Did I just ruin my chances of becoming an NP?

Specialties Doctoral

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I just finished my first semester of nursing school but I got a C in patho....does this pretty much eliminate my chances of getting into a DNP program?

First things first. You need to get through this phase of nursing school before worrying about grad school. Focus instead on improving your study skills and the rest will follow.

Specializes in NICU.

You will probably need to be able to explain it to admissions or talk about it in your essay, but no it shouldn't outright do that to you. I got a C in chemistry because I was a freshman who didn't know how to yet study in college and a C in pharmacology because I wasn't studying well enough (got an A in patho during the same semester). Graduated with a 3.497 (yes so close to honors and yet so far away, lol)

I did have to explain my two poor grades during my admissions interview (top Ivy league school) and I said honestly that I didn't study enough and that they were not reflective of my abilities and I was a more mature student. I ended up graduating with my MSN magna cum laude so their gamble was a good one (got a B in grad school patho which was my most hard earned prize in school).

For those with lesser grades than mine or more than a couple of Cs, I know that at least at my school they suggested taking a class or two (preferably a science class like patho or pharm) as a non-matriculated student, i.e. you're not admitted as a regular student, but signed up to take a class. The idea is that you can "prove" yourself to the school that you can take on the heavy workload and be successful.

best of luck. Keep us posted on your journey.

Specializes in Assistant Professor, Nephrology, Internal Medicine.

Cross one bridge at a time. One bad grade never ruined anyone. But lack of focus on the here and now has ruined countless prospects.

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