ACU’s School of Nursing.
The School of Nursing has implemented a point system limiting the number of applicants to only the top performing students.
Becky Hammack, Dean of the School of Nursing, said that students interesting in the nursing program will be made aware of the requirements for the acceptance process before applying.
“Most schools do some type of point system and the purpose is to allow a level playing field for all students,” Hammack said. “Everybody has an opportunity to come in if they have the good grades.”
The nursing school usually accepts 55 students in the fall and up to 33 in the spring. The deadline for applications into the nursing program for the fall semester is Feb. 1 and the deadline for the spring semester is Sept. 1. Students receive advice and counseling for the entrance process in advance.
Rachel Best, senior nursing major from New Braunfels, said talking with peers helped when applying for nursing school.
“What helped me the most was that I had friends that were already in nursing school who gave me advice,” Best said. “I think nursing school is one of those things that you can’t fully be prepared for until you’re actually in it. It was definitely a learning process at first but you get the hang of it.”
The point system is in place to give priority acceptance for students with high GPA’s and good grades within nursing specific courses. The ACU Catalog highlights what courses nursing students should expect to take throughout their college years.
“Each student will receive a certain amount of points for A’s or B’s,” Hammack said. “We’ve had students that have had to take four or five classes over again to make C’s or B’s or to make a 3.0 GPA.”
Students who are unsuccessful the first time are allowed to re-apply up to one additional time. Hammack said that most students gain entrance into the nursing program after their first application submission.
“If they have to apply twice it’s because their grades drop down or something else happened,” Hammack said. “Except for one semester, we have been able to take all students.”
Nursing school remains a competitive and challenging department with a full house of about 58 senior students and about 33 junior-2 students.
“Nursing school is hard because it is a professional school within those four years,” Hammack said. “In a lot of departments you do your four years and then you go, but not with nursing. It’s competitive and it’s tough, but our students do well and we are happy about that.”
