Chances of getting into CRNA school after failing out of an ADN program?

Nursing Students SRNA

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Hey guys. I decided several years ago that I wanted to become a CRNA, and after originally earning a B.S. in Biology, I returned to college and began an ADN program. However, I failed out of the third semester (out of five) of that program -- and not with a "D" (as most people who fail seem to fail with), but with a stinking, glorious "F." To make matters worse, I was originally attending a university's satellite campus, which decided to NOT matriculate another cohort to follow the one I was (formerly) enrolled in, and I tried to re-take the class I failed during the next semester at the main campus located several hours away, but things just didn't work out.

So with all that having been said, at this point, it's looking like my only option is to completely start-over as a brand-spankin'-new RN student at a totally different program. Luckily enough, I applied to and was accepted by several local ADN programs (as well as a BSN program), so the opportunity to attain and capitalize on that coveted second chance is there.

HOWEVER... even if I do decide to follow-through on starting over at one of these new programs, what will the previous failure mean in the context of my future chances of getting accepted at a decent CRNA program? Will most CRNA programs see that I failed out of a program, couldn't hack re-taking the failed course and managing to continue on with the aforementioned program, and reject me outright? Or would I still have a decent shot at receiving, at the very least, a trickle of interview invites... provided I blast through the new RN program and graduate with a 3.8 - 4.0 GPA?

For what it's worth, my GPA after the failure is right at a 3.5; however, this is also taking into account my previous Biology B.S. grades. I have also already taken upper-level courses such as physics, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, and neuroscience, all as requirements for my Bio degree, so there really aren't many more classes I can think of to take to improve my GPA and impress CRNA admissions committees.

At this point, is it really even worth still trying to become a CRNA? If so, should I just focus on applying to programs that only calculate the most recent 60 credits' worth of courses into an applicant's GPA? ... But even if I manage to graduate from the new nursing program with a 4.0, are there some CRNA programs that have strict policies forbidding the consideration of applicants with previous nursing course failures, regardless of whether they tried to "redeem" themselves by starting over at another program? Thanks in advance for any advice you guys would be willing to offer!

Agreed. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. I watched my class (in a school with top ratings and NCLEX success rates) go from 225 down to about 180 and while you want to be supportive and friendly and upbeat, when someone fails out of med-surg, you pause for a moment -- what is the first thing you think? Is it that they had life issues going on? (Everyone will have life issues going on for the rest of their lives.) Was the teacher unfair or punitive? (Everyone gets the same tests and the teachers are almost always battleaxes) Was the material too much...? Hrmm... maybe. Maybe they can't hack it. (Every professor I know prefaced classes and clinicals with "Think about the kind of nurse you want to be...the kind of nurse you want taking care of your family.") Nursing/Nursing school has this amazing thing ... checks, balances, gateways. You can't get anywhere without jumping through a hoop. It ends up being a system that is almost guaranteed to weed out the biggies and as much as anyone might have a lone ranger complex (I know I did) I found out that the good will, belief in me from professors, and the proving of myself never stopped. Ultimately, I came to judge my own success not only with using critical thinking and "EBP" and how well things came out for my patients -- but also from the feedback I got from a network I had to cultivate. We all have to cultivate that network...and it's for the rest of your life. Lone rangers get people killed. I think this system works well to stop those who don't belong from getting ahead or else, making them get their head on _straight_. This isn't a game. /soapbox
MeiLana, those are all good points. Yes, I have experienced what it's like to be "weeded-out" of nursing school first-hand, so I'm obviously going to be treading lightly during the second go-'round. Honestly, based on my first experience in NS, maintaining a "lone wolf" MO might behoove me.
Specializes in Trauma, Orthopedics.
@flyersfan88 -- yes, this is exactly the kind of response I was originally trying to garner, so thank you! I will be getting in touch with CRNA programs this week to see if they share your perspective.

They will likely tell you what everyone else here already has--focus on one step at a time, and take the extra steps to beef up your resume. 6 months of new grad experience does nothing to set you apart, considering you are already 10 steps behind every other mediocre applicant. If you have read the typical interview questions that are shared on here, I find it hard to believe that you would be able to confidently answer them, or have ENOUGH experiences with drips/PA caths/handling codes to convey confidence to the panel.

Just be prepared to hear something you don't want to hear, that's all.

They will likely tell you what everyone else here already has--focus on one step at a time, and take the extra steps to beef up your resume. 6 months of new grad experience does nothing to set you apart, considering you are already 10 steps behind every other mediocre applicant. If you have read the typical interview questions that are shared on here, I find it hard to believe that you would be able to confidently answer them, or have ENOUGH experiences with drips/PA caths/handling codes to convey confidence to the panel. Just be prepared to hear something you don't want to hear, that's all.
Of course; that's why I mentioned earlier in the thread that a potential last-resort option is to apply to one of the for-profit programs, although, as has been pointed out several times, I realize not all CRNA programs are created equally...

I'm really disappointed with the posters on this site. The majority of you have offered hostile, back handed advice to OP. I agree with many of the points made throughout this discussion but there is no need to be so rude. OP if you want to go to CRNA school well than try no one here knows the future so you might as well give it your all. I think many of the posters on this forum should take a long look at their comments! I'm a young nurse with dreams of becoming a CRNA and I plan on working in ICU 2+ years and if you think I'm "burning" the nurses in that unit well so be it. I will accomplish my dreams and I will try to establish as many connections as possible but if you don't wish to support me in my dreams well so be it. How someone else feels about me shouldn't effect my goals! OP do your best you have a tough road ahead of you and try to find positive advice in the negative, and also be realistic like many said several months in ICU won't make most nurses confident in critical care so keep an open mind to the future.

