Students seeking Fall 2019 admission to the UTRGV Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program will be required to take the HESI admission assessment exam.
“We do not have unlimited space in the program,” said Sharon Radzyminski, dean of the nursing program. “We would like to take all 300 or 400 students that apply to the program, but we simply don’t have the space. So, we have to narrow it down to the students who are the best qualified and the most likely to succeed.”
Radzyminski said the Health Education Systems Inc. exam looks at math skills, science skills and critical thinking.
“The ability to look at something and appropriately judge and make a response based on the information that they have, those are crucial attributes for a nursing student,” she said.
Each year, about 350 students apply to the program and less than half are accepted.
“One hundred twenty get accepted each year,” she said. “We are hoping [HESI] will make the applications fair.
“We don’t want to take in students who are not going to be able to pass, students who are not going to be successful in nursing because that keeps out someone who might or would have been a better candidate.”
The average grade-point average to enter the program is about 3.5 and it gets higher every year, according to Radzyminski.
“This year, you needed over 3.8 to get into the program, especially in science and math,” she said. “We have known since the 1940s that individuals who succeed in the school of nursing, and do well, also succeed in science and math.”
Another change in the program is that starting in Spring 2020, the BSN will begin twice-a-year admissions for the spring and fall.
“Right now, we take all 120 students at the same time,” Radzyminski said. “Next year, we are going to take 60 in the fall and 60 in the spring. We are taking the same 120, but we are taking them in two different sections for a couple of reasons: one, smaller class size. … It gives us access to what we call ‘interactive learning.’ When you have smaller class size, the teacher can better interact with students.
“It is also if for any reason a student needs to repeat a course, right now, the student has to sit out a whole year. But if we admit students twice a year, it means that we have to teach every single class every semester. So, if a student needs to retake a course, they can take it immediately the next semester.”
Radzyminski said these changes will improve the educational experience students have with the nursing program.
“It is to help the student, so that we can pick, really, the best students out of those who apply, who are likely to be successful and who are likely to be really good, strong nurses,” she said.
Students who do not get accepted to the program can reapply the next semester.
“Do well in science and math,” Radzyminski said. “I know I keep saying that, but that is one of the No. 1 things we look at because we have 80 years of data that shows that students who do well in science and math, do well in nursing.”
