Will CNA Program Hurt My Chances?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey All,</p>

<p>I am currently a Junior in Highschool near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I am in a program for high school students sponsored by Allied Health and they offer, during senior year, an opportunity to earn a Certified Nursing Assistant certification. This means missing half of the school day (four of our eight periods) for nursing classes/clinicals in order to be able to work in a hospital for $9-12/Hour during the summer before college. </p>

<p>The twist is that, due to the way the scheduling at my school works, I will likely not be able to take Calculus AP. From a college admissions/scholarship perspective, should I take more academic classes or will the choice to take a CNA program make me stand out from the monotony of applications?</p>

<p>In case these matter, here are my stats (which are likely to improve slightly before November next year when I apply):</p>

<p>I am hoping for a full ride plus stipends at Louisiana State University in order to major in Chemical Engineering as Premed and eventually go on to Medical School. </p>

<p>Gpa: 3.89/4.5 - 12 of 516
ACT: 33 Comp (35M, 35E, 33S, 31R) and 9/12 Writing
SAT: 700/700/680
Classes Taken:
Math: Alg I, Alg II, Geometry, PreCalculus/Trigonometry
Science: Biology I, Biology AP, Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry I, Chemistry AP
English: English I, English II, Lang AP
Social Science: Civics, AP Gov, Am History, World History AP
Language: Spanish 1-3
Art: Concert and Marching Band</p>

<p>Extra Perks: Drum Major for Band, Founder of Debate Club, VP of Mu-Alpha-Theta, National Honors Society</p>

<p>Classes I need to take to graduate: European History, English IV</p>

<p>Thanks much in advance.e</p>

2

<p>Calculus AP is not necessary for college admissions. Don’t worry about that. Worry about having a solid math foundation from your high school classes so that you are ready for introductory calculus when you get to it in college.</p>

<p>Check the LSU website to see what your AP exam scores will get you credit or placement for if you do go there. AP Lit may be worth your time, or it might not. While you are reading up on the credits awarded for AP exams, see if any credit or placement is awarded for CLEP exams. Those are shorter and can be taken at any time during the year.</p>

<p>If money is an issue (and it looks like it might be from your original post), read through these two threads. You qualify for many of the automatic merit scholarships, and you have the grades and test scores to be a viable contender for the others.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Unless there are other jobs that you can prepare for as easily as you can for this CNA certificate and that will also guarantee you a salary at least as good or better than the one you would earn as a beginning CNA, I say complete the program. You will be able to find a job almost instantly wherever you end up because you will have a specific skill set and a certain amount of work experience. Much better than most recent high school grads! As a possible pre-med, this will also mean that you can look for paid work (rather than merely volunteer or shadowing opportunities) in a number of medical environments, and you will be better able to determine which medical jobs are of interest to you.</p>

3

<p>I second the idea of doing the CNA program, especially for a premed.
However, engineering is not a very good choice for premed, because med schools rely on two main factors for admissions: GPA and MCAT scores. Unfortunately, engineering GPAs tend to be much lower than other college GPAs; furthermore, accredited engineering programs are very prescriptive, so that you have very few electives and you may not be able to fit in the premed requirements (those changed recently).
After GPA X MCAT, the other factors that matter are experiences in the medical community (internships/shadowing/volunteering, research) and there you’ll have something other candidates won’t have, actual work. If you can add some research experience, it’ll be perfect.</p>