How hard is it to get in to CRNA School is the question every aspiring ICU Nurse who wants to become a Nurse Anethesists wants to know and spends their time researching.
In this post I am going to go over some of the things you can do ( and a few things I did ) to make reaching your goal of completing all the CRNA School requirements for getting into Anesthesia School a lot little easier.
I went through some obstacles to get into CRNA school. Despite what could have been roadblocks for me I am now enjoying a succesful 10 year career of providing anesthesia as a Nurse Anesthelogist.
Let me be the first to tell you it was all worth it to become a practing Certified Registered Nurse Anethesist!
For some people getting into CRNA School was a breeze. They knew they wanted to become a CRNA since they were a kid and planned their life out to fulfill their anesthesia giving goals.
I was not one of thise people. I did not know what a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists was until I was already in college. Many of the things I had to learn about becoming a CRNA and do was because I had to play catchup to pursue my now dream career of becomoing a CRNA.
When I discovered I wanted to become a CRNA I quickly learned I had a lot of catching up to do. My path in school at the time wasn’t putting me into the prerequisite classes that I needed. I still needed to get into Nursing school. On top of that I had really zero knowledge of anything medical,no one in my family was medical and my GPA then was just getting by. I quickly had to get focused and learn to study so I could become Nurse Anethesist.
You may find yourself in the same boat I was back then trying to figure out what you need to do , where you need to focus and who can help you get there. I know it can seem like a monumental burdensome long drawn out process to get into CRNA school. Then you have to finish Anesthesia school , pass boards, and begin practicing as a CRNA, but I promise you its worth it.
If I can do it, you can too. If you stay focused and don’t give up.
What is so hard about getting into CRNA School?
Its hard because its competitive. Its hard because they expect the best Nurses. Its hard because they expect the best out of the ICU experienced nurses who apply.
Look, its not impossible. Not even close.
Some of you Nurses reading this right now may find it super easy to get into any Nurse Anesthesia Program you apply.
But, its not easy for everyone and it was definitely not easy for me. Granted, alot of the reasons it was hard for me was because of my own doing or lack of doing. When I decided to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anethesist I did not even know what the Nurse anesthetist school requirements were at that time.
What are some of the Nurse anesthetist school requirements?
Most CRNA schools have the same basic requirements to get into school, but they may all vary just a bit from program to program.
If you want to know the in depth requirements for each school we have them listed induavidually under Accredited Anesthesia Programs. You can search the Schools by state and see their updated requirments.
Here are some of the Requirments that most schools have:
- Have a Bachelers of Science in Nursing (BSN)
- Passed the NCLEX and have a Nursing License
- Have 1-3 years of ICU or Crital care experience
- Have a Cumulative gpa of 3.0 ( some may require a certain science gpa)
- Taken the GRE
- Have your CCRN certification
- Shadowed a CRNA in the Operationg Room
Every school has its own prerequisites that you must complete to be able to be considered for admission to their school. The list above is a general guide.
Once you have a list of what CRNA Schools you want to apply to then make sure you throughly understand what science cources, clinical experience and other prerequisites you need to apply.
Getting all thiese things together takes a good considerable amount of time , so don’t think you have all the time in the world to start getting it together. Start as soon as you can. One of the most painful things to get is your transcripts from your undergraduate courses. This may take a while and you don’t want to be waiting on them.
Your GPA, The CCRN and GRE….Oh My
What is the most importat thing on this list of prerequisites? Now, this is just my opinion and someone who likes to argue may argue differently.
But, Its your GPA.
Unfortunately your GPA is the hardest thing to change on this whole list. Even though its the hardest thing to change its still possible to do.
When I first started out in college my number one goal was to make a 2.5 GPA each semester. If I had a 2.5 GPA then that meant I was still eligible to play baseball and most importantly it keept me out of the athletic study hall.
When having a 2.5 GPA is your goal guess what you make that first semester, a 2.56! I stayed out of study hall but made my life harder once I decided to become a CRNA and go to CRNA School.
Once I decided that I wanted to become a Nurse anethesist I had to really buckle down and show I could do the work. Let me tell you, its hard for some people ( I’m talking about myself here) to grab school by the horns and buckle down sometimes. I was so used to coasting and doing the bare minimum.
Once I finished getting my BSN degree , passed my NCLEX and started working, I knew I still needed to do some more work on my GPA.
