Applying for College Acceptance to Multiple Schools -How Bad Does It Look?

Updated on September 19, 2011
M.K. asks from Warrensburg, MO
14 answers

Being ex-military, I have three seperate schools under my belt. In trying to find a feasible way to return to school (and knowing I want to apply to at least 3 local colleges for the nursing program with the hopes that I will be accepted to at least one of them) I need to get ALL of the prereqs for each school (and of course, they are different!). For instance, one university requires anthropology and statistics, while another requires philosophy, ect,. WIth no daycare, and limited night classes for what I need available, I have found a way to knock out the four classes that will complete the req's for ALL three schools. There are two online classes for one school and a night class apeice for two other schools (two very close, the online in FL, but I've used them before).

Now for the question. Assuming all my research is complete and all classes will count and transfer with no problems, I still feel like somewhat of a school mutt, if you know what I mean. I can't help but wonder when I apply to the university's if they won't look at prereqs from five or six different schools and judge me in that I 1) either don't follow through with what I start, or 2) just think that I am scatter brainded and all over the place, period. Neither of which, of course, are good qualities for a nurse!

What do you think? Will my school slut status hinder my application process for the nursing program at major universities?

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Featured Answers

J.W.

answers from St. Louis on

I don't really know the answer. I know that they do take consideration to where a prerequisite was earned and the grade achieved. So I don't think they will care if you earned them in different institutions so long as they are institutions that they allow credit to transfer from.

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M.B.

answers from Austin on

Frankly, being ex-military will probably put you at an advantage... they see that you have already been out in the world serving the country. They are used to having multiple college transcripts to deal with in that case. They also know you are ready to settle down at this point, and they won't have to deal with someone who doesn't know what real life is like.

Most high school students apply to multiple colleges anyway.. my daughter, when she finished her Bachelor's, applied to 5 different universities for her grad program.... she was invited to 4 of them for a recruiting weekend (she is working on her Doctorate in Microbiology), and was accepted to all 4 of those. She ended up choosing Johns Hopkins.

I think they will see determination to follow through, especially since (if I understand it correctly) you are utilizing several different colleges to get your requirements finished as soon as possible.

At any rate, I wish you the best of luck! I don't think you will have too many problems... but, understand that slots in most nursing programs are pretty competitive.. it may take a couple of semesters of applying to be accepted.

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C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

First off thank you for your service and sacrifices for our country!!

Are you utilizing the GI Bill?

I would do what I needed to do to get all the pre-reqs done...and apply to as many schools as you want - colleges EXPECT you to apply multiple schools, not just one.

The fact that you GOT the pre-reqs will let the board know you are SERIOUS about your education and that, in my opinion, will serve you well!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!

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C.W.

answers from Santa Barbara on

I really think that professional programs, grad school and even universities expect you to be applying to other programs or schools. My daughter certainly didn't limit herself. As far as attending multiple colleges already, being in the military absolutely explains this.

Even applying for jobs, potential employers will ask if you are looking at other opportunities. This came up with my current employer (started in April) in the first five minutes and I told them the truth that I was.

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S.O.

answers from San Antonio on

Absolutely not!!!

5 yrs after my bachelors degree and working, I decided to go to grad school.
I only applied to 2 schools, b/c they were near my parents' home. I have been in a car wreck and lost my job b/c I needed 3 weeks off to recover and replace my car. Both schools accepted me and offered a financial aid pkg. By having more than one option, I could evaluate and compare what was best to make a good choice.

2 yrs ago, my oldest applied to 9 colleges in his Sr yr of high school. Very stressful!!!! 9 is a lot, but he was willing to do the work and then when it came time for making a decision, he had 4 rejections and 5 acceptances that we could consider.

I think applying to more than one school shows that you are a person who is careful and considers all options, so you can make the best choice. Good Luck!

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C.K.

answers from Minneapolis on

Someone was confused about the prerequisites for nursing school. I'm assuming that you might already have a degree in something else and are trying to get accepted into an accelerated, nursing only portion for your degree? I'm in that boat myself. I have a BA in French, but in order to get into the nursing program (a master's program) that I desire, I had to take 9 prereqs. I have 2 more to go. I chose to do it all at one institution, which was really inconvenient due to scheduling, and it was expensive. However, the program that I want to get into is highly competitive, so I chose a highly competitive school (the same one that I'm applying to for nursing) to complete my prereqs. I don't know if this was the right choice, but my gut tells me that they'll favor credits from the most reputable school around, even though they say they don't. Definitely talk to the people involved in admissions at all the schools you're applying to. Good luck!

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T.W.

answers from Syracuse on

Which school would you most like to go to? I would call and set up an appt. to meet with someone in the nursing program/admissions about your application to the school. They'll be able to guide you with what you need to do to get in. I wouldn't worry too much about having gone through three other schools, being military they'll take that into consideration.

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K.W.

answers from Los Angeles on

I have no experience with nursing school or college admissions, but my guess would be that there's an essay component in which you can explain that, and present it in a positive light. I'm sure it's pretty common in that field, as long as you're coming from quality schools/programs and have the grades they're looking for.

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K.M.

answers from Chicago on

I think that if you have good reasonings for "bouncing" from different schools it will not be a problem. Some people just do not know what they want to do right away, it's ok just give good reasoning.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

In my opinion you need to apply and see what happens. You never really know if a class will transfer in after you go to all the trouble of taking it. I know many times people would be frustrated in this area when going into a new program. There would be just one thing off about the class and it would not count. One time a Jr. college had changed the number of the class from 001 to 301 and it was not considered to be the correct class. It did not transfer so the correct one had to be taken, it was the same material too.

Get accepted and then talk to the adviser about what online classes you can take. They may not have any issues but they may tell you that some of those classes have to be taken in house. In my Sociology program the Department Head taught the Statistics class. It was the same as the statistics class online, same number and everything but he taught this one class from the sociology perspective and usually only the sociology majors took it. It was a required class and if you took stat. from another school or online you still had to take it from him. So it would have been a waste of money for me it I had taken it beforehand.

Congratulations on going back to school. Enjoy it!

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L.C.

answers from Washington DC on

No - they won't even think about that.
Just get your pre-requisites done and apply.
LBC

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L..

answers from Roanoke on

I'm a little confused about the prerequisites for nursing school..I have friends that went straight into college for nursing, but I'm unsure about what you're trying to accomplish?

Maybe you could call the schools you want to apply to and talk to admissions about the classes? You might be able to test out of some of them or be waived for others, depending on which classes you've taken in the past. I would do that first before trying to meet requirements for all 3 schools... because it could be a waste of time, considering you are only going to go into ONE school to finish.

Overall, I think the school you choose will be understanding, since you have a military background. Plus, schools take many factors into consideration (grades, character, etc), not just where you come from. Good luck!

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

Colleges EXPECT you to be applying to as many schools as possible. They'd look far more askance at an applicant who only applies to their 'top choice' school.

Hence the phrases 'top choice' & 'saftey school', btw.

Most students apply to 5 or 6 programs/schools

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G.H.

answers from Chicago on

you would be crazy NOT to apply to multiple schools

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