worried about low gpa, is there hope?

[slnurse]

Hey, I am a Canadian working in California as an RN and am very interested in becoming a CRNA. I will probably not apply for another 3 or so years (since I have to complete my initial Med-Surg contract, about another year, before I can get ICU experience), but I was wondering about all that green card, permanent residency stuff and how that influences costs, admissions,etc. I did all of my undergrad. nursing and science stuff in Canada, do they accept everything equally as an American University? Also, exactly what science courses are they looking at for the gpa? I did an undergrad. in science/engineering, but realized engineering was not for me once I got my science degree, so some of my calculus and engineering classes are pretty low, but my general chemistry/biochemistry/organic chemistries/anatomy & physiology marks are above a 3.5. I am just afraid they will see my transcripts and see how low some of those mathematics (e.g. calculus) and physics classes are. Thanks

[TraumaNurse]

slnurse,

I am also Canadian. I did my diploma is Canada and finished my BSN here in the US. As far as universities, most US universities will accept Canadian degrees. I do not know of any school that will not accept a Canadian university GPA. I had two transcripts from Canada and 1 from US.

You do not need to get a green card to go to school. However, if you have a couple of years, you may as well apply for one. It makes life easier and since you can't go back to Canada to practice as a CRNA, you might as well get your permanent residency.

Once you get your ICU experience, you can apply to CRNA schools. In the mean time, you could take a graduate level Pharmacology or Physiology as a non-matriculated student. Your science GPA sounds fine. I would not worry about old calculus grades. I failed calc miserably and was still accepted to several CRNA schools. No one cared about poor grades early in my academic career or the fact that I failed Calculus!

PM me if you have specific questions.

[Doug85]

I also have a quick question. After 1 1/2 years of college, my GPA currently stands at a 2.6. However, I have "changed my ways" recently and am trying extremely hard to bring that back up. I have four classes left to take at my community college: Micro, A&P 1, A&P 2, and Chem. Is GPA going to be a problem down the road?