If you want to find out more about how I decided to become a CRNA go here to the About me Page.
I had to show all the CRNA schools I could make the grade.
I needed to show all the crna schools that I was applying to that I was not the same student I was when I was starting out in college. I had to show the admissions committee that I could do the hard graduate level work and succeed at it.
Luckily, while I was working in the Cardiac ICU I talked to several Nurses and CRNA’s who told me about this particular Advanced Pathophysiology class at Vanderbilt University school of Nursing.
This class was difficult , but if I took it and did well it showed the admissions committee that I was able to do the advanced level work that CRNA School required.
Taking an advanced level Nursing class and passing can really show the admissions committee that you are capable of doing the advanced level work and it also shows that you are commited to pursue your goal of becoming a Nurse Anethetist.
Make sure when you are taking any advanced level courses you absolutly make an A in that class. You aren’t taking this for fun, you are taking it to show that you can do the work and succeed in advanced concepts in Nursing.
CRNA Schools and the GRE
I have good news about the GRE and Bad news.
The Good News: At the time of this article only about 50% of the CRNA schools require you to take the GRE as a requirement for school.
The Bad News: Around 50% of schools require you to take the GRE.
I remember taking this test and as far as I can remember it had absolutly nothing to do with health care. There was a lot of math, some geometry and some sort of essay I had to write.
I studied for the GRE but I don’t recall studying a whole lot. What I did do to study for this test was to buy a GRE study guide at one of the books stores. I would sit at home at night and gradually skim through it and do the work. I don’t think I really even went though the whole book as I was studying.
I can’t remember exactly what my GRE score was, but It was not great. After I got into Nurse anesthetist school I spoke with some of my classmates and they had similar GRE scores as I did.
So, If you don’t make as good of a graduate record examination score (GRE) , don’t get too upset about it cause its not the end of the world.
One thing I would do if I was applying to a school that requires the GRE is call the school and speak to someone who knows about the admission requirements and see how much weight they put on the GRE. Also, you may want to ask a few students who currently attend there or just graduated to see what there thoughts are on the GRE at that school.
If you want to do some practice GRE test of learn more about it you can go here or check out a GRE Review book on Amazon.
Should I take the CCRN certification exam?
There are many CRNA programs that require you to take get your CCRN certification. But, there are also other programs that just “recommend” that you get your CCRN.
Getting your CCRN is going to help you in the admissions process. This test , unlike the GRE is all health care related. Don’t think that this test is going to be a breeze because you have ICU experience and have seen it all.
I recommend that you do a little study and prep work to just get yourself in the best position possible to pass. You can pick yourself up a study guide at Amazon or even take a review class.
There are several study programs out there to help you with studying for your CCRN. Most of the study programs are online and at your own pace.
The last time I looked at the AACN website ( Summer of 2023) I belive to qualify for the CCRN you had to be bedside nursing in a critical and intensive care unit or acute care area for the last two years. If you want to see all the information about taking the CCRN you can head over to the AACN website for all the up to date details on CCRN Requirments.
What are some other things You may Need for CRNA School?
Many CRNA Schools require you to shadow a CRNA and may also ask you to write a personal statement on why you want to become a Nurse anesthetist.
Shadowing a CRNA in the operating room is usally a pretty easy task to accomplish if you know one of the Nurse Anesthetist at your hospital. But, what if you don’t know any of the Anesthesia providers where you work?
I’ve worked at many hospitals in my career and with a lot of CRNA’s, I have yet to see any CRNA not be a huge proponet of our profession and willing to help another RN who wants to become a Nurse Anesthesiologist
So, don’t be scared to just walk up to one of the CRNA’s and tell them that you want to become a CRNA and ask if they have any advice for you. Once you break the ice you can ask them if you can shadow down’ in the Operating room.
If you don’t feel comfortable walking up to a stranger you don’t know try calling down to the Anesthesia office and asking to speak to a CRNA. Tell them who you are and that you want to become a CRNA.
It is a lot easier to shadow someone in the hospital that you work at then to try and get permission to shadow at a facility you don’t work and they don’t know you. If that is your only route, then you can still make it work, but you may have to jump through a few more steps on getting permission.
Writing your personal Statement.
This may be one of the harder things for many people to do in the application process. Many of the schools want you to write 1-2 pages about yourself and why you want to become a Certified registered nurse anesthetist.
