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Angelica Garcia

Dr. Hanan Saadi

English 1301- 205

25 April 2022

Nursing Programs in Universities

Nursing programs are one of the most sought out programs in universities. Every year

students try out for these programs in hope of one day becoming a Registered Nurse. These

programs receive applicant submissions from all over the country and sometimes from around

the world. These programs are very challenging, and it is hard to get into the program, but it is

even harder to stay in. Since there is a huge demand on qualified nurses, the prerequisites of

these programs are becoming more and more challenging as the years go by. The prerequisites

and requirements for admissions into these programs vary from university to university. An

applicant must look at their desired school’s Gpa requirement, acceptance rate, and cultural

backgrounds when determining which school, they would like to apply to. These factors can

have a huge influence in an applicant’s decision in whether to apply to this university. Some of

the communities I will be discussing are Texas A&M International University, University of

Texas Health Science Center in Houston, and University of Texas Health Science Center in San

Antonio.

When applying to a university, the first thing an applicant must do is look at the

requirements to see what they must do to be a competitive applicant. An applicant might wonder

what his or her chances of being admitted into the program are therefore they will turn to the web

page of the university to do their research and investigate the acceptance rate. In the web page of
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Texas A&M International University it is stated that “around one hundred applicants out of six

hundred applicants last year were accepted into the program (College of Nursing).” This reveals

that there are many applicants that want to be admitted into the program however, not everyone

is accepted. By including on the web page that there were around six hundred applicants in the

last year, it is implying that this is a program that is sought out and it is a competitive one. In the

Texas A&M International University web page, the requirements are listed under application

requirements. In this subsection of the article, students can see what they need to complete

before applying. Students that want to get into this program must have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA

with a lowest, acceptable grade of a “C” in all their courses. In the web page, although it says a

letter grade of a “C” is required for all courses, it does mention that earning “C’s” in all your

courses does not mean you will be accepted or that this will earn you a GPA of 3.0. This shows

that the university does not want students who do the bare minimum, but students who excel in

their courses. In the web page, it states that the “minimum GPA and other requirements are

subject to change (College of Nursing).” This reveals that since this is a competitive program the

requirements might change, and it is up to the applicant to be at the best of their abilities when

applying to make sure they have a good opportunity to get into the field. It is still a reasonable

minimum GPA for an accredited nursing program because, normally, other universities such as

University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston have higher minimum GPA’s.

Texas A&M International University web page tries to reach more audiences by showing

how diverse they are. Texas A&M International University stresses the “International” part in

their name throughout their website. Under the content section of “current students,” they state

how students are all culturally diverse. They list the percentage of Mexican, American, French,

Jamaican, and even Italian students that are enrolled in the university. This reveals that when a
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student decides to go into this program, there is a chance that they will have a course with a

student from a different background. This encourages students to apply because this can interest

them and might make them want to join the university. This also shows that there is no room for

discrimination in the university. A student who reads this will see that no matter what

background they come from they are accepted and will be treated the same as others. This is not

the same as if the applicant would see that most of the students who are admitted are white. If

that were to be the case most applicants would turn away and not apply out of fear of being

discriminated against.

In the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, the GPA requirements are

different. This is because the methods of how student’s gap’s are calculated differently. In this

University, a minimum of a 2.75 GPA is required for all courses that were taken before applying

for the program. Also a GPA of 3.0 in all the science prerequisites is required for admissions.

Not only do they look at the overall GPA, but they also look at the science courses the applicant

has taken separately and calculates a GPA for them. This can reveal that this university is

focused on the student not only doing well in all their classes but also on their science courses.

