A C+ student to be a future nurse?

Nursing Students General Students

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Hi, i am a senior in high school who in a the last year figured out that i want to be a nurse and eventually get my bsn. Ive been doing a lot of research and getting a vibe that it's very hard and only for the 'top' students, making me feel realllyyyy pressured. like im just A girl who has high ambitions and knows that I WANT TO DO THIS. but what do you guys think?

Specializes in ICU Stepdown.

If you really WANT it, get it together and become an A student :) I'm sure you can skate through nursing school somehow but a degree doesn't make you a nurse, you have to take and pass the NCLEX.

That "want" has to be strong enough to motivate you to do better. Getting into the nursing program can be competitive, so, obviously, the better you do, the higher chance you have of getting in.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Nursing school takes the students with top grades; for you, a viable solution is to start at the community college level, take pre-requisites (required classes before taking the major courses related to the degree) and aim for A's and B's and then seek out the nursing programs that you desire; also look into doing well on the ACT and SAT in the meantime, as well as do well now to help strengthen your current academic situation.

Best wishes.

What they said. Of course you feel "way pressured" for good grades, because that IS the only way you will become a nurse. You are already a senior in high school, with a poor academic standing, so getting accepted into a BSN program as a freshman isn't going to happen.

LadyFree laid out the best route for you to take, to try to get where you want to be: do well this year and go to a community college for your pre-requisite courses. There is typically more than a year of pre-requs to take before being admitted into any nursing program, ADN or BSN, so you have time to work not only on getting an excellent GPA in college courses but also getting some of the requirements out of the way too.

WANTING to become a nurse is a great thing, and I wish you success. If your current low GPA in high school is due to your lack of motivation, NOW is the time to find it. The question "Can a C+ student become a nurse?" could be answered very simply....NO. But the answer is more like "not just yet" rather than "never". Get your grades up NOW.....get an excellent GPA in community college courses....and then you'll be in a decent position to apply to either an ADN or BSN program down the road.

Good luck!

Many C students find they can get an A or a B by working two, three, four or more times harder. If that is what you need to do, then do it. You will start to see improvement as you start to study more efficiently.

I was one of those not good high school students. I can't even say C average more like C-. I barely graduated. I went to a CC got straight A's and was desired by all the schools after that. It really didn't even need to set me back time either. I went to CC the summer after I graduated high school till the following summer. I couldn't be a nursing major but I took the general education and science classes a nursing major would. Feeling pressure is good you need to get serious about grades but don't feel it's not within your reach only because of high school grades.

This comment honestly gives me assurance, thank you. I live in nyc so now its just finding a good CC.

I was not motivated in high school at all. I got decent grades but not great ones. I took time off and got a bit more settled. I went to a larger college that use to be a community college for my prerequisites. They had a huge focus on student success, smaller class sizes, less expensive, and grading based off your knowledge rather than a curve. I maintained a rather solid GPA for my prerequisites because of those things. Honor society and the whole nine yards. You never know unless you try, right?

Everyone else has given great responses and answered your question. My advice would be to figure out why you make Cs and try to work on it before attending community college. A great start would be to find out your learning style. I'm a visual learner so I make lots of notecards. Just hearing it doesn't stick. Freshen up on math before you take your placement exam so you won't have to take learning support classes. I had to rent Algebra 2 for dummies from the library. Colleges normally have student support or therapy paid during tuition. Feeling pressured is good as long its motivation but don't let it overwhelm you to where it affects your studies. I hope this helps. Good luck. :)

Specializes in Cath/EP lab, CCU, Cardiac stepdown.
This comment honestly gives me assurance, thank you. I live in nyc so now its just finding a good CC.

Go to bmcc or city tech. Get your A's in there and you can apply to their associates program for nursing and then transfer to a rn to bsn when you graduate. Or if you get good enough grades there then transfer to hunter and apply for their bsn.

Specializes in ICU.

I hate high school. I did not do that well. I was a super social person who worried who my date was for the weekend and what party I was going to go to. Pre-cell phone days, we spent all period writing our boyfriends and friends notes and making sure it was folded properly for the pass in the hall between classes. The better your folds, the more awesome note passer you were. I know, I 'm ancient!!! :D

Here's the deal though, you really will need to buckle down in college. Especially if you want to be a nurse. If you are going to want to party all through college, I suggest a less pressured-filled degree. I see so many people in here that say they screwed around in college and got a 2.0 GPA. Now they want to be a nurse, so what do they do because no school will accept them. In college, you are considered an adult. The grades you earn are the grades you earn, and they don't want to hear your story because everybody has one.

This is your life. You are planning your career. In your freshman year you will have to ask yourself what is more important, getting drunk this weekend or acing your A&P exam on Monday. Do you want a career you will love, or do you just want to get by in life? And where do you see yourself in 10 years? Hopefully with the life you always have dreamed of. You are young and you can make all of your dreams come true. You have your whole life ahead of you do be whatever you want to be. Don't screw that up. You can do so many awesome things.

Finish out high school. Have some fun. I'm not saying you can't have fun in college (I know I need my fun), just don't be out at the frat boys keggers every night and not attending class the next day. I buckled down and in my prereqs only got 2 Bs, the rest were As. Not too shabby for a girl who hated high school and kind of gave up. I've done well in the program and graduate in May. I still have fun. My boyfriend and I have loads of fun and I do great things with my son. Our latest thing is to play basketball until dark. I still find time to shop on the weekends and have dinner with my man. We go to baseball games and football games. I make time for play!!

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