Nursing School Acceptance Chance

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
1

Simple, maybe strange question, but what would you consider the odds of a male student w/ an uw 3.5 GPA and essentially no EC’s getting into UA’s nursing program(weighted GPA would fairly higher but idk if it’s used in this instance).

The chances of an acceptance is the main point of this thread, but any advice for a younger student would also be of value. My brother has a slightly higher GPA than me, and was involved in one non-science related club his frosh year, but hasn’t engaged in anything this year and isn’t really planning to unless it would be necessary. He likewise has generated an interest in UA(probably from me), and this is a major being considered by both.

Note: The chances are purely for the very basic profile I listed in the first sentence; I myself don’t line up exactly w/ it. It’s more a generalization of what he’s looking at, and is close enough to me to still be of use.

My brother is a sophomore.

If any clarification is needed, simply ask. Thank you.

2

And for whatever it matters my test scores are moderately high(listed in another thread) and his should be decent too, although it is of course an unknown.

3

Modest bump

4

It’s only been a day…but ok…the reason you are probably not getting fast and furious replies to your questions is that you do not get admitted directly into UA’s Nursing program as an incoming freshman - you need to have completed the college course prerequisites, etc, first, and you apply after those lower division courses have been completed. Anyone can (to my knowledge) apply to be a Nursing major, but this does not mean you will be admitted into the Nursing upper division program.

When it comes time to apply to the upper division Nursing program at UA, high school ECs will count for very little, as will high school GPAs. What will count is having a nearly 4.0 UA GPA in a number of very few, very key science classes. There have been other threads on this forum which outlined just how competitive UA’s Nursing program has become, and it has become much harder to get into over the 4 years I’ve been viewing this site. I believe last semester’s cohort had an average university GPA just shy of 4.0, and also, having bucketloads of ECs while attending UA would be helpful, as well as great letters of recommendation and other experience (jobs or volunteering or shadowing) within the health industry.

That said, your sentence above about your brother not joining a club and not planning on doing so unless necessary, is troubling to me. Nursing is not a ‘tick the box’ type of profession. You have to have a passion for things in order to be successful with them. If you do not have a passion for nursing, this will show in the apparent lack of commitment to serve others through whatever job/volunteer/club activities you do or don’t do.

If you want to be admitted to ANY nursing program anywhere, you best start focusing on ECs and work experience in this field to make yourself stand out more. And that advice is not just applicable to nursing - any student should always be working on making themselves a prime candidate for whatever competitive program they wish to enter. Good luck with your decisions!

5

high school GPA doesn’t matter for UA nursing. Bama does not have direct admit. A student gets accepted to the school, can choose any major, and then for nursing, a student is “promoted” into the BSN program their soph year at UA.

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If your heart is set at UA, I understand. I have one student there.

My nursing student is at UAB and will graduate in May. Look at UAB’s web site and nursing information. They historically have had a ‘nursing scholars’ program - it is specifically for HS seniors who apply before the deadline (in past, Dec 1). They ask for an essay (DD’s was not long and I believe they indicated a limited length). If you are accepted to this scholars program, you complete the fr/so pre-requisites with GPA required, you will have a seat in the junior level clinical classes. UAB has such a sizable nursing program, that they begin students at each term (Fall, Spring, Summer). So DD was traditional, beginning the junior courses on time. Please note that all BSN programs in AL have clinicals over 5 semesters - or taking a full time summer load between junior and senior year (which is what DD did).

What it doesn’t say that it’s also rated the 13th best nursing school in the nation.
UAB has been ranked 146th internationally and 70th in the United States by the Center for World University Rankings, the highest of any institution in Alabama. Learn more: http://ow.ly/RAv9s

I have known students at UA and AU who have not been admitted to fall nursing courses; AU also has AU-Montgomery nursing. Some will move to other BSN nursing programs in the state (UAH, UNA, USA, etc).

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@bdnation5 have you asked your GC why you weren’t named a National Achievement Semi-Finalist?

You need to look into that. If you make Finalist, that will be a LOT more merit money.

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@SOSConcern I’ve looked up some things and just want to make sure I’m interpreting things correctly; once admitted to UAB, you submit an application for the Dean’s Nursing Scholar Program. If accepted, you complete prerequisites and if you have maintain the stated GPA’s, you are automatically admitted to the School of Nursing? Exactly how competitive is entrance to this program? I see a minimum of 24 ACT and 3.2 GPA; would you think someone with a higher GPA and significantly higher test scores would have pretty favorable chances? If I personally decided to do this, I’d like to be fairly sure I’ll be admitted.

@aeromom I’ll screenshot and convey this message. Also, I added ‘modest’ instead of simply putting ‘bump’ to show it was no rush; sorry if it seemed to be impatient in any way.

@mom2collegekids I’ve made her aware of this and she’s told me she’s looking into it. She wasn’t recalling any notifications on her part. By the end of the week I’ll be seeing her again in her office to discuss this matter specifically.

Thank you all.

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This is the process we had fall 2011. I think my DD did the scholars application very closely to UAB admission process, but I do imagine one has to be admitted for consideration. The nursing scholars program acceptance is known some time after the application deadline. I don’t recall exactly when DD was notified but it was a month or two after the application deadline. We happened to be at UAB and stopped by the office of the person making the decision - his secretary could tell me how many students had applied (it was loaded alphabetically in her computer) but the decision of how many nursing scholars they select is based on the quality of the applicants. I know the person in charge of this was promoted, so I don’t know who is the current administrator in charge of selecting the nursing scholars.

Then your student starts UAB and does well in the two year pre-reqs. They then start junior year - there is a big orientation (scheduled in the summer), having shots taken care of, uniforms ordered, discussion of many things over a required orientation.

Those not in the scholars program are considered for the remaining openings for that term, to be weighed for admission to the clinical program primarily I imagine by GPA and grades in their sciences courses. Don’t know about interview process because DD was not part of this. I know students who majored in other things and switched to nursing; some entering students are unaware of the scholars program. Sometimes the strong student has to wait a semester but will know they are selected and have a seat. I have known non-nursing scholars students (who have a GPA above 3.0/3.2 requirements) that go to a program they can get into their junior year courses - like UAH or UNA. One of my DD’s friends went to UAH to finish BSN degree because the numbers didn’t look good for her to get chosen at UAB since she was minimally meeting the nursing requirements.

Certainly the scholars program they look at HS GPA, ACT/SAT, the essay. Probably a slight preference for in-state students.

UAB is a large nursing program. They educate ADN, RN to BSN, and advanced degrees.

In Sept 2014, the start of DD’s junior year, they had a “Lamp of Learning Ceremony” and her class (the fall students that were starting clinical rotations) was just under 120 students. They have various groupings of maybe 30 or less with various clinical groups/clinical rotations. Sometimes they have big lectures. Sometimes they do computer learning modules.

Maybe hedge one’s bets - if you like both programs, apply to both UA and UAB, the UAB nursing scholars’ program, and see what happens. Talk to the schools, figure out what the student/family want.

Hope this helps understand UAB, but please look at current information and investigate yourself.