Can I still become an RN?

BeachsideRN, ASN · Apr 18, 2014

Talk to programs in your area. You may be able to do academic forgiveness after a certain period of time, where you basically start over with 0 credits. It's all school specific though. That being said I would be sure you are truly dedicated before you set off on the adventure.

frivoloussal · Apr 18, 2014

I too was the typical, irresponsible teenager that dropped out of college without actually withdrawing.

You are not alone.

I took a few years off, did the whole "self discovery," and returned in my later twenties. I decided to get an Associates in General Studies to boost my GPA back up (it was reaaallly low... like 1.8). It was humbling to have to repair the mistakes I made at age 18. It was manditory that I make an A in every course.

I later applied for the BSN program and got in on the first try. It turned out that having the general studies degree (with qualifying GPA) was just the boost I needed points-wise to get me in.

I will be 29 this year. But to be fair, I spent much of my twenties being in a band and touring and generally enjoying my youth. You could easily fix it faster than that.

TL; DR: it's possible, but you have some repair work to do.

AlexGriner · Apr 18, 2014

I'm truly dedicated to what I want. I want to have a better life for me and my future family while also helping others to the best of my ability. There's nothing I could see my self doing other than this.

frivoloussal · Apr 18, 2014

I also want to add that when I transferred to a university, many of the classes that I had failed at 18 (mostly music theory, as I was a music major) in junior college did not transfer or apply to my general studies degree. So I graduated with a "degree GPA" of 3.8, and a transfer GPA of 3.4. My unsavory past was officially behind me.

Do some heavy research and explore ALL avenues, even the seemingly unattainable ones. In my situation, it turned out that applying to a university's BSN program was actually easier than applying to the junior college's ADN program that would have used my old GPA.

AlexGriner · Apr 18, 2014

Alright. I will contact the university and see what I can do. I actually just bought some books for my LPN course so I can have a better understanding of what I need to know and be a little ahead of the game when I start it.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Apr 19, 2014

Alex: Change your posting name stat (and get an anonymous avatar). AN is full of cautions about this. The mods can help you. You do not want a prospective employer (or admissions officer) seeing these posts and recognizing you, really.

RunBabyRN · Apr 20, 2014

What is your college GPA?

Not one school I applied to for nursing asked to see my high school transcripts. This may be different where you are, but that's just my own experience.

If your college GPA is low (many of us made mistakes in our younger days, myself included), you may need to take some courses to help boost the numbers. Take some language courses (yay for being more marketable!), obscure history, whatever floats your boat. Just make sure the classes are transferable.

Also, if you end up retaking the courses you failed/dropped, some schools won't count the original grades, some will average the two, some don't allow repeats, but most will count it all in your cumulative GPA. You'll have to find out what the repeat policies are for each school.

Good luck!