Posted by Re-applicant on January 26, 2012, 4:39 pm
I will be re-applying to Nova Ft. Lauderdale and was just wondering what their policies are regarding re-applicants; I couldn't find any information on their website and can't seem to get an e-mail response.
Do they require re-applicants to submit two additional LORs like Emory and South?
Also, do re-applicants need to submit a summary of a different journal article or will the article from last year suffice?
Finally, will I need to fill out a completely new application as if I'm a first-time applicant or do they hold applications for a year or whatever?
There is no need of any additional LORs or summary of an article. Just update them with any recent transcripts or any improved scores. Sending additional references will not hurt, it will be advantageous!
Wow, I'm surprised to hear that Nova doesn't require re-applicants to demonstrate that they have improved their application in at least some way.
Since re-applicants have to submit a completely new application anyways, it almost sounds like they won't even know that I'm a re-applicant. Do you know if Nova takes into consideration the fact that someone is a re-applicant, or are they not even aware of it? Do they even compare your application from the previous cycle to the one submitted during the present cycle?
They definitely look at last year's application. The new application is to see if you have any improvements or not as you need to fill up the prerequisites, volunteer experience, healthcare experience, shadowing experience in the new application too.
In my case, I submitted 2 new reference letters and 1 new LOR, more shadowing, and the transcripts of prerequisites. I think those really helped!
I personally think it would be advantageous and shows that you are really interested in this career if you shadow more and get in additional reference letters.
I don't mean to discourage you, but that is not a significant nor meaningful improvement of a previous application (if that's all you added).
How much time and effort does it take to get 3 new rec letters? A few days, at most?
everybody and their brother can take the GRE again or add more classes. Unfortunately, adding academics does NOT stand out.
More shadowing hours is a start, but it is not very impressive at all if the only improvement you made in the category of clinical experience is more shadowing hours.
Seriously, a handful of days shadowing does NOT demonstrate a personal interest or desire to be an AA. That's called doing the bare minimum.
The common theme that the majority of re-applicants seems to miss is conveying an unmistakable, unwavering desire to become an anesthetist. If it were me, and i wanted to be 100% sure i would at minimum get an interview, i would make sure that my application showed that I re-organized and re-structured my "career" around healthcare. Get a full-time job working in a clinical setting. Do that, and on paper it leaves no doubt that you are serious about getting into anesthesia school.
every single applicant that interviews says that all they want to do is be an AA, and that they want to be an AA so bad because of X, Y, and Z. The problem is that unless you have a concrete way to show that you're working towards that goal that separates you from everyone else in your interview group, it is only just a talking point. Nothing more. Back it up on paper. There's too much at stake.
The truth is, if all your doing is spending a few days out of the year to "improve your application", in a year you're going to be right back in the exact same place you are now. Not doing more makes you seem lazy and entitled. Seriously, if your finished with undergrad (which is the assumption this entire post is based on), what else do you have to be doing with your time?
Get serious. Get a job at a hospital.
Yes, you'll need a specific certification or license if all you currently have is a bachelor's degree. Big deal. Its not impossible. If you want to go to AA school, figure it out. You have an entire year.
Congrats. Enjoy your time off before school starts.
I wasn't necessarily speaking to just you. There have been several posts lately from people complaining about re-applying. My post was more directed at that group of people.
If people want to roll the dice with a minimally "improved" second application, that's fine. Here's an example of it working out. But you cannot make the argument that a few rec letters and a handful of shadowing hours is even on the same level as full-time healthcare job. Its not just about making yourself look good on paper; It's an opportunity to grow as a human being.
I personally would do more and mitigate the risk as much as possible if I were in that situation.
working in some minimum-wage assistant/tech job that typically requires no other qualifications other than a GED is an "opportunity to grow as a human being?"
it never hurts to get experience in the field, but come on - what about the majority of applicants who get accepted without having any healthcare work experience whatsoever? and how does working as, say, a CNA really help someone be a better future AA (aside from the fact that it involves a limited degree of basic patient contact)?
also, keep in mind that we're talking about Nova here - aka, the school known for generally having the most lenient admissions standards/criteria (according to people who are involved with the AAAA in high-ranking positions). the truth is, you most likely CAN get accepted to Nova as a re-applicant with just a few extra reference forms, shadowing hours, and improved test scores.
YES, working some minimum wage job where all you need is a GED will give you the opportunity to grow as a person. Here's why:
Will stocking an IV cart everyday for 12 months make you grow as a person? Absolutely not. But working a job in an environment that gives a front-row seat to observe how the healthcare process really works WILL make you grow as a person.
Developing a true sense of humility and humbleness will make you grow as a person. Example: you're a tech, yet you have a bachelor's degree and outstanding grades and test scores. You're academic accomplishments and education are far surpass that of the general pubic. Yet the employee directly above you is a nurse, who in some cases may only have an associates degree. You have to help them get/deliver/set-up/clean whatever they say they need. And they get paid a lot more than you. That's humbling. Combine that with the fact that you look around and eventually realize that every single healthcare provider in any room you are in is more skilled, knowledgeable, valuable and essential than you are at the present moment. That's motivating.
How will that help you years later as an AA? Easy. You won't be a dick to the other people who are lower than you on the totem pole. Because you've been there and you know how it makes you feel like crap when someone talks down to you because your just a tech and because they can. Starting at the bottom makes you a better team player when you eventually move up.
Don't you think that would be a useful life lesson for someone who, say, never worked a day in their life during undergrad, was accepted straight into anesthesia school, and is now an AA making a six figure salary? Hell, just listen to the tone of some of these people on this message board. How do you think that person is likely to interact with their subordinates?
Being confronted with the hardships that certain segments of the population face will make you grow as a person. Example: I helped care for a pt who was severely hyperkalemic because she did not have $5 to pay for the bus ride back and forth from the dialysis center and missed her dialysis appointments for an entire week. I didn’t even know what dialysis was before I started working, let alone that for some people $5 is that hard to come by. Say what you want about the poor and politics, but that lady was suffering and seeing it sucked. I wouldn't wish that situation on anyone, regardless of what she did to end up there. Seeing situations like that, for months on end, changes the way you think about the world.
My rebuttal to your argument: At moments like that, it does not matter than your only responsibility is putting monitors on her when she comes in and collecting and sending her blood samples to the lab. If your eyes are open, you grow as a person.
It's close-minded views like yours that would benefit from working a healthcare job. I can tell you that my view of the world was night and day from when I left on my last shift compared to my first one. I wasn't expecting to, but I had significantly grown as a person.
I'm not advocating that every AA applicant has to work healthcare prior to school. I just can't agree with the general theme is that "doing less is better." Just because certain people don’t HAVE to get a healthcare job to be successful during a re-application cycle does NOT mean it ought to be celebrated and coveted by others. Moreover, it troubles me that multiple people on this board have talked about how they don't want to work as a tech, transporter, nurse's assistant because it is beneath them, because they are too good for that role. My argument still is that a lowly healthcare job DOES have a lot to offer that goes far beyond making yourself look better on paper.