Effectiveness of student admission essays in identifying attrition

Nursing school admission selection processes exist to select the “best and brightest” applicants assuming that those selected will be successful. However, attrition occurs. Effectiveness of grade point averages (GPAs) and test scores have been reported, while the effectiveness of essays in predicting attrition in undergraduate nursing education has not been reported in the literature. For the purposes of this study, attrition was defined as students enrolled in courses following acceptance into the program who did not complete the program. Data from a retrospective longitudinal sample including 236 students from one baccalaureate nursing program were analyzed for differences between students who completed the program (“completers”, n=193) and those who dropped out (“non-completers”, n=43). t-tests between the group mean essay scores revealed a statistical difference (t=2.092, p=0.043), while there was no statistical difference (t=0.22, p=ns) between the mean admission GPAs of the groups. Content analysis revealed thematic differences in the essays. Non-completers tended to write about nursing as external to themselves, in contrast to the completers who described an internalization of the role. Answers to questions of motivation for entering nursing and personal experience with a nurse may provide helpful information in selecting those students most likely to complete the program.