With all the competitiveness is it worth it?

frnzy · Nov 30, 2009

I am too old to wait around year after year...

I don't know your health situation, but you're not too old. That being said, if you're worried about getting accepted into the one school, why not look at applying to others. Some have pretty similar requirements to apply.

windmill182 · Nov 30, 2009

If this is really your desire than I would consider applying to more than one school. You may even consider relocating to areas that are less competitive? I know people in their 50s in nursing school. Dont let your age detour you from anything...

45whenimdone · Nov 30, 2009

I have thought of applying to several schools, even out of state ones, however, after computing how much it would cost to actually move to one of those states... unless I win the lotto or inherit some money to make the move, it would be next to impossible to do that.

Is an LVN program JUST as competitive as a RN program???

SilentMind · Nov 30, 2009

Thats ridiculous. 3.85 is practically flawless? What does that translate to...one B in a lab class somewhere?

As far as I know, LVN isn't as competitive. But that could just be my area.

elkpark · Nov 30, 2009

Given what you've listed as your long-term goals (administration in a senior setting), have you thought about going another route to get there, and bypassing nursing? You can get degrees in gerontology and healthcare administration that are not nursing degrees, and that may be another way to end up where you want to end up (with less competition and fewer delays, presumably, along the way).

Best wishes for your journey.

45whenimdone · Dec 1, 2009

thank you all for your replies! I will truly take to heart what everyone has said. I will sit long and hard and think about this one. Will also be discussing it with the hubby...

Again, thanks!

Sand_Dollar, BSN · Dec 1, 2009

I'm a late starter too (I'm 41) and I just applied to a very competitive BSN program. We are told 3.5 to apply - yeah right! I hear the average accepted is much higher - I know one who got in with a 3.8. I have a 4.0 and STILL freaking out I won't get in because they said they will take someone with a lower GPA over a higher if their essay was better. YIKES! In this school, for every 1 they take, they deny 10.

I have only applied to this one school, but if I don't get accepted I am looking at some others around the area. Don't give up your dream - you can do it, even if it happens to take a different path than you originally thought.

nursestudent1975 · Dec 2, 2009

Right there with you :heartbeat. I'm 34 and applying after this semester. I'm freaking out about finals right now. Thursday I have an AP lect., AP lab AND a micro. final :cry: . I decided to apply to an ADN program (you have to apply a year in advance) because the BSN program was too competitive (4.0 or forget it!). It sounds like you really have your goals in check. If only I would have been this focused at 19 when I first went to college! I believe things happen for a reason. Anyway, I just wanted to wish you the best of luck! You WILL get to where you want to be if you keep your heart and your mind open :loveya:.

SilentMind · Dec 2, 2009

Right there with you :heartbeat. I'm 34 and applying after this semester. I'm freaking out about finals right now. Thursday I have an AP lect., AP lab AND a micro. final . I decided to apply to an ADN program (you have to apply a year in advance) because the BSN program was too competitive (4.0 or forget it!). It sounds like you really have your goals in check. If only I would have been this focused at 19 when I first went to college! I believe things happen for a reason. Anyway, I just wanted to wish you the best of luck! You WILL get to where you want to be if you keep your heart and your mind open :loveya:.

Don't feel bad. Noone is that focused on 19. It's the kind of thing that only comes with age. College is wasted on the young.

But in any case, nursing school is so far beyond stressful, it's depressing.

It starts with prereqs. You have to kill yourself to memorize every nook and cranny to keep your GPA as high as humanly possible to be considered for a seat. Statistically speaking at least, there's a good chance you won't make it. (I think my professor mentioned A+P I nationwide had something like a 50% dropout rate)

If you make it through with a GPA that would make einstein feel inadequate, then you enter the program itself. Which I haven't gotten to yet. But from what I hear, the trials go so far beyond academic obstacles. You give up your life, devote yourself to your work. You have to deal with things that may even be beyond your control. Some people aren't cut out for it no matter how much they want to, or how much effort they devote to it. And god forbid you get a teacher that sets out to thin the herd, or has a specific grudge against you.

If you make it through the two years, then you get a short break to break loose and celebrate all your successes, before redevoting your life to studying for the boards. Which may very well require multiple attempts, despite your obsession with the material.

If you've finally earned licensure, well bravo. Proving yourself like that is something that changes who you are for the rest of your life. There are no mountains you can't climb.

