a few leadership roles. 1.5 years experience in level 1 trauma ICU. 2 years experience of ED. 

I would venture to guess, not knowing anything else about your application, that your experience was the issue. This is hardly authoritative, but I'm a current student, and the least experienced person in my cohort had 2-1/2 years in the ICU. The average was probably closer to 5 years (if not more).

MCSatYS said:

They probably just want one more year of ICU experience. Keep applying, go broad. I know it's super frustrating but the development of my knowledge between 1-3 years was kinda insane. 

For what it's worth, I think that this is (generally) really good advice... and that's hard for me to say, because I viscerally remember the sense of urgency that I felt during the years that elapsed between deciding that this is what I wanted and finally getting it. So, I can remember/imagine how it feels.

I of course don't know all the details of your situation, or whether or not it will ring true for you, but I hope that this ends up presenting itself as an opportunity. You've got 12 months to come back even more prepared next year, not just for the application process, but better prepared to succeed once you're admitted. Looking back, no one is more surprised than me at how grateful I am for every setback, hurdle, and delay that I encountered along the way, because it all made me a stronger SRNA (and this is still the hardest thing that I've ever done).

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MCSatYS said:

You also have to know what each school prefers. Some like less experience because it means they were in school not too long ago, which means they may have higher chance of passing boards. Some people with more experience, and are out of school longer, take graduate classes to "prove" they can still get good grades. What VCU prefers I'm not sure....

More good advice from MCSatYS. 

Like it or not, there is an association between increasing age and failure rates for first-time NCE candidates. If you don't believe me, see for yourself, in Table 4, on page 3. It's a matter of public record, amidst a sea of other data related to our certification exam, that the NBCRNA publishes every year (and you'd better believe that faculty read it). For those who are browsing on their phones, the current 5-year trend for first-time pass rate stratified by age drops from 90.6% for candidates under 30 to 69.5% by age 40.

I don't think that VCU is one of "those programs," because I have about a dozen classmates who are 30 to 40+ years old. That said, if you're a nontraditional-age student and/or it's been awhile since your undergraduate degree, maybe go earn an "A" in a graduate-level course (or better yet, two) and highlight that accomplishment in your cover letter. I can't say how much of a role doing so played in my own admission, but I'm sure that it didn't hurt.

I realize these two ideas seem contradictory. On one hand, we have someone who's a rock star academically and being told here on AllNurses that they need more experience. On the other, we have seasoned professionals being told that they have to prove they can still perform in an academic setting. I guess there's a point of diminishing returns where you're seen as experienced enough to be ready, but not so far out of school that you've forgotten how to be a student. I don't know where that falls, and it's probably different for everyone, but if (like me) you aren't in that "sweet spot," then this is like anything else in life worth competing for... you need to identify the areas where your application is weaker than your peers and find ways to strengthen it.

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