Beginning Nursing School: 9 Things Admissions Wants You to Know

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Beginning Nursing School at Xavier University

Beginning nursing school is a pretty big deal these days, with students being waitlisted all over the country. By applying to the 16-month ABSN program at Xavier University, which has three start dates a year, we can get you started on your nursing education as soon as possible. But before you jump headfirst into the admission process, here are nine things our admission counselors want you to know.

1. You need a non-nursing bachelor’s degree to apply.

Our ABSN program is a second-degree education option for students who already have a bachelor’s degree in another field of study and want to accelerate into the nursing profession. We build on your undergraduate degree so that your only focus while in the program is on professional nursing study.

2. You and your admission counselor will become close.

Woman on the phone with her advisor and helping her child in the kitchen.

We have one of the most supportive admission teams of any nursing school around. Once you decide to apply to our ABSN program, we assign you an admission counselor whose job is to provide you with a high level of personalized support every step of the way.

Plan for a lot of phone time with your admission counselor as he or she guides you through every step of the ABSN application process.

“If I’m your counselor, I’ll be the person you talk to every time you call in,” says Julie Zarobinski, admission counselor for the ABSN program at Xavier. “I’ll also be calling you on a regular basis to make sure you have everything you need to keep your application moving along smoothly.”

3. You need to divulge relevant personal information.

Your admission counselor’s job is not to determine whether or not you get into the program. His or her job is to make sure you submit the most competitive nursing school application possible. However, the only way for your counselor to be able to do that is by you sharing relevant personal information with him or her.

If you scored low in a science or math class as an undergraduate, for example, your counselor needs to know what happened so that he or she can create a plan to put this transcript discrepancy into the proper context.

Another example would be your counselor asking you about your family obligations. While the question may seem irrelevant to nursing school, it’s actually very applicable. Our ABSN program is both rigorous and time consuming, so your counselor wants to make sure you have enough support resources in place so you can successfully juggle nursing school and family life.

4. You need to apply with a sense of urgency.

While our enrollment capacity is higher than most BSN programs, you still need to have a sense of urgency when applying to the ABSN program, especially if you’re targeting a specific term.

Unlike most schools, we review applications as they come in, rather than evaluating all of them after the submission deadline has passed. Applying early gives you an advantage over others interested in the same term. In fact, you’ll be able to get your admission decision before some students even apply.

Xavier Admission Process

5. You receive both online and onsite instruction.

While you can expect to complete much of the ABSN coursework online, there’s still a significant in-person component to the program. You’ll need to attend hands-on nursing labs at our ABSN Learning Center and complete clinical rotations at top health care facilities.

6. You need to live within driving distance of our ABSN Learning Center.

Xavier ABSN Learning Site

Because our ABSN program has an online component, a lot of the people we speak to think they can live anywhere and complete the program, which isn’t the case. You need to live within driving distance of our ABSN Learning Center and clinical placement sites, as these locations are where you develop your hands-on skills.

“We get a lot of students who relocate to Cincinnati to be able to attend the program,” says Zarobinski. “Students are drawn to us because of our excellent reputation, high enrollment capacity, and access to great clinical placement sites, such as Mercy Health and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.”

7. You need to be OK with putting aspects of your life on hold.

If you want to be successful in our ABSN program, you need to be willing to put certain aspects of your life on hold to be able to keep up with its rigorous pace. But remember, it’s just 16 months.

While some weeks don’t require as much time and energy as others, there might be weeks where you spend up to 60 hours on your nursing studies. “I would compare your time in the ABSN program to that of holding down a full-time job,” says Zarobinski.

8. You may need a co-signer to finance your education.

We find that most students use both federal and private loans to finance their nursing education. If this is what you plan to do, there’s a good chance you’ll need to have someone co-sign on your loans.

9. You don’t need to commit to us during the admission process.

We realize most of the students we speak to are looking into several nursing schools, so just know that at no point during the ABSN program admission process are you committed to Xavier. While we want to be your first choice, we also understand you need to choose the school that best fits your needs. “I won’t be upset if you choose another nursing school, so don’t feel awkward about telling me,” says Zarobinski.

Beginning nursing school doesn’t have to involve a long, drawn-out admission process. Set your education in motion, contact the Xavier admission team today!

Xavier ABSN simulation lab

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