Fall 2011 Nursing Admission Results

The Fall 2011 BSN Nursing Admission process is now over, with the UT College of Nursing reporting that there were a total of 150 applicants, and that the competition was very tight. The cutoff GPA for admission to the program was a 3.546 one of the highest cutoffs the program has seen in a very long time. Ill do a general breakdown of the numbers, but feel free to skip down to my assessment and recommendations at the end.

There were 150 applicants to the program. The GPA average was 3.554. 62% of all the 150 applicants for Fall 2011 BSN admission had GPAs of at least a 3.50

A breakdown of the applicants by GPA range can be very helpful in understanding just how strong of an applicant pool this was, and is presented below:

As the above graphic illustrates, the high number of students with GPAs in the 3.50-3.59 range appears consistent with previous admission cycles. What makes this particular admissions cycle unique is A) The total number of applicants (usually ~120) is higher than has been seen in the previous six admission cycles, and B) the fact that 62% of all the 150 applicants for Fall 2011 BSN admission had GPAs of at least a 3.50, when that percentage of the total applicants having such high GPAs has typically been smaller.

Assessment and Recommendations

The administrative take-away from this information is at least two-fold:

1. First, this obviously speaks to the quality of the overall applicant pool for the Fall
2011 cycle, and a hearty congratulations to all of those who were admitted to the program is definitely in order. But it also means that applicants who had GPAs that would have garnered them admission in another cycle didnt get admitted in this one, which in itself can be tough to come to terms with. So please allow me to offer some perspective and recommendations below.

2. Secondly, while this admission cycle has seen a much higher GPA cut-off than
previous admission cycles in the last two years, it is still too early to say if this represents a general trend towards higher GPA cut-offs in the future. And, as you know, the cutoff for Summer 2011 admission was a 3.243 much lower than was expected at the time, even though the cutoff was much higher this time around. So for now, the conventional understanding of the GPA cut-off

averaging a ~3.40 is still valid, with that GPA remaining a good benchmark to
use in conceptualizing roughly what it takes to be admitted to the BGSU-UT BSN Nursing Program.

But more importantly, what does this mean for applicants who didnt get in for Fall 2011, and for future applicants? First, those of you who had application GPAs were in the 3.40-3.50+ range really do owe it to yourself to reapply to the program for Spring 2012 Admission. Under more normal applicant pools, the GPA cutoff for admission has been right around and even just below a 3.40. Second, and related, is the fact that if you are re-applying for Spring 2012 Admission, then all you need to do is update your application info and resubmit it for Spring and there will be no charge for re-applying for Spring.

If you are taking Summer classes at BGSU or elsewhere, you dont have to wait until theyre done in order to report on your NursingCAS application that youre taking them, but you do need to report them. Also, you should indicate your Fall 2011 classes. The GPA that will be used for admission will be the GPA that represents anything up through Summer 2011, but will not include Fall grades.

I sincerely hope that you have found this information both useful and encouraging to you, and again I want to congratulate all of you for your hard work and all of those who will now be representing BSGU at the College of Nursing this Fall. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me. Cheers, Eric

Eric D. Gullufsen | Academic Advisor | College of Health & Human Services | www.bgsu.edu/nursing BGSU | egulluf@bgsu.edu | work: 419-372-8242 | fax: 419-372-2897 | 102 Health Center | Bowling Green, OH 43403