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I’m super excited to talk about one of my favorite topics which is all about how to get accepted to the right CRNA school by standing out from the rest of the crowd.
Once you do that, then you will start getting interviews and before you know it, you will get accepted.
That’s what the training is for this week and so what I have been trying to do, which I didn’t do it last week because I had surgery but what I really want to do is have a weekly training which is going to be imperative that you get started doing some of this stuff required of you to get into CRNA school.
So, if you want a copy of the workbook that goes along with this training here, which is part of the Get Accepted Now Program. I actually posted it Tuesday and you can go back to Tuesday’s post and get that. Or you can request it from me or you can just comment below, maybe something like schools and I’ll try to get that to you.
My CRNA Journey
So just a little bit about me. I actually graduated from UNE in Portland, ME. I moved my whole family from South Carolina to Maine to go to CRNA school.
It was like it was calling me to be a CRNA, like I had to do it. So, I moved along with my husband and three kids, ages 13, 15, and 18 years old. My son actually graduated from high school the same year I started CRNA school which is kind of crazy.
My son graduated on a Friday morning and the next day we moved to Maine. We got on the plane and flew out and it was absolutely crazy and ridiculous. But we did that and it worked out for us.
I am also the owner of Priority First Anesthesia, The CRNA Chase, and partner of HealthShield Credentialing with one of my good friends, Andi which I’m really excited about.
I do like mentioning stuff like that because it just gives you ideas of what is in store for you and what you can do and the fact that it’s CRNA-owned businesses and stuff, you know it’s pretty cool.
Who this training is for
I know, it’s frustrating, right? Just really being an ICU nurse or bedside nurse and you’re like, OK, I know it’s more for me. I know I want to do this and then it’s frustrating on the other end of that. I’m doing everything I can to get accepted to CRNA school. I feel your pain.
I definitely understand that. Because I went through the same thing, the exact same thing.
So this training is for you if you have applied to CRNA school and you received an awful rejection letter saying, I’m sorry, we don’t want you. I got one of those too.
Or you’ve seen that a CRNA, at the head of the bed somewhere and you’re like, I want to be just like them. And that was me too when I was a surgical tech.
Or maybe you’ve researched schools and you’re like, this is so complicated.
What I want is for you to realize that, as I always say, you’re going to get accepted, or are you going to get accepted.
Basically, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure you get accepted.
And so what I want you to realize is that you don’t have to be the baddest ICU nurse in your unit, right? Or on the planet to become a CRNA. Just know there are ways to increase your chances on the first try, so you’re not wasting your time, money, and energy.
And so today is all about giving you 3 things to think about when researching the CRNA schools. And if you do these things you’re going to see your chances skyrocket, I promise.
And I get really excited about this topic because I remember when I gave up and I was just like I’m not going to be a CRNA. So for three years, I quit and so but then again it’s like something kept pulling me saying no try one more time, try one more time. So, I decided to try one more time. No, I’m not going to try without having a plan and so that is pretty much the core, the essence of the Get Accepted Now Program.
It is the plan that I came up with that I have used for myself and helped so many others to get into CRNA school as well.
Now if you need additional help or are you just like I don’t have time to do this on my own or do you want to focus on other things?
Can you help me with this part? That’s no problem. You definitely can book a free game plan call with me. I’ll put the link up somewhere here. I’m pretty sure it’s here in a Facebook group somewhere.
Let’s dive into today’s training.
3 things to consider when choosing CRNA schools
I’m going to be honest with you. Just because there are 120 something CRNA schools out there doesn’t mean you need to be a student at one of those schools because.
Sometimes it’s just the school isn’t going to be the best for you. And what ends up happening is you get there. And you have no support. Or you get there and you realize, like, I hate this. Like you, you really don’t want to be there and you just hate every second of it, right?
And you also want to be at a school that genuinely supports you and wants you to do well.
While the application process is similar. The schools can vary significantly in what they require, what and how they evaluate you, their mission, their vision, their support system, all of that.
So we’re going to actually look at three really important key things that if you can figure out, I am pretty certain you can get accepted.
So I’m actually going to share my screen and this is the actual best fit CRNA school search strategy that I actually posted Tuesday.
Everyone who replied back and said they wanted a copy, I sent them a copy directly. This here is part of the Get Accepted Now program.
1. So, what you want to really do is first identify what’s required so that you have a chance of going to any school you want.
What’s your GPA? What’s your GRE? Are you taking the GRE? How much ICU experience do you have?
You also want to make note of all the minimum requirements for the CRNA school you’re thinking about applying to. This resource that you can buy, and I actually have one also.
