Nursing School Round 2

So, as many of you may know, I did not get in to nursing school last fall.  I knew it was competitive (SF State only accepted 20 students!  And only THREE in my concentration!) but I thought I had a shot.. ah well.  I was somewhere around number 8 on the waitlist for SF State, but was ultimately rejected.  Also I was rejected right away from USF, which I thought I had a better chance of getting in to than SF State...

Anyway, I decided to take that experience and do as much as I could to improve my resume, and try again!  Over the summer I took an EMT class, and I attended the USF info session to see exactly how they wanted us to write our personal statements and resumes.  I also retook a class that I had taken at UCSB many years ago (in 2009 I think) and went from a C+ to an A.  The USF spring application is due on October 15, so I am working on improving my personal statement and resume for that.

However, since my first round of applications, I became aware that I can actually apply to Sac State!  I had been scouring their website since the beginning of my nursing school journey, looking to see if they would reinstate their Accelerated Second Bachelor's program, but it was and still is on hiatus.  I only recently became aware that I can apply to the traditional BSN program there as a second bachelor's student!  And since I already have a degree and all the pre-reqs and co-reqs completed, I would go straight into the nursing program.  That would only take me 2 years to complete, as opposed to 4 like I was originally thinking.  This program just makes so much sense for me.  It is so much more affordable than USF, it is in Sacramento (many benefits there, although it would be pretty cool to live in SF -- just really expensive, on top of the crazy expensive tuition), and it is a very well respected program. It has become my top choice this round, although USF is still a great option.

The problem with Sac State is that it is highly impacted, and they go on a point system.  There is no subjectivity, and there are no bonus points for any compelling experience.  No personal statements for them to get an idea of who you are as a person.  They only look at the number of points you have, determined by GPA, TEAS score, and optional points for speaking a foreign language, having healthcare experience, coming from a low income family, and coming from a disadvantaged high school (3 points each).  My GPA for the courses they look at is about 3.65, which sounds high but only translates to 25 points out of 50 possible for GPA.  I also get 6 points for optional criteria (speaking Spanish and having healthcare experience).  That put me at 31 points going in to the TEAS.  The point cutoff last semester was 71 points, and the trend has been that each semester, the point cutoff goes up by 2 points.  This does not necessarily mean that the point cutoff will be 73 this time, but I predict it will be somewhere around there.

I went into the TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) knowing that I had to score high to bring my points up.  I took it for the first time on the 25th, and I scored 93.3%.  This is a very high score, 99th percentile, but unfortunately only corresponds to 37 points out of 50 for that section.  That put me at 68 points, not high enough for me to feel good about my application.  Although, there is no guarantee, and it is possible that I would have gotten in with 68 points.  However, I saw that there was an opening to sign up to take it again on the 29th, and if I were to score higher, Sac State would only look at the highest score.  So, I did it, and I got a 96% the second time!  That score gave me 43 points, so that plus my original 31 gives me 74 points on my application.  Yay!

The application for Sac State is due tomorrow, October 1.  I turned it in today, hand delivered it to make sure that they got it.  Now, I am anxiously waiting to hear back.  I reallllly hope that the trend continues and that I get in, because I would really love to start nursing school there in the spring.

I am still applying to USF as well, that is a great school and the more applications the better.  SF State does not accept entry level masters applications in the spring, but I may apply to their Bachelors program, which doesn't open until mid-October for next fall.  However, my top choice at this point is Sac State.  Fingers crossed that I get in!

It is crazy, because at the beginning of my time at UCSB I was seriously considering transferring to Sac State to try to get in to their nursing program.  However, at the time it would have been for all the wrong reasons.  I was having a rough time at UCSB, but transferring was not the right thing to do at the time.  I am really glad that I ended up staying there, because my life would definitely not have gone the way it has.  I built friendships there that I still cherish, and I had a great time there despite my rough first year.  I also have met people since then that I would not have met if I had transferred.  If I end up going to Sac State, it feels like I took the long road, but the journey was much more rewarding.  That sounds so cheesy, but it's true.

Well, that's all for now.  This blog has kind of transitioned away from my whole breast cancer thing and back to just being about things going on in my life, but maybe people will still read it :)  October is breast cancer awareness month though, and I am excited to wear the pink ribbon pashmina that Jeffrey got me for Christmas last year.  There's something breast cancer related!  I hope you all wear pink at least once this month!  Hehe.  I also just remembered the pink ribbon jacket that Chris and Zahra got me for my birthday, I'm looking forward to wearing that too as the weather gets cooler.  Yay fall!

Okay adios amigos :)

quick post - nursing is on my mind

I don't know why I had the sudden urge to post a blog, since my head is pounding from this annoying cold and I should really just go to bed.  But I have been working on my SF State nursing application and I feel the need to share my excitement/exhaustion.

Whew, this application process is a long one!  I have to apply to the university and also apply separately to the nursing program.  Both of the applications require many of the same things, such as test scores and transcripts, so I have been working on getting that all settled.  I took the GRE and scored well (in my opinion), except that my writing score was not as high as I was expecting or as high as I would have liked.  So I am retaking it on the 15th, with hopes of increasing the writing score without a drop in the other scores.  However, the nursing program that I'm applying to only really looks at writing, so it seems that if I don't score as high in the other categories it won't really matter.

I just wrote out two long and thought out emails to previous professors asking them to write a letter of recommendation for me.  I hope that they say yes and that I gave them enough time to write them (the application is due Feb 1!!!  Where has the time gone?).  Other than that I'm almost done with everything.  Transcripts are being sent to the university and the nursing program (so twice per transcript x 3 transcripts x about 15 bucks per transcript = nothing compared to the total price of applying to grad school... sigh, I really really hope I get in).

In other news, things are going pretty well.  Life is good.  I am happy to officially be done with pre-reqs (at least for the SF State program.. let's pray that I get in and won't have to deal with the possibility of having to apply elsewhere and possibly having to take an interpersonal communication class).  I am happy that it has been over a year since my mastectomy and that I feel pretty much back to normal.  I am scared at how fast time seems to be going by, but I am excited to see what 2014 brings.  Oh and random but I got the polar ft 60 heart rate monitor for Christmas (ahem, thanks Santa-Mom!) and it has really been forcing me to stay on track with exercising.  I even went to the gym yesterday despite just wanting to sleep and be lazy, and I definitely would not have gone if it had not been for my desire to get my stars and trophy for doing a good job for the week.  If you know what I'm talking about, you know what I'm talking about.  Otherwise I'm probably making no sense.

Okay my head is about to explode, so I'm going to turn on Friends and go to sleep.  Adios amigos!