Should I Even Bother?

U.S.A. Pennsylvania

Published

So a quick background on me. . . . I have an associates and a bachelors degree in accounting. I have been in the field for 6 years and see that I am getting nowhere in my career and have decided to go back to my original desired career path in nursing.

I will be attending CCAC Allegheny Campus in the summer to take the only prereq I need (Bio 110) and HG&D. I have most of the co-reqs done (English Comp 1 & 2, Intro to Psyc, Math Elective, and Humanities Elective) except the important ones (A&P 1&2 and Microbiology). I plan on taking A&P 1 and Microbiology in the Fall 2013. Ideally, I would like to apply for (and get into) Spring 2014. I would then take A&P 2 in Summer 2014.

My GPA from the associates degree is 3.3 and I have a 2.82 from my bachelors so I have a 3.06 average GPA. If I get a 4.0 in the summer then my average GPA is 3.37.

Does the powers that be on the selection committee hold GPA as most important over everything else? Do they even take inconsideration if you have any of the coreqs done (besides A&P 1&2 and Micro) Do I have a chance at getting in the Spring 2014 program with a 3.37 or should I wait and apply for Fall 2014 after I have the "bonus" GPA points from A&P and Micro?

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Admission to the CCAC nursing program is based entirely on you GPA and added points for your sciences. So lets say you are starting with a 3.0, you don't get any points for your English, math, general bio, or humanities classes but you still want to strive for the highest GPA possible in these courses. Now here's the fun part, if you take A and P 1 and get an A you get .75 extra points (.50 for a B and .25 for a C) this also applies to A and P 2 and Micro. Also don't believe people when they tell you that you need a 4.0 to get in, it's not true, I talked to the previous dean of nursing who is now an adviser at the south campus and she said the cut off for last semester was a 3.2. Just out of curiosity though, why aren't you looking at the accelerated BSN programs?

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Admission to the CCAC nursing program is based entirely on you GPA and added points for your sciences. So lets say you are starting with a 3.0, you don't get any points for your English, math, general bio, or humanities classes but you still want to strive for the highest GPA possible in these courses. Now here's the fun part, if you take A and P 1 and get an A you get .75 extra points (.50 for a B and .25 for a C) this also applies to A and P 2 and Micro. Also don't believe people when they tell you that you need a 4.0 to get in, it's not true, I talked to the previous dean of nursing who is now an adviser at the south campus and she said the cut off for last semester was a 3.2. Just out of curiosity though, why aren't you looking at the accelerated BSN programs?

Hi Carbon86! Thanks for the advice. I'm not looking into the accelerated BSN programs solely because of the $$. I have a decent amount of student loans already. I know I can pay CCAC out of pocket and hopefully after getting my RN, I can get a job where my employer can help pay for the cost of getting my BSN. I think I am going to work my ass off during the summer so that my GPA will be higher and roll the dice with Spring 2014 admission. Fingers crossed!

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What do you have to lose by applying, theres no application fee. Go for it, good luck!

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I say take all the co-requisites at CCAC then apply to programs like West Penn School of Nursing or Heritage Valley Sewickley School of Nursing. They accept at least 2.5gpa and 65% on an entrance exam. TBH, from the things I've heard from my cousin/roommate who is in CCAC's nursing program, it'll probably be worthwhile to research the schools above.

I was rejected by CCAC for having too low of a GPA then wasn't allowed to retake any courses even though most of my classes were over 10 years old. I had a 2.9 gpa undergrad degree and a 3.7 gpa graduate degree.

Good luck in your endeavors. I am turning 31 this year, male, and starting nursing school in August.

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@nguyencs, where are you attending this fall?

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bumping my post in hopes that some of the people who recently got in for Fall 2013 can provide some insight!

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I'm in the fall 2013 fast track at the Boyce Campus. Have you considering just calling up advisement and asking what the minimum GPA accepted was? I do know that there was a little over a thousand applicants for the fall 2013 term, or at least that's what advising told me. Have you considered a hospital program?

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