Who was admitted into nursing school?

RNpearls1908 · Oct 13, 2012

Hi,

I am currently in nursing school. My situation was somewhat similiar to yours. I went to University of Florida and orginally was a pre-med student but switched to getting my BS in Health Ed. & Behavior and then now in nursing school. Due to my school being a party school in the beginning of my career I did not take schooling as seriou sand had to re-take some science classes particular pre-med classes like chem, bio, calc n etc. Also physio in addition. Luckily once I switched out of pre med to nursing my grades greatly improved and graduated cum laude.

First I would like to say DO NOT let anyone tell you will be unsuccessful. Once you get the hang of good studying habits and going to class everyday things becom so much easier. Every teacher has a diff teaching style and test questions and its up to you to pick up on them to become successful and not over study or waste time studyin info you dont really need to know. My school was the same way where you only had 2 chances to repeat a course or you would get kicked out of your college. However once in nursing school you will have to pass your classes on the first try or risk being placed on probation. Some schools require passing grades of atleast an 80%. So it is good to start developing goood study habits and aides. Because trust Nursing school is harder than undergrad. Undergrad is more forgivable than nursing school. if that makes sense.

While doing your nursing pre-reqs I would say in addition take some easy A gen ed classes this will help your course load a lot trust me and improve your GPA. Then you can focus on the classes that matter towards your career of nursing. Also some nursing pre-reqs like psychology or to me microbio are easy courses so if you have a chance to get an A in the class go the extra mile and get it as opposed to just settling with a B. That A will look goood on your trancripts and boost your GPA. Plus it will not make the nursing program directors worry that if you cant pass such an easy class how are you going to pass a class like for ex pharmacology.

My GPA nursing pre-reqs was I believe a 3.3 even with having to retake physio. I was able to get into a really good nursing school. Just do really well on the TEAS if you have to take it which I found was easy, good letters of reccommendations, and a an amazing interview, also alot of nursing programs like to see you have experience in the health care field ie volunteering in the hospitals and health care based organizations. Also my program was impressed with my ability to be able to balance being in college and having so many volunteering hours in the hospital and outside the hospital. Pretty much it made it show that I was abled to balance school work with other things and not be overwhelmed so it makes it seem like you can more than likely handle the intense nursing curriculm. Also look into possibly getting an internship if your abled to in the hospital. My last semseter I was abled to do an internship in the dept of surgery and this made me look good as a candiate plus it gives you tremendous hours in the OR and shadowing the nurses.

Also when someone tells you to have a plan B your Plan A should be nursing school and Plan B-Z should still be nursing school. When one door closes another one opens. I applied to I believe close to 10 nursing schools all over the country and was accepted into 5. So I would say apply to alot of programs but keep in mind the of the application fee. So only apply to nursing programs you feel you have a chance of getting into. Like if you know you cant get into John Hopkins Nursing program then dont sell yourself a dream because now your dealing with money. But in the end once you get that acceptance letter it will be all worth it and then the "real" fun will begin of 12 hour days in nursing school lol.

Anyways Good Luck in school and hopefully my story helped you or atleast encouraged you to not give up

traumanurse2b? · Oct 13, 2012

Hi there! I was in your position a couple years ago. I actually flunked ap1! I retook it and got a C and a C in micro (taken at the same time). I should have done better but at the time I was overwhelmed with school, work, and my husbands first Navy deployment. Anyways, everyone always told me to have a plan B so mine was surgical technology. Anyways, besides those two bad semesters I was basically a straight A student except for the occasional B. This past summer I scored well on the TEAS V and a few weeks later I was accepted into my BSN program. Don't let the people saying you need a backup plan upset you. Its a good idea for any decision you make to have a plan B because things change. Just keep your head up and keep pushing forward. Make sure you work twice as hard the next time you take a&p. You still have a chance of getting in, so don't give up!