You bought it one time and she upstate updates it every month, but it basically tells you what the schools are looking for.
You can actually target the schools based on you know maybe location, or if it’s front-loaded versus an integrated program. You also can do it by start date, which was very important to me because like I said, my son graduated high school when I started CRNA school.
So, my son graduated in June. My program actually started in May, but I was able to fly back for his graduation, and then we all went back together to Maine. Look at, you know, like the attrition rate, like how many people flunking out of these programs is very important, right?
And so these are all things that you can start looking at like now. You do not want to wait until you’re ready to start applying. You want to start looking at this stuff now.
So you basically want to look at the schools that could possibly open the doors to all the CRNA schools?
So is your GPA gradient 3.5? Do you have a pretty good GRE score? But what about your ICU experience, or are you at that 3- 5 year plus mark, because that’s going to really set you apart from everybody else because what I’m finding this year is a lot of applicants are applying with one year’s experience.
And they’re actually getting accepted. So they’re doing something right. I don’t know if it’s more so how they’re utilizing their time in that one year versus how they are performing on their interview. It could just be that.
Or it could be maybe their GRE scores. I’m telling you, if you get a good GRE score, you can just pretty much seal deal on that for a lot of these schools.
2. So next you really want to look at your preferences. So ask yourself what else could you wish for.
What else are you looking for? What about their support system? Do they have tutoring, like some really good tutoring? Or they just got like, oh, we just come on in, we’ll see if we can find somebody to help you.
You actually kind of want it to be where it’s attached to like the medical school.
You know, like if it was attached to the medical school, you have the same type of tutors I mean. That would be awesome. What about housing assistance? Honestly, that was really, really, really difficult trying to find housing when you live in South Carolina.
I had to fly up there just to find housing and I had to make a decision like before I pretty much got back on the plane.
Me and my husband had to be like, OK, we might as well just go ahead and pay our deposit for this one because, I mean, it’s not like we coming back up here to look at anything, you know?
Like we can’t, we can’t keep coming up here. So, they didn’t have any housing assistance, but they did have a website where you can kind of look at some stuff. But no recommendations or anything.
You might want to look at their financial assistance like are they like, are they really helpful as far as scholarships or grants. I don’t feel like I had that in my school either.
3. Next, you want to match your qualifications and preferences with the schools’ requirements, and you want to be really selective and competitive. Basically, you work to your strengths and find the schools that you beat their requirements.
Let’s say a school you’re researching the last cohort, if you can find this information, was the accepting students with like a 3.5 and you have a 3.7 GPA. That’s a school that you might be like I already exceed what they’re asking for this should definitely be on my list.
So those are the things that you really need to look at.
If you want to increase your chances of getting into school faster or having more opportunities, you might want to take the GRE. Like, study your butt off, take a review course, take the exam and get the score you need. Do whatever you need to do.
I even have a GRE eBook that’s just a supplement to studying and just get it done. And so again, do the things that are going to open the door for all schools.
So, just to recap you want to identify your strengths and purposes preferences, and that’s more So what other things could you wish for?
And then you match them all up and you got your short list of CRNA schools.
It’s not that hard, guys. What I want you to do is stop applying to these schools hoping, praying, and wishing that they call you. No. I want it to be where it’s like these schools say I want this girl in my program.
I want the schools to be like looking at you like yes I need to pick this girl right here. That’s what I want and so again, go back to Tuesday’s post or comment here and I will get you a copy of the CRNA school search strategy worksheet.
Some other preferences or non-negotiables would be like geographical location. I want you to think about that. That could be #1 on your list, right?
Like some people are not going to be able to move as I did. I don’t even know how I did it considering I had no money. And then I moved to like the furthest place it seemed on the earth, right? And the coldest?
I mean, it’s just crazy.
Oh, you might, you might even look at some things which I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on this, but like first-time board pass rate. Then they kind of talk about the percentage employed after the board exam. That’s 100%. If you aren’t employed after you take the board exam, then you just don’t want to work.
I’m just going to be honest with you because I get about 10 job offers a day. I swear. I get the most offers from recruiters like call me all day long.
Uh, what else?
Oh, counseling services. That’s a big one, that was a big one for me.
I didn’t even realize how bad I needed it and how crucial it would be to me becoming a CRNA because I had some difficulties in my program.
It was craziness going on and I started going to counseling services and honestly, I was going too much, like I spent way too much time in counseling services.
But what ended up happening was the fact that I went and then I had some issues in the program. They were able to go back and look into what I was saying and what my counselor had written down.
