6 Steps to Write an Impressive Nursing Entrance Essay

The major mistake that applicants make while writing a nursing entrance essay is that they take it as a standard personal statement. Well, if you want to succeed and enter nursing school this is not the right way. To be admitted into a nursing program, it is necessary to meet its requirements. As a rule, they include a nursing entrance essay, exams, and confirmation of academic excellence. Thus, the overall admission process could be frustrating for applicants in many ways. 

A good nursing entrance essay should demonstrate your ability to contribute to the field as a nurse. It gives the admissions committee a reason to believe that you are the best candidate for this position. So, what should the nursing entrance essay be like? First of all, it shows what being a nurse means to you. Thus, it is necessary to write it from the heart avoiding grammar mistakes and keeping it clear and structured. Also, it requires some research and inspiration.

Admission to nursing programs is highly competitive. That is why to enter the profession you should do your best. How to write an impressive nursing entrance essay and get admitted to a nursing school? Let’s figure it out!

What Is a Nursing Entrance Essay

A nursing entrance essay is an integral part of the admission process in nursing schools. It gives you some percentage of the grade in the exam for a nursing program. So, you should not underestimate its meaning. Students write this type of essay to demonstrate their incentives to become a professional nurse. Thus, they tell about reasons why they decide to choose this field and what they can do to contribute to the professional community. 

The entrance essay is a basic admission requirement for all nursing students. Also, it gives you about 35% of the grade for the Nurse Entrance Test being its integral part. The entrance essay is meant to demonstrate your motivation. Still, if you had an interest in the nursing field for your whole life, it is not enough. Of course, your dreams and ideas matter but it is far more important to tell about your qualities which are essential for a professional nurse. 

Your story, experience, key skills, and intentions should demonstrate that you are ready to join the nursing program. Your entrance essay also provides the admissions committee with an opportunity to know you better. Your achievements do not come down to SAT scores and grades. Thus, the nursing school entrance essay is a good chance to approve of yourself.

What to Include in a Nursing Entrance Essay

The entrance essay is more than a standard motivation letter. Thus, to make it a success you need to include some key points and keep it structured. There is a list of primary criteria that the admissions committee considers carefully. A perfect nursing entrance essay answers the questions “Why do I want to become a professional nurse?” and “What makes me the best candidate for this position?”.

There are some things expected to be seen in a good nursing school entrance essay:

• Why you are interested in nursing: any specific things about the field that catch your attention;
• Why you have chosen a specific program;
• Arguments that demonstrate your skills and preparedness to enter the profession;
• Your academic interests;
• Your personal view on the field and the way you can contribute to it;
• Personal achievements (transcripts, test scores, certificates, and etc.);
• Any experience related to nursing (for example, voluntary work);
• Arguments to consider your application.

Your personal qualities are the first thing that the admissions committee considers. So, you should make sure to highlight them. What are these qualities nursing students should have?

• Emotional stability;
• The ability to work under pressure;
• Good communication skills;
• Dedication to the profession;
• Time-management skills;
• Effective team-working.

It is quite difficult to show each of these qualities within a brief format of an entrance essay. But you can emphasize at least some of them. 

Actions speak louder than words. That is why volunteer experience is highly appreciated in nursing entrance essays. But what is the relevant volunteer experience? Each voluntary work that highlights your compassion and empathy serves the purpose of your essay. For example, volunteering in nursing homes, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and etc. is definitely desirable. 

To make your essay sound sincere and convincing you can tell what inspires you to become a nurse. Telling your story gives you a good chance to demonstrate your personal qualities such as devotion, compassion, empathy, and so on. You may also share your academic and employment objectives for the future. It will allow a reader to see what kind of person you are willing to become. And that can turn out to be a real reason for your admission.

6 Steps to Write an Entrance Essay

Writing a good essay requires some effort. From the very start, you need to think about its structure and the way it should look for the reader. What impression should it make? What will be the main outlines of your essay? Overall, producing a good entrance essay takes several steps. Let’s look at them in detail.

Step 1: Selecting a relevant topic

The topic for a nursing school entrance essay is quite conditional. It implies that you need to pick a relevant issue from your experience corresponding to the purpose of your essay. It should help you persuade the admissions committee that you are suitable for nursing and passionate about it. There probably was something in your life that led you to the decision to become a nurse. It can turn out to be a good outline for your entrance essay.

