[Eunice]

Hi, every one!

I deeply would like to study in the nurse anesthesia program in the US. However, unfortunately, I was too immature to keep good GPA at the nursing school. i have a BSN. I took total 144 credits in the nursing school.

To raise my GPA, i am thinking about entering another school.
However, i don't know about the American educational system and my English is not enough to understand the all principle of universities.

is it OK to study in community college? then can i raise my last GPA? if not, do i have to go into the other university? what kind of requirements are needed?

Would you please help me to find the best way to enter the good nurse anesthesia program??
Let me have a chance to commit myself for America and my family.

Good luck!

[smiling_ru]

I think (emphasis on think) that it would be better for you to raise your GPA by taking higher level courses then would be offered at a community college. If you are just taking a few courses rather than enrolling as a degree seeking student then you generally do not have to meet university admission requirements. So you should be able to take some upper level science classes. If skills in english are still a little weak this may hinder your abililty fully understand the material in the classes. If that is the case I would suggest you take some english classes before starting the other classes. Once you are ready to apply to nurse anesthesia school, most universities require a TOEFL exam for foreign born nurses, so the english classes should help you out in that respect too. Good Luck to you! Hope this helped a little.

[loisane]

I agree with smiling_ru. I think university courses would help you the most. There is a good chance that admissions committees will consider them more challenging than the average community college course.

As an additional benefit, taking a university course would give you a chance to experience the US educational system and increase your English skills. Both would be a good investment to increase your success as a SRNA, and prove to an admissions committee that you will be successful, and deserve a place in their program.

good luck
loisane crna

[Eunice]

Thank you for your concern. I'm really happy to have a chance to talk with you on this site.

I'll never forget your help. I think I'd better take the university courses.

Thank you again.

[New CCU RN]

Eunice,

Although I am not a CRNA or SRNA yet (applying next fall), I have to just add to agreeing with the other posters on here. Definitely go for the university classes... good luck with them, I am sure you will do just fine. Other things you can do to help out would be to get some certifications...ie) ACLS, CCRN, etc. Definitely browse though some of the other postings on this site...they can definitely help ya out with knowledge.

Good luck

[srna]

Eunice,

I actually disagree with the other posts. Taking some courses at a community college will give you the more individualized attention that you need as opposed to a gigantic University lecture hall. Professors at the smaller campuses are more likely to answer your questions and demonstrate more patience with your language deficits.

I also suggest finding out what classes you need to complete the process on becoming a CRNA here in the U.S., and take those courses at the community college.

Furthermore, you may want to check out a university that has smaller branches in your local vicinity (Ex: satellite campuses)

Hope this helps.

[loisane]

srna,

I have to admit that is a good point. My thought was that anesthesia programs would be more "impressed" by the university name. So that makes a satellite campus an excellent idea, best of both worlds.

loisane crna

[Eunice]

I was deeply moved by your concerns about my question. Srna, thank you for your advice, and I will also have to consider community college or satellite university.

After listing about your advices, I visited several universities' web sites. Since I will live in the San Francisco, I am taking two universites into my account ; University of San Francisco and San Francisco State University.

I am feeling like I need to take statistics and science classes such as chemistry, organic chemistry, unorganic chemistry, biology, etc.
In the former school, there is a pre-health special course that offers those classes need to the persons who are supposed to go into health-related graduate school - medical, phamarcy, veterinarian, and so on. However tuition is so high- more than $10,000 per year. And there was no accurate admission requirements on the site.

In the latter school, I am considering about transferring to the Chemistry department as a junior, at the same time, as a second degree seeker or not. Tuition is just around $ 2, 000, however, I am afraid of thoughts of the possibility of class' difficulty to me.

I hope I could hear of your wisdoms.

[smiling_ru]

Well, here is my two cents,
Start with one class at a time, it won't be as expensive and it will not overload you. There are usually tutors available if you are having difficulty. If the difficulty is language related, take an english class or two first.