[lovebug1]

Hi,

I am new to this board and love it!

I have decided to pursue the RN path and am a little nervous. My situation follows:

I am 36 years old, married with 3 wonderful children. I attended LMC college in 1989 and did not do so great. I was 18 and not motivated. A year later I decided to go through a Dental Assisting program at DVC JC and did well. Years later in 2000 I decided to pursue college with a family and work. I have taken Math, English, Psy 1,9 Speech 1, Music, History, Sociology 1. Now within the part time schooling over 6 years I have had some W's and an incomplete(History) turned into and F. I did not fully understand that I needed to finish the course within a year. So my GPA was damaged with the F. I will retake it and it will cancel it out.

Sorry so long......

Now here is my ? With my grades in 1989(which is where the Nursing Program is offered) and my grades from the other college, I am nervous on how I will look as a prospective nursing student. What do you all think? Should I even try? I am taking my pre-reqs at the college where the RN program is now. So I am praying my pre-reqs and hard work will help overlook my past.

My grades for pre-reqs are not all A's( a little nervous)

English B+
Psy 1-B(not sure which one they will use)
Psy 9-A

I am taking Chem(for Micro) F/08
An intro to Anatomy F/08 Recommended

Then try to get into the final pre-reqs( Very hard to get into courses) I am not high on the Priority Registering List.

Finally, I am very nervous even if I get A's in all courses with my past I am praying it does not make my GPA low.

Ok sorry so long.... Any advice would be great. I really would love to go for this but not happy with past and the RN program is Lottery. It is very hard to get into and have heard some have waited a couple of years to get in.

Thanks for listening!

[Mia123]

I, too, went to college late 80's/early 90's and could have cared less. I failed classes, stopped going, did not withdrawl. My GPA was in the gutter. In 2001, after my 1st son was born, I decided I needed to go back to school and set a good example for him. I had to take the remedial math classes, but started plugging away. After 2 years of pre-reqs, with mostly A's and a few B's, I was accepted into the community college's Associates Degree Nursing Program. But guess what! I was pregnant with twins and I knew there was no way I could do full time nursing school AND have newborn twins. SOOOO.... I decided to start taking pre-reqs for the BSN program. I transferred to a different college that offered more online classes and I continued taking a few classes a semester and some online classes. I continued to keep my grades at A's and a few B's. I finally completed all the pre-reqs and applied to a University that had just started a part-time BSN program in the town I live in! Until this, I had been driving a minimum of one hour each way to class. Now, it would only be 7 minutes to class if I got in! My GPA was slightly above the minimum to apply (2.75). I was very worried about that! BUT, I had completed ALL my pre-reqs and did awesome on my TEAS test. To make a long story short, I got in on my first try, have been loving the part-time program, AND I WILL BE GRADUATING WITH MY BSN IN DECEMBER 2008!!!!

It can be done! It was not and is not easy, but it is dooable. I am not on the Dean's list, but my GPA when I graduate will be up to a 3.2.

[Hotflashn]

First, go to an informational meeting at LMC and ANY OTHER COLLEGE you can possibly go to. Do not count on getting into LMC - there are often 400 applicants for like 40 slots or whatever. Even if you apply year after year you may not ever get your name chosen. It has poor odds! Solano and Napa have waitlists, get on them (and any others you can) as soon as you can, then keep applying to LMC or CC lotteries. If you get in, great, if not, at least you have a guaranteed seat in one of the other programs waiting for you. Do not put all your eggs in one basket. The waitlist schools have long lists, but they move faster than they say. Apply to as many schools as possible. The lottery schools usually require that you have more of your GE and supporting classes finished before you can put your name in the hat, but waitlists schools in the area often let you apply with just the 4 core ADN preqs. So you can get on the lists and keep working on LMCs additional prereqs, then take whatever comes up first.

Go to as many of those wretched info seminars as you can stomach. Hear what the different programs require and pick up tips and hints. By going to several you can relaly get a feel for what you need to do. Do whatever you can to optimize your chances.

Lastly, get some As! If you do well on your bioscience prereqs, you CAN get in and the past will likely be canceled our. Talk to counselors at the schools and see if you can't get an academic forgiveness to sort of strike the long ago bad grades from your record. I am not sure exactly how to go about it, but many program offer fresh starts. Also, any RN program you go to will want ALL of your transcripts from any school you have attended even if it is not nursing related. Those grades can be part of your overall GPA. You might not be able to get into the highly impacted and competitive BSN programs, but you should be able to get into the ADN programs in the area if you do well from here on out. Another option might be going through a side door - LVN to RN, and if you want a BSN then RN to BSN. Though in the long run that can be more schooling, you can often get into the LVN program at LMC.

Good luck!