Specializes in Trauma, Orthopedics.
I'm really disappointed with the posters on this site. The majority of you have offered hostile, back handed advice to OP. I agree with many of the points made throughout this discussion but there is no need to be so rude. OP if you want to go to CRNA school well than try no one here knows the future so you might as well give it your all. I think many of the posters on this forum should take a long look at their comments! I'm a young nurse with dreams of becoming a CRNA and I plan on working in ICU 2+ years and if you think I'm "burning" the nurses in that unit well so be it. I will accomplish my dreams and I will try to establish as many connections as possible but if you don't wish to support me in my dreams well so be it. How someone else feels about me shouldn't effect my goals! OP do your best you have a tough road ahead of you and try to find positive advice in the negative, and also be realistic like many said several months in ICU won't make most nurses confident in critical care so keep an open mind to the future.

I can see where you're coming from, but I respectfully disagree. No one told him not to go to CRNA school. No one told him he could never do it. What the OP was told was that he is already at a serious disadvantage in the application process, and doing the bare minimum will not help the OP achieve their goal any faster. I don't see how it is unacceptable to give the advice of beefing up your resume to make it actually impressive or to point out that life is not unicorns and glitter, and that perfect grades and a great ICU job may not happen. The OP is banking on a perfect scenario. It would be mean and rude of us to contribute to a non realistic idea.

I wouldn't say you'd be burning your unit after 2+ years. But expecting glowing recommendations from superiors for CRNA school being fresh off of orientation after 6 months is absolutely absurd, as well as expecting them to be kind about it.

Thick skin. Everyone needs some.

Specializes in Emergency Room, Trauma ICU.
I can see where you're coming from, but I respectfully disagree. No one told him not to go to CRNA school. No one told him he could never do it. What the OP was told was that he is already at a serious disadvantage in the application process, and doing the bare minimum will not help the OP achieve their goal any faster. I don't see how it is unacceptable to give the advice of beefing up your resume to make it actually impressive or to point out that life is not unicorns and glitter, and that perfect grades and a great ICU job may not happen. The OP is banking on a perfect scenario. It would be mean and rude of us to contribute to a non realistic idea.

I wouldn't say you'd be burning your unit after 2+ years. But expecting glowing recommendations from superiors for CRNA school being fresh off of orientation after 6 months is absolutely absurd, as well as expecting them to be kind about it.

Thick skin. Everyone needs some.

Word.

I'm really disappointed with the posters on this site. The majority of you have offered hostile, back handed advice to OP. I agree with many of the points made throughout this discussion but there is no need to be so rude. OP if you want to go to CRNA school well than try no one here knows the future so you might as well give it your all. I think many of the posters on this forum should take a long look at their comments! I'm a young nurse with dreams of becoming a CRNA and I plan on working in ICU 2+ years and if you think I'm "burning" the nurses in that unit well so be it. I will accomplish my dreams and I will try to establish as many connections as possible but if you don't wish to support me in my dreams well so be it. How someone else feels about me shouldn't effect my goals! OP do your best you have a tough road ahead of you and try to find positive advice in the negative, and also be realistic like many said several months in ICU won't make most nurses confident in critical care so keep an open mind to the future.
Thanks for the kind words; I'll just have to see how things work out with my next nursing program over the next year. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I failed out of my first program for what essentially amounts to an issue with paperwork/careplans and had possibly the highest numeric GPA out of all the students in my cohort, so I really feel like there's less than a 99% chance of the same issue occurring again.

I failed out about two weeks after the Withdraw-Passing "drop" deadline and had no choice but to take the F. What really ****** me off is that, the very next semester, a girl I know who also failed out of my cohort had gone back to re-take the class, and after taking the math/med dosage test and failing it the maximum number of times (and the last attempt was about two weeks after the drop date), she strolled into the Dean's office and requested that she be able to drop the course with a Withdraw-Passing (despite the fact that the drop deadline had passed two weeks prior). Of course, the Dean decided to cut her some slack and allow her to drop the class without penalty.

This is an example of one of the things I find to be really incredulous about nursing education... when I was taking classes for my first degree, if any of us had failed to meet the requirements for a particular, we failed -- simple as that. But I see that in nursing, the scenario of two students failing to meet the requirements of a particular course can occur, and while you'd expect them both to flunk (and they would in any other type of professional program), it's likely that one of them will be given a second chance, simply because "the faculty likes her better." (Yes, this was, word-for-word, the reasoning I heard from my former classmates).

I agree that everyone needs to have "thick skin" but a lot of these comments were rude.

OP you can't worry about another girl failing you need to worry about yourself and do what's best for you, when you worry about others that is when you fall behind.

I agree that everyone needs to have "thick skin" but a lot of these comments were rude. OP you can't worry about another girl failing you need to worry about yourself and do what's best for you, when you worry about others that is when you fall behind.
bsngirl2015, I guess all we can do is worry about ourselves in these situations, but double standards really aggravate me. I appreciate your support, though, and hope to be more successful in my next program. In regards to the rude comments, I think most people just have a natural instinct to defend their profession when they think someone's trying to enter it for just one of the amenities it offers. However, that's why, earlier in the thread, I tried to make it a point to say that I was curious to learn exactly what I needed to do to get in (I.e., with X GPA, and Y years of experience, I'll get in) in the context of my circumstances, and not necessarily what I *should* do (I.e., "Do this and that before you even think about applying to CRNA school, even though you could get in with less").
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
I tried to make it a point to say that I was curious to learn exactly what I needed to do to get in (I.e., with X GPA, and Y years of experience, I'll get in) in the context of my circumstances, and not necessarily what I *should* do (I.e., "Do this and that before you even think about applying to CRNA school, even though you could get in with less").

But why ask that question? I mean you were given some very good advice on getting into NA school from people who know what they were talking about and you dismissed it out of hand. SO why bother to ask?

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