Ready or Not.

The decision has been made and my future decided! Today I confirmed my acceptance to graduate school, ordered my Littmann (in raspberry ... just in case you were wondering), and decided that the sure thing was far superior to the unknown. It was definitely a difficult decision, but when I sat down with the pro-con list I realized that the only thing that made me hesitant to accept the offer was the academic calender which is completely trivial in the scheme of things.

So now, here goes ... the reason I started this blog in the first place.
If I have any advice for future NP applicants, they are as follows...
1. For the essay... just start writing. Write out everything you want to say in the first draft, pay no attention to length or grammar, just clear the pipes and let it out! In the end you will find that each school has a completely different essay requirement and having all of your ideas out on paper will allow you to pick which points to make for each topic.
2. Letters of rec: all I can say is BE ORGANIZED! Sometimes I think the nursing schools conspire to make it difficult, the due dates, mailing policies, and number of letters required for each school will vary, which makes it increadibly difficult for your LOR writers! So make a cover sheet with a checklist/instruction sheet for each school and give all the LOR forms to the person at once!
3. Clinical experience: if you don't have it, get it! I can't top my advisor on this one, so I will dispense her advice here, "How do you know that you want to work in healthcare if you have never worked in a hospital?"
4. Interview: before you jet off to the interview think of five things that you want them to know about you. It is just like making a meeting agenda, know what you want to talk about it, and adjust your answers to their questions so you talk about all five. Also, type up a list of questions for your interviewer... it will not only remind you of everything you wanted to ask, but make you look organized and like you have taken the interview seriously.

well.... that is enough advise for now. I am off to order my university scrubs and teal bandage scissors, and submit my request for housing. East Coast here I come!