Low Undergrad GPA to BSN (2nd degree)!!!

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Hello Future Nurses,

For those of you that are contemplating going to nursing school and struggling with a past full of terrible grades, I just want to say, PLEASE NEVER GIVE UP.

I made it.

You can see from my only previous post that I had an extremely low undergraduate GPA. I wanted to get into school so badly, but I was absolutely discouraged by my own personal choices and my own poor performance in school throughout my first degree.

Once I graduated with my B.S. I half-heartedly applied to 2 non-nursing graduate school programs because I thought I needed to do something... anything with my life and nursing did not look likely. I was rejected from both schools--and i didn't care because I didn't really want them. I knew I wanted to be a nurse.

The day I received my second grad school rejection letter (March of 2012), I immediately enrolled in my first pre-req course. Developmental Psych-- it started the next week. It wasn't a tough one, but it was the first step in a long journey. March 2012 was when I decided to focus all of my energy on getting into a nursing program. At the time I wasn't sure where I'd end up, but I knew I had to be open minded and I would need to give it my all. And I did.

Ffwd to October 2013 (a million pre-requisites and several part-time jobs later). I received my acceptance letter to an Accelerated BSN program. I moved to a state where I knew no one and started my program in January of 2014.

May 2015, a year and half of hellish coursework, 2 semesters on the Dean's List, an amazing senior presentation, and a 4.0 in my last semester, I GRADUATED!!!

As of August 12, 2015 I officially became an RN!!!

Have faith in yourself, a strong will and dedication and you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

Best of luck.

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I have a very similar story.

Although I had wanted to be a nurse since I was a little kid, I was always made to feel like I was not smart enough to be a nurse so I didn't pursue it. I didn't put a lot of thought into what I wanted to do in college right out of high school so I just picked a major that seemed interesting and sort of something I might want to do (Animal Science). I liked working with animals and have always been a horse lover so I had some really great experiences working on my campus' equine center and then the USDA. But the science classes were killing me and I just was not passionate about any of it. Due to insecurities, poor self-esteem, years of being told I wasn't smart and then having an advisor tell me the same thing in college, I kept believing that I just was not smart enough. To add to that, I didn't put in the effort which I can only blame myself for. I failed out of college and decided it was time to take a break because I was burned out at that point and felt worthless.

I started working in the hospital as an EVS/Linen tech for a couple of years and then after having a really good experience with the nurses and aides during my 4-month-old daughter's week-long hospital stay, I took the course to become a CNA. I had an amazing CNA instructor who helped me believe in myself and told me that "when, not if" I was a nurse, I would be a great one and would be doing myself a disservice not to pursue it. I hadn't even been considering it at that point, but she lit a fire in me that helped me to start believing that I could do it. I decided to apply to go back to a community college just to see if I could even get in, let alone start working toward becoming a nurse (I strongly recommend a CC over a university!). I got in, started taking the courses, and have been a consistent A and B student all throughout, even with the tough science courses that gave me fits only a handful of years ago. I've been on both the Vice President and President's lists now. I managed to achieve being recognized by the President all while pulling a 4.0 with 20 credits and juggling family life on top of that.

I was accepted into the nursing program and start in September.

Pretty much, if I can bounce back from where I was, anyone can. All it takes is a little bit of passion, the will to try, and believing in yourself. :)

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CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

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I really want to apply to an accelerated program, I'm worried about my grades. My GPA isn't bad,

and I have A's in all but 1 or 2 pre-reqs (depending on the program), but I'm still super anxious!!

I transferred schools, and I'm doing really well at my new school, I have CNA/HHA/Volunteer experience but all I hear about it how low acceptance rates are for ABSN programs :(

Congrats though, your story is very inspiring :D

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Your story is very inspiring and encouraging, I'm in the same boat currently I graduated with a BS in health science in 09 with a GPA of 2.1 because I didn't drop classes on time and it turned into F's. I took my science and I got B's in all 3 (Micro, Ana and phy). The problem I'm having now is ADN program's required cumulative GPA is a 2.5 and I just feel like giving up. I'm not looking at any B.S programs because I know they will laugh in my face. I use you as a point of contact that God who opened doors of admission for you will do the same for me. Thanks for sharing your story of hope and perseverance.

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what year did u graduate with your first degree and what type of major?

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This gives me such inspiration.

I graduated as a psych major with a B.A. and a low GPA. During my last semester I really developed my love for nursing but at that point it was too late to improve my GPA significantly or take pre-reqs for a BSN program. I decided to do a certificate RN program after graduation and I am starting that in a few days. I should graduate June 2017 and take the NCLEX shortly after. My plan is to do well in this program so I could go on to the BSN and MSN levels.

I decided to go a certificate program instead of just taking the pre-reqs for the BSN level because

1) it would take the same amount of time, so I figured it would be better to at least be able to work as an RN while I do further study

2) the certificate program felt like a clean-slate to me in terms of GPA; just taking the pre-reqs would just add to my already low GPA

3) the program I am going to is actually very rigorous and more than 93% of people who graduate from this program pass the NCLEX. They also have 2 full days a week of clinical which helps a lot in this field.

4) I will be taking all the pre-reqs I need for the BSN program while I do the certificate program

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What certificate program did you apply to? If you don't mind me asking :)

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Congrats!!!! What school?

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@NurslingNicole Thank you for sharing and CONGRATULATIONS!

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@NurslingNicole Thank you for sharing and CONGRATULATIONS!

Same to you! :D

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