The topic should be interesting for the reader, so make sure you have adequately evaluated all possible options. For example, you may want to demonstrate your abilities and preparedness for nursing. In this case, you need to highlight your experience, education, and skills. Or you may prefer to persuade the reader that you are passionate about the field. Then you’d better tell a story about what inspired you to become a nurse. There are a great many options, so pick what you like most.

Step 2: Preliminary research 

The entrance essay is not just your personal story meant to show that you are good enough. Sometimes it is necessary to do some research to demonstrate your knowledge and proper understanding of the profession. The topic of this research mainly depends on what kind of nursing program you apply for. For example, you are interested in surgical nursing. In this case, you need to show that you understand their duties and clinical role.

This article will help you to sort out with types of nursing – 12 Types of Nurses Employers Want to Hire. 

Step 3: Making a draft

Well, you defined the main idea of your essay and did primary research. Now do not hurry to start it. Before writing an entrance essay you need to sort out how to organize it in a proper way. Making a draft will help you keep your essay structured and consistent. 

A draft implies a brief overview of what you plan to include in your essay: sections, ideas, insights, and so on. If you write down the structure of the paper and underline the main ideas for each section, it will be easier to produce a final version.

Step 4: Writing an informative introduction

This part is more important than it can seem. Its main purpose is to catch the reader’s interest. The introduction should give a brief overview of your topic and explain the objective of your entrance essay. You can start it from a general thing, for example, some facts or statistics. But then you need to relate this point to your own experience or an issue about your life. This part should be balanced: both laconic and informative. However, you do not need to overwhelm it with a lot of details or analysis. Leave further explanations for the body.

Step 5: Writing a consistent body

While the introduction provides a reader with a focus of your essay, the body shows the flow of your thought. Thus, it should reveal the ideas and outlines you kept in mind while making a draft. As a rule, each paragraph of the body contains the central idea you develop along the line. So, every section should have a promising beginning and a logical ending. Here you may add some analysis, detailed explanations, and reasoning. Remember the points you highlight in the introduction: the text of the body should not contradict the initial purpose of your essay. Do not hesitate to integrate some emotional components or a bit of storytelling into this part.

Step 6: Ending with a powerful conclusion

An impressive entrance essay will not work without a good conclusion. This part is meant to sum up the main ideas and give the admissions committee a reason to consider your application. You can also mention your future objectives and thank your readers for their attention. The conclusion is not the stage to give up on. Still, this is a good chance to consolidate success.

Effective Tips on Writing a Nursing Entrance Essay

1. Planning goes first

You may have a great many ideas to include in your entrance essay. To bring the system out of confusion it is necessary to plan what you are going to write.

2. Use personal examples

The primary purpose of an entrance essay is to convince your reader that you are the right candidate for a nursing program. To make your essay stand out, employ your experience, issues about your life, and personal examples.

3. Talk about your goals and dreams

Emotional components help to show that you are passionate about the profession. Share your goals and dreams related to nursing to demonstrate to the admissions committee that you see your future in the profession.

4. Demonstrate your ability to care about people

Empathy is one of the main qualities a good nurse should have. Give your reader a reason to believe that you are this kind of person who can care about others. It does not always come down to volunteer experience. If there were any situations in your life when you took care of someone, do not hesitate to mention it.

5. Explain why you apply for a specific nursing program

When you were looking for nursing programs, you probably kept in mind some criteria of a good institution for you. Tell your reader why you prefer this specific program you apply for to any others. This is an important factor to consider your application.

6. Proofread your essay

Undesirable mistakes can spoil the impression of your essay. Thus, before submitting it, make sure you carefully proofread it and removed all errors and unnecessary details.

Conclusion

The nursing school entrance essay is basically the most difficult part of the admission. It requires some effort as well as creativity. It is not easy to enter a nursing program because the admission process is pretty tough and competitive. The demand for professional nurses increases from year to year, but requirements remain unaltered. Only the best candidates succeed to pass the exam. And the entrance essay is a perfect chance to prove that you are going to be one of them.

Working on the entrance essay can be related to much stress as your future depends on it. Thus, if you have any problems with producing this kind of paper you can turn to a professional custom writing service such as Get Nursing Essay. Experts with degrees in nursing will help to save your time and minimize stress related to admission.