jessjay · Oct 13, 2012

i was a similar situation. though my grades have never been spectacular, i did not get accepted into the RN program at my community college. but I then turned to Chamberlain College of Nursing. Though its expensive, i am so happy i made this choice. it wasnt hard to get in, i took a HESI entrance exam which as MUCH easier than the TEAS. almost all my prereqs transfered over and started the program a semester after starting at the college. im just finishing up my fundamentals semester and im so happy i made this choice. it is very hard. i failed my first nursing class at the school because i as not prepared for the type of questions on the exams. and trust me, i am not fully prepared but still find myself struggling. dont be discouraged, ever. theres going to be times where you just want to quit and rip your hair out and go ape ****, but you have to plow through that. i havent even made it to medsurg and i cant even count how many times ive said "i failed, im done. i failed nursing school". its tough but the main thing thats helped me is making school my number one priority. i have no life, no friends and barely have a relationship with my boyfriend and family. my nose is either in a book or im sleeping. i always feel guilty if im not studying. but using resources that are offered to you are amazing. using websites, fourms, and picking the brains of nurses you know or are friends with helps so much! i just discovered the books my tutors use i can purchase online so im taking full advantage of that. dedicate the 2 years you have getting your degree to nothing but nursing. it will be soo worth it. another thing that drew me into Chamberlain was it was bachelors instead of an associates. LOVE IT! good luck :)

EKU2014hopeful · Oct 13, 2012

Don't get discouraged, please! Trust me. I absolutely ruined my first few years of college. Then I had a son and didnt go back to school for a few years finally I decided to go back and it was super hard, but the college I went to allowed me to retake all the courses I failed because of course I never even withdrew from my courses I just stopped going...I did this off and on for my first 3 years. I'm not proud of that. So when I when back I had to fix my mess...I started in the fall of 2009 I've struggled, I've cried! Good tears and bad tears I've pulled all nightjars like crazy, and finally 2 days ago I got my acceptance letter to the adn nursing program...I'm not a straight A student at all. Actually I'm in complete shock I got in. Even one of the advisors told me to start thinking about "not putting my eggs in one basket" ha! I applied just to get a rejection letter I didn't even bother spending the money for others school since I didn't think I would get in...but I did! And I'm beyond excited! However, I'm really scared too I hear it's extremely, almost undo able hard. I wasn't expecting easy but I'm scared from what I've read on here about my school. Hoping for the best! And same for you, give it your all, and take a chance! I did and look what happend!! Best of luck!

Melela · Oct 13, 2012

I just got accepted for spring. I'm 33 and the first time I went at 18 I didn't take it seriously. I am now because I want a respectable career. My husband is supporting me- its no small feat to attend college full time when you have lots of bills :-) I'm doing better now since its our future I'm working towards. So far I've got all As and Bs- it's not incredibly easy to get into my school because so many apply and they only take like 40 at a semester- and it's the ONLY nursing school on island. Study hard- keep highly organized. I find a homework planner is necessary for me- no surprises! I'm not the best student do I really had to buckle down. I'm sure you can too- maybe talk to a school counselor and identify your weaknesses so you can work through them. Good luck!

onlyme11 · Oct 26, 2012

Thank you so much this really helped boost my confidence because everything you just said is what they always tell me. when i meet with one of the advisors of the nursing school their favorite thing to tell me is have a plan B and if its okay if I can keep in touch with you since I always wanted to know someone in my situation and succeeded have them as my mentor or keep my hope alive because I have been wanting to be an RN since I was in the 9th grade.

zoe92 · Oct 26, 2012

This has helped me! I failed A & P 1 over the summer because I took it with chemistry... 8 credits in 8 weeks is horrible! Not to mention my anatomy teacher was a little crazy. I got a C in chemistry though so am fine with that. Anyways, I am retaking A & P now and have an A :) I was nervous schools would automatically say no with a F on there but reading all these replies gives me hope that I will get accepted. without the F (which will no longer be factored in my GPA once I finish this se,ester and the retake) my GPA is a 3.5. So hopefully I will get accepted to the BSN program at my #1 school.