Direct Entry MSN with low GPA?

Nursing Students General Students

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Long story short, my undergraduate years haven't gone smoothly with working 50+ hours a week, death in the family and family issues which will help result in a subpar 2.6 GPA when I graduate in the Spring.

I have a lot good valuable experience in hospital settings along with strong letters of recommendations and I'm a lot more intelligent than my GPA perceives me as.

I'm already planning on to retake pre reqs and get A's in the respective courses, build upon my expereince and shoot for a high GRE score.

I just wanted to see if there was anything else I could do to further make me competitive on an application?

I've already started researching programs that have lower GPA requirements,ect.

Anything is much appreciated!

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Sounds like a good plan.

PS: GPA doesn't perceive anything, it not being sentient. When you write your essays for admission, be sure to check that sort of thing.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Every student with a poor GPA can list a slew of reasons. It doesn't matter. No one is going to listen, no matter how compelling the story. Schools cannot grant waivers or relax their rules because this leaves them more vulnerable to future claims of discrimination by anyone who did not also receive the same consideration. I would encourage you to enlarge your options to consider getting an undergrad degree first as these programs are normally much less competitive than ELMs.

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

GPA does mean something to the admission committee. With a 2.6 you might not meet the minimum requirement at many schools. DE-MSN program is the most competitive entry point for nursing, and you'll be up against numerous applicants with many life experiences and struggles while maintaining high GPA. This isn't meant to be discouraging, but to keep it real. Definitely get all A's in pre-reqs (very doable) and score high on GRE. Essays would have to be stellar as well, of course. Keep other options open too. If your goal is nursing, it really doesn't matter where you start.

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I agree that direct-entry programs are highly competitive. Be aware that, even if a school publishes in its literature that the minimum GPA for acceptance is 2.5, 3.0, whatever, that doesn't mean anyone with those GPAs is actually getting accepted. Nursing programs, esp. direct-entry programs, are swamped with applicants with 3.8, 3.9, 4.0 GPAs, and they have to pick and choose from among those applicants because they can't accommodate them all.

I hope you'll be successful in your efforts to improve your GPA. Or, as already noted, you can also look at other entry options into nursing besides a direct-entry MSN program. Best wishes for your journey!

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Would you recommend BSN programs? i've also been looking at those.

BSN, ADN and DE-MSN are the really only options i've heard about

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