Science courses are the main foundation of nursing and if an applicant has poor grades in the

basic sciences there is little to no chance of them excelling in their upper-level science courses

while they are in the program. By doing this and only allowing students who have good grades in

their courses, it helps prevent future complications for the students in future courses. It is stated

in the web page for University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, “Effective fall 2022:

3.0 GPA or higher in the required sixty hours of nursing prerequisites (UT Health Science Center

in Houston).” By doing this, it reveals that as time goes on the requirements are becoming larger

and more demanding. By leaving the previous prerequisite on the web page and the new
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requirement added like a later thought it is showing how before 2.75 was the minimum GPA to

apply and now the GPA has gone up to 3.0. In the web page they are still stating that “although

an applicant might have the minimum GPA required, that GPA is only to apply it does not mean

that they will be accepted in the program. (UT Health Science Center in Houston)” In the

“incoming class of 2021” section of the web page it states that the applicants who were admitted

into the program, had an overall GPA of 3.5 in overall GPA and a 3.7 science GPA. In putting

these statistics on their website, it is helping the applicants realize, that although the university is

saying that you might meet the minimum requirements, that does not mean you will get in and it

is setting the bar for what an applicant should compare his or her scores too.

The acceptance rate for University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston is

different than other universities. On the website it states that “only thirty students are admitted

every fall semester. (UT Health Science Center in Houston)” It does not state however how

many applicants apply each year. Since students are only admitted to the nursing program every

fall it makes the competition to being admitted even more difficult. In their web page it states,

“this program is a competitive program that requires students to excel academically” it also states

that “It is recommended that students admitted into the program to not be working at the time

that they are in the program because of the time studying it requires (UT Health Science Center

in Houston).” This reveals how difficult it is to be in this program, not only is it saying few

people are accepted but they are also saying if you are not accepted you will have to wait a

whole year to apply again. This can discourage a student from applying because they feel they

will have a harder time getting into the program.

In the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston does not state what their

student’s cultural backgrounds are. Their website is more structured and to the point. It is purely
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academic there is not much to read about the students or their lives on campus. This can make an

applicant feel like their life in this university will be purely studying. Since the applicant is not

able to see what student life is on campus and if there are people of the same cultural background

as them can make them feel like if they go to this university they will be an outcast.

For the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio the GPA requirements

and acceptance rate are different. In their web page it states that the minimum cumulative GPA is

2.5 and the minimum math and science GPA is 3.0. This is different from other schools that look

at only the cumulative GPA or the cumulative GPA and the science GPA. This can give an

applicant an insight on how demanding the university is and if it is more difficult to be admitted

to or not. The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio have on their website

that they only accept “forty applicants because of their capacity of their labs University of Texas

Health Science Center in San Antonio.” This shows that if they had more space or more rooms

for their labs more students could join. However, as an applicant reading that, that is one of the

reasons why they only accept so few applicants each year this can give a wrong impression about

the university. Universities have plenty of money and can expand their resources so the idea that

space is the reason there is a limitation as to how many people can join the program is

discouraging. It can also incline that this university is trying to tell students that they would like

to have more students but feel limited to only a certain amount because of the size of their lab. It

is left to the applicants to wonder if the university could expand their labs to admit more

students, would they? Universities do receive plenty of help from the government or any other

forms of money contributions and by stating that they only allow a few students every year only

based on their space capacity is presenting itself as a way of saying that although they want to,

they can’t which might not be the case.

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In the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio web page they do state

how most of their students come from Hispanic, African American, and American backgrounds.

In their “student life” portion of the website they show how they often have celebrations to

incorporate the student’s culture and make them feel more at home. This can encourage the

students because they will see that if they go to this university there will be more students like

them and it will help with the feeling of homesick and missing out on these important

celebrations.

There are many factors that come to an applicant’s mind when applying into a nursing

program. Not only do they look at what the school is requiring but they also look at if this school

is a good option for them depending on how their experience in the university will be. GPA

requirements and acceptance rates can help the applicant determine what their chances of being

accepted into the program are and seeing the cultural background students in these programs can

show them what kind of school they are and why they only accept certain types of students.
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Works Cited

“College of Nursing and Health Sciences.” https://www.tamiu.edu/conhs/bsn.shtml.

Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston https://nursing.uth.edu/prospstudent/admit-

rnbsn.htm

UT Health San Antonio School of Nursing https://www.uthscsa.edu/academics/nursing