There are many ways you can prepare for NP school while still in school! Before you graduate college, you can set yourself up for a successful path ready for NP school with these tips.
For those people who are already applying or accepted into an NP school, I wrote a different article for you. Click on this link to check it out! How to Prepare for Nurse Practitioner School
Research the NP Role
If you are thinking of becoming a nurse practitioner, do your research to make sure this is really the career you want to pursue. I have known many students who have had this glorified idea of what working as an NP is like, and when they get to NP school, they quickly realize it isn’t what they thought.
There are many reasons to become a nurse practitioner and why it is a great career. I’ve written a separate post, 10 Reasons to Become a Nurse Practitioner, and I’ve done a lot of the research for you. The article talks about the NP role, their salary, and more so check it out to learn more about NPs. The American Association of Nurse Practitioners is also a great website to explore, especially their articles about how they define the NP role.
It is important to learn about the different kinds of nurse practitioners and their roles as healthcare providers. There is a wide variety of NPs, such as family nurse practitioner (FNP), acute care nurse practitioner (ACNP), and pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP), that work in many different medical settings. There are even other nursing career options such a nurse anesthetist, nurse educator, and nurse-midwife. Keep these in mind as you begin to work with different patients in clinical and what patient population you enjoy and don’t enjoy working with the most.
Another way to understand the NP role is to job shadow a nurse practitioner. Seeing the job first hand is a valuable experience. This can help determine if this is the right career for you. It can also help you get a better idea of what specialty you are interested in and should pursue. I suggest shadowing nurse practitioners in a variety of specialties.
Begin Looking Into NP School Requirements
One of the best ways to prepare yourself for nurse practitioner school is to begin looking at NP school application requirements now. As you find potential schools you want to attend, you should look at their application requirements for acceptance.
This will give you a better idea of what is required of you when applying and what you can do now to be a top candidate. Some examples of requirements you will want to look up are GPA, RN experience, GRE, and letters of recommendation. By doing this, you can start building your list of what you can do while in school, such as working hard for a high GPA.
It is also important to learn more about the NP programs, such as program length (full-time vs. part-time), school accreditation, tuition costs, and whether you are in charge of finding your own NP preceptors. This way, you can plan ahead or mentally prepare yourself for a variety of things, such as how long you will be in grad school or how much you should start saving now to pay for tuition.
A lot of schools have provided information on their school websites. Still, it is always great to talk to an admission counselor. They can provide much more detailed information and answer your questions. It is also a great way that you can introduce yourself so they get to know who you are for your future application.
Grades
Work hard to get top grades. This might be the most obvious suggestion, but your grades really make a big difference later on when applying to NP school. Often times, it’s easy as you get closer to graduation to accept lower but still passing grades. Don’t do this! Work hard to keep your GPA as high as you can.
NP school is becoming increasingly more competitive and difficult to get into top schools. You will want to have a high GPA that will make you a top qualified candidate. Most nurse practitioner school’s minimum GPA requirement is a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, which is the equivalent of B grades. However, a 3.6 GPA and above will help you to be much more competitive against other applicants and more likely to get into the NP school of your choice.
Another reason why you want to keep your GPA high is that many NP schools will waive their Graduate Record Examination (GRE) requirement. So if your grades are high enough, you don’t have to take the GRE exam. This will save you a lot of time, money, and stress. Most schools require a 3.0 GPA for students to skip the GRE.
If you want to go to a school in FLORIDA or CALIFORNIA, click on the links to find out which NP schools do not require the GRE.
Build Your Resume
If you want to make applying to NP school easier, start by building your resume now while in college. Begin by keeping a record of scholarships or awards you have received, volunteer work, clinical experience, research, references, honor societies, and NP shadowing. It is helpful to write down what you did, when you did it, how long, who it was with, and any other important details. I also suggest keeping a record of any impactful experiences related to nursing as well.
This is also a great way to see areas of an NP application that you may not have much experience in. As you notice your weak areas now while in college, you have a lot more time and opportunities to strengthen them.
Keep this record current so you can use it for your nurse practitioner school applications later on. This tip can save you from a lot of stress from trying to remember events from several years ago. Use this information to help create your resume or complete your application. You can also use it to help you with your NP school interviews. I suggest in my NP School Interview Questions & Answers article to recall experiences from working, volunteering, and attending college to help create your answers. This is much easier if you have a detailed list of all these events and experiences already written down.
GRE Prep
Many NP schools require applicants to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). This exam was created to test applicants in their ability to succeed and pass graduate-level courses. It tests analytical writing, quantitative reasoning, and verbal reasoning. This test can be retaken multiple times to try and improve your score. However, keep in mind this test costs several hundred dollars to take each time. In general, it takes 2-3 months of studying for the GRE depending on how busy your life is. You can start preparing for this exam while still in school. Many colleges offer prep classes and materials that you may not have access to when you graduate. Making time to study a little bit even just each week or month may help you get a higher score.