Also, make sure they got a really good Health Center because I know at my school, I could go to the Health Center just like my doctor. I say I didn’t pay anything, but you know, of course I paid the premium for the health insurance itself. But when I went for my visits, usually I didn’t pay anything, and I didn’t have to pay for my prescriptions.
Uhm, another thing to think about too is.
Do you want, do you want to attend a front-loaded program or program that’s integrated? You know if it’s front-loaded, it basically means that you’re going to do all your coursework, not all but the majority of your coursework up front.
Then you go to clinicals after that versus integrated is like from day one you might, you might be already in clinicals and so I cannot even imagine that. But I did front-loaded, like I did a whole 2 semesters of coursework and then I went to clinicals. I did schoolwork, coursework, didactics is what it should be ca I told you about that part.
It’s just all about narrowing down your list of schools and creating this short list that says, OK, these are the best schools for me and I’m going to apply to these schools. I’m going to go ahead and apply to these schools right here, and there are probably at least 15 schools right now that are starting to accept applications this month. Between September 1st and September 30th.
So, you need to start putting your application in right now. I don’t care if it says the application period is September to December. Because the quicker you get your application in the quicker, they can look at it and can actually put you up against just the ones who’ve already applied.
So instead of you going up against 400 applications, you might just be going up against 50 right now, so your chances automatically increase. That’s another tip. Anyway, this is part of the best-fit search strategy. Of course, it’s not the whole thing, but it’s a big part of it. So now you know basically what to look for.
Recap
Again, the three things you really want to look at- #1 identify those schools that you can go to with the credentials or with the qualifications that you have. And you want to make note of the minimum requirements for the CRNA school. #2 is preferences or non-negotiables. So basically, what else can you wish for? After you’ve done that, #3- you want to match what you have according to what you researched.
As far as CRNA schools, a great resource- called CRNA School Finder– that I was telling you about was all-crna-schools.com. They have a great resource and I’ll try to pull it up again. They have a great resource. Like I said, I bought it over five years ago.
It’s updated every month and I get it every month. I use it also within my program so it’s actually a really good resource.
Especially if you know without any doubt that your goal is to be a CRNA and like you’re going to do whatever you can to be one then it’s worth it.
Because that just means you’re going to keep trying until you get accepted.
Like that’s all I did. I kept trying until they said yes. You can get on their nerves enough to where they are like, just let this girl in because, this girl is not going to stop. Like, I feel like that’s what happened to me. Like she is not going to stop. So let me go ahead and call her and say you accepted.
So anyway, the worksheet I just showed you if you want to copy. Comment below schools. Also, again, if you need additional help, support, guidance, or just information.
You can follow me on The CRNA Chase, which you probably already get the newsletter weekly. You can hang out here in a Facebook group. You can join my Inner Circle.
Where man the last inner circle was nice. Oh my God. Like I tried to get y’all to come, but y’all didn’t. Some of y’all didn’t come. If you’re dealing with any kind of mindset issue, you might want to join the Inner Circle just to get the last replay.
Our guest was Diane Brandon Moody. The way I met this lady is so crazy. I don’t even know what Facebook group it was in, but I’m a part of a Facebook group somewhere and it just said I will go on your podcast in exchange for telling you how to do this, this, and this.
And I’m like, OK, so I told the lady, I said, well, you can come on my Inner Circle. because, she said she does manifestation in the law of attraction.
And I was like, Oh yeah, definitely. Because when I read some of you guys obstacles and challenges, the first, some of the first things I see are mindset blocks.
Like, I do not know if I can do it. I don’t think I can. I’m not smart enough. Like, I see this every day, I’m reading this every day and I’m like, no, no, don’t say that. What are you saying? Like you, you’re blocking all the good things that can come to you.
You say that like you’re not even giving yourself a chance when you say that, right?
This lady came on and it was powerful because, even the ones that were there came away and said- I’m so thankful that she came on and this has been so awesome and great because I just wasn’t feeling it. Maybe you might want to join the Inner Circle. That’s all I’m saying.
That’s all I’m saying anyway, so you can join the Inner Circle and my course is getting ready to come out probably next month. And it’s all designed just to get you ready, get you ready for CRNA school.
And then I have the coaching and mentorship program. Right now, it’s 12 weeks, 1-on-1 but will be transitioning to group coaching soon. So, we can get you ready for CRNA school, we need some CRNAs bad. We need some 6-figure nurses in the house.
That is today’s weekly training. I hope that it brought value to you, and I will see you next week.