But, in order for you to actually climb said mountains, you're going to have to find them first. You've done everything right this far, suffered, sacrificed, persevered. What might distinguish you as a god amongst men normally, is really only the bare minimum for consideration in potential employment. Everyone else you're competing against has all the credrentials you do, and it could take months and in some cases a year up to find employment.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Dec 2, 2009

Don't feel bad. Noone is that focused on 19. It's the kind of thing that only comes with age. College is wasted on the young.
But in any case, nursing school is so far beyond stressful, it's depressing.
It starts with prereqs. You have to kill yourself to memorize every nook and cranny to keep your GPA as high as humanly possible to be considered for a seat. Statistically speaking at least, there's a good chance you won't make it. (I think my professor mentioned A+P I nationwide had something like a 50% dropout rate)
If you make it through with a GPA that would make einstein feel inadequate, then you enter the program itself. Which I haven't gotten to yet. But from what I hear, the trials go so far beyond academic obstacles. You give up your life, devote yourself to your work. You have to deal with things that may even be beyond your control. Some people aren't cut out for it no matter how much they want to, or how much effort they devote to it. And god forbid you get a teacher that sets out to thin the herd, or has a specific grudge against you.
If you make it through the two years, then you get a short break to break loose and celebrate all your successes, before redevoting your life to studying for the boards. Which may very well require multiple attempts, despite your obsession with the material.
If you've finally earned licensure, well bravo. Proving yourself like that is something that changes who you are for the rest of your life. There are no mountains you can't climb.
But, in order for you to actually climb said mountains, you're going to have to find them first. You've done everything right this far, suffered, sacrificed, persevered. What might distinguish you as a god amongst men normally, is really only the bare minimum for consideration in potential employment. Everyone else you're competing against has all the credrentials you do, and it could take months and in some cases a year up to find employment.

Sorry but I have to disagree with with a lot of this, especially the bolded part. For starters my program was wait list route not GPA route, they had a minimum GPS requirement but my pre req GPA was not very good. I think it was like a 3.0 or 2.95 or something like that.

I am just finishing up my first semester, my GPA is better now then it was before. I will be getting an A in my 3 credit Dosage and Calculation class, a B in my 8 credit Fundamentals class and a C (missed the B by 2 points) in my Pharmacology class. I have not given up my life, I am not stressed out, in fact I probably should have devoted MORE time to nursing school because I have spent maybe 1-2 hours a week total by myself on school stuff when I am home and about 2-3 hours a week when I meet with study groups every few weeks. The rest of my time has been with my kids, watching TV or goofing off online or going to the movies and so on. I am not depressed or stressed. I have been stressed the past month but over stuff that has nothing to do with school that I did let effect school a bit which is why I got a C in pharm. (although I did knock out a 100% on my pharm final) and I am far from the smartest person in class.

This is JMO but going into nursing school with the attitude you displayed in your above post will probably cause you to have a lot of problems and stress in school and will make school 100% harder then it needs to be.

I started with a very good and positive attitude about nursing school, I maintained that through my first semester and here I am ready for my winter break but super excited and eager for next semester. It has been so much better then all the horror stories I have heard and I am so glad I kept my positive attitude even when others try to make it seem like hell. I think this is a big reason why I have done ok without freaking out or turning my life upside or giving up my life. I have done all this while having 4 kids and a halfass husband at home who is gone for half the year working out of state anyway. The hardest obstacle I have encountered in school is adjusting my sleep patterns, which have been slipping lately again. But going from going to bed at 3 a.m. to shooting for 9-10 so I can try and get a min. of 8 hours of sleep at night. I am someone that has ALWAYS been a night owl. So that was my biggest obstacle, waking up at 5:30 or 4 on clinical days and getting to bed early, thankfully though I was able to do it and am only slipping now because it's nearing the end of the semester (next week is it) and I let myself get off track during Thanksgiving break.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents as a nursing student for what it's worth.

45whenimdone · Dec 2, 2009

I'm not worried or stressed about the afterwards... I'm just worried about the before hand and getting accepted. I spoke with my husband and though I want to do the BSN right off bat, I will be applying to the 4 local community colleges as well as the BSN State Univeristy. This way I have at least 5 chances of being denied.

I can't wait for the actual start of any program! I'm a total hands on learner! Like I stated before, it's just the worry that I will have to wait a year or two before being accepted into a program, and being I'm already 39 with a family, it's not like I'm 19 with no family. THAT's what my biggest fear is that it will take longer than originally anticiapted.

But like a pp stated, everything happens for a reason. I totally regret NOT starting when I was 19... I can just imagine where I would be today... but then again, glad it didn't happen bc of someone I was dating back then, well I probably would have supported the bum even to this day... :eek: So yes, everything does happen for a reason.

And I like the way my life has turned out, except for waiting this long to realize how bad I want to do this!