By Edwina Rochelle

Whether they call it your nursing school admission essay, statement of purpose, letter of intent, or personal essay, it all adds up to the same thing. They want you to tell them why you want to be a nurse, why you’ll be a great nurse, and why you think they should give you the education you need to achieve that goal.

Despite the fact that there is an amazing shortage of nurses, there often long waiting lists to get into nursing school. This puts that much more pressure on you to come up with something that really pops, helps you stand out from the rest with your nursing school admission essay. Interweaving experiences that let you know that nursing was for you with stories of why you will make the perfect candidate for their particular nursing program will create a solid and personal impression of yourself.

The Personal is Important

Accentuating the personal aspect of your experience in your nursing school admission essay is essential for a nurse. Your job will be, essentially, to serve as every patient’s advocate. You will be serving their every need while attending to their medical maintenance. Tell a short little story about your experience volunteering or a patient or nurse in your life who helped you realize that this field was for you. It’s helpful if the same experience also communicated to you the specialty or you want to go into or demonstrates your ability to work well and quickly under pressure or to learn and follow orders well.

You’re Not Re-Inventing the Wheel

Unless you want to go into research, in nursing school it is not your job to change tell anyone something they don’t know. They are the professionals; they are there to educate you. Your nursing school admission essay is also not the place to debate issues in the field or doctor/ nurse relations. This is not about your views. This is about you and how you will be successful in their program and successful out in the world so that you can represent their program positively.

When Explanations Are In Order

Life happens and sometimes it gets in the way of school. You’re not the first to go through college with a family and a full time job and you’re not the first to have emergencies arise that keep you from performing your best on exams. If a low GPA or a low grade during a certain semester is due to an specific event that is unlikely to be repeated, then tell them that. Be succinct, direct, and do not try to elicit pity. It will be more difficult to explain years of low grades than a semesters worth. If there is anything of special significance that is not apparent on your application, like the fact that you are a single mother of three, your diabetic father moved in with you, or a loved one passed away and that also affected your performance, by all means, let them know in your nursing school admission essay.

Put your best foot forward, tell them a story that demonstrates your personality, interest in the field, and ikelihood of success in their program and you will make a strong first impression in your nursing school admission essay.

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