Writing about one’s self is not always the easiest thing to do. The easiest part of the writing your personal statement is writing about your education and work experience.
The hardest part is writing about why you want to become a CRNA. I know that a lot of people want to become a Nurse anesthetist because of the 6 figure saleries. I don’t think that would be the best thing to put in your personal statements.
The angle I took in my statement was that all the CRNA’s I know were so very knowledgable in so many areas of healthcare. They worked in a variety of areas and all seemed so passionate about providing excellent care to every person. I also said that I wanted to be one of these people and help promote the excellent care Nurse anesthetist can give.
If you can put any personal experience about you shadowing or working with a CRNA in your personal statement that would be great.
What to do if English is not my first language?
If you received much of your education in another country and meet all the other requirments you will need to take the TOEFL which stands for Test of English as a Foreign language.
If you are worried about taking this test there are several companies that have practice test you can take.
You got to have ICU experience!
When I was graduating from Nursing school it was not real easy to get a job in one of the ICU’s where I lived. I had to start out in one of the step down units and move to the ICU once they had an opening.
The way the Nursing market is now I don’t think it is as difficult to get a job in an ICU. Of course this may be dependant on the area you live and this may change in the years to come.
There are sever different types of ICU in different hospitals. Some hospitals are large teaching hospitals and have 4 or more ICU’s. Where I started working the Hospital had a MICU, SICU, Neuro ICU, Cardiac ICU, Trauma ICU and everything inbetween.
As long as you can get into one of these units and get experience with Drips and ventilators I don’t think the type of unit you work in matters. The experience of working with high acuity patients is what the CRNA schools are looking for. What may make a difference is the size of the hospital you work.
Some smaller hospitals and their ICU do not have the high acuity of patients that the CRNA Programs require. If you currently work in an ICU in a small town or city you may need to consider moving to a large hospital in another town so that you can get the experience of some sicker patients.
Many of the CRNA schools require that you have atleast 1 year of ICU experience. Some of the Schools require you have 1.5 – 2 years of experience before you even apply to CRNA School.
Your Certifications : Keep them Current
You need certifications when you work in the Unit such as Basic life support (BLS), Pediatric advanced life support (PALS), and Advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS). You will also need these certifications before you begin school.
Some Adult ICU’s don’t require you to get your Pediatric advanced cardiac life support ( PALS) but you will need it for your Nurse anesthetist school requirements.
Understanding the CRNA School application Process
Trying to figure out the application process can be difficult and confusing at times. With so many good Anesthesia Programs to choose from its really important to understand what each school requires.
I remember when I decided to become a CRNA I spent a lot of time researching all the CRNA schools and trying to figure out what each school required and when they required it. One of the hardest things to do is decide on which Nurse Anesthetist Schools you want to apply to.
It was really difficult to firuge out what school required what prerequisite courses, when the deadline was, how much it cost, where I needed to send everything, how to get references, etc etc.
One thing to take into account when applying for Nurse Anesthesia Programs is that some schools require you to pay an application fee. Most of the times the fee is around $20-50 but if you apply to a lot of schools this can quickly add up.
Where are you going to live?
It always sounds fun applying to Anesthesia school in another part of the country, moving out there , and having a big adventure while you attend school.
Luckily, when I applied to school the school I was accepted to was close to me so that I did not have to move or worry about finding a place to stay.
If you get into a CRNA Program in another state or City finding housing may be an extra stressor on you. You may have to figure out what to do with your current living situation, do you have family to bring with you, how much does housing cost , is there housing in a nice safe area?
Plus how much will the housing and move cost you just to have a plce to stay during Nurse Anesthetist school?
Many of these things we will talk about in nother post on CRNASchool.com but just know that if you don’t have the money to move you may want to start saving now or look into some type of financial aid that you can use for hoursing. Your financial aid advisiors at school can be a great help in this area as well.
Applying can be Tough, Don’t give up!
Applying to anesthesia school can be a tedious and difficult task. There are lots of things to consider, checklist to make, money to save, and deadlines to meet.
If you really have the desire to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist then you can do it. It may take you some time to get everything in line or to raise your GPA but don’t give up.
You may have a lot more questions or you may need help. Don’t ever be afraid to seek out help by reaching out to Us here at CRNAschoo.com or to a CRNA you see walking the hallway in your hospital.
You Can do it!!