Make sure you do your research and learn the specifics of your desired NP schools’ application requirements. Many schools require you to take the GRE within so many years of applying to their school. Depending on how soon you anticipate applying to NP school, you might not want to take the GRE quite yet. If you take the GRE right after college, and then 6 years later you apply to an NP school, they may require you to retake.
Keep your notes
Once you graduate with your BSN, you might be tempted to throw away all your notes and delete all those PowerPoint slides you spend hours memorizing. Don’t do it! Once I started NP school I regretted throwing away all my notes. I thought that there was no point in keeping them because I would just relearn these topics in NP school and use that teacher’s content. I wasn’t entirely wrong, but what I didn’t understand was how much NP school builds off of your BSN education.
Your professors in NP school don’t go back and review topics you learned in your BSN. You are expected to be already proficient and ready to learn those topics in greater detail and complexity at a graduate student level. Having your notes you found helpful as a BSN student to learn those tricky topics can help you easily review them as a graduate student. These topics could include pharmacology drug classes, arterial blood gases, specific diseases, lab levels, etc.
I don’t recommend keeping all your notes, but primarily the notes that explain a difficult topic well and help YOU to understand. For example, the notes I threw away about arterial blood gases are ones I wish I had kept. My undergraduate professor had a diagram and mnemonics that made it easy to understand. When it came to NP school, I felt like I had to relearn the basics all over again before I could learn in further detail. Holding on to the notes now can make your studying much easier in NP school.
Network
Networking is very underrated in the field of nursing, and I feel like it is not talked about enough in undergraduate nursing programs. I had no idea how much of an effect networking could have on my nursing career. Networking involves using your connections to help achieve your career goals. Your connections can include family, friends, and scholarly or professional colleagues.
While you are in college, there are many opportunities to build your network of contacts. The easiest way to start is to get to know your fellow students in your class. I got my first nursing job by recommendation of a classmate. Be friendly and get to know other students. Take a step further and get their contact information.
Another networking opportunity is with your professors and teachers. This type of contact is essential. Most NP school applications require letters of recommendation or reference letters from your undergraduate nursing professors. You will want to build a strong relationship with at least three of your professors. A concern of many students is how to build this networking relationship. Begin by initiating conversations and getting to know them. For those struggling, start small by simply introducing yourself at the beginning of the semester. Another option is after class, tell the professor you enjoyed that particular class or topic they just taught. You can also mention an experience you had at clinical that related to the topic of that class. Asking questions after class or during their office hours are great ways too. This could include questions about anything: a test, a lecture, the class structure, the professor’s nursing experiences, or even just about nursing in general. I recommend talking with a professor more than just on one or two occasions. You want them to remember you, even after several years from graduation when you start applying to NP school.
Connections you have with people who work in the medical field (CNA, MA, RN, NP, PA, MD, etc.) can also help you later in NP school. The main reason is for finding NP clinical preceptors. Many NP schools require the student to find and coordinate clinical sites and preceptors. This can be a difficult task for NP students. Often there is high competition for clinical preceptors from other nurse practitioner schools, physician assistant schools, and medical schools. If you can use your network of people who work in the medical field, this process becomes much easier.
One of the ways you can build your network of medical personnel while still in college is to network at your clinical. Get to know your clinical coordinator and your RN preceptor at your clinical sites. Talk with the NPs or doctors who work in that department and let them know you are planning to become a nurse practitioner. Not only could this help you for NP school but also future job opportunities.
Prepare to work in interested NP area
As you prepare to graduate college, you will start searching for job opportunities as an RN. It is essential to keep in mind your long term goal of becoming a nurse practitioner. Different NP specialties may require certain RN experience in specific specialties like intensive care, pediatric, neonatal, and oncology. Your RN experience can influence what type of NP program you can apply to (FNP, NNP, PNP, ACNP).
If after graduation, you still don’t know what kind of NP specialty you want to pursue, your RN experience can help you decide. If you know immediately what kind of NP specialty you want, it is important to pursue that type of specialty as an RN. If you want to work as an acute care nurse practitioner in a hospital, later on, you will want work experience working in an intensive care unit as an RN.
Working as an NP in some specialties can be very different than working as an RN in that specialty. You may not like the work as an RN. Decide if this area is really where you want to work, even as an NP. If so, it is important to think of the RN experience as a short-term requirement that will help you get into your desired NP school specialty.
For those wanting to go to NP school right after graduating, take a look at this article, Can You Go to NP School Right After BSN With No Experience? It talks about different ways that you can strengthen your application for NP school while not having RN work experience.
There are a lot of unexpected things that can come up when you begin to apply to NP schools. I wrote an article on 9 Things Most Nurses Don’t Know When Applying to NP School that you will definitely want to read up on. Do your research and try to get as much information as you can about applying and attending NP school. Staying informed is so important and will help you prepare the most for NP school.