Am I doing things right?

hodgieRN · Nov 11, 2012

There are prereq's that you will need to fulfill before you can apply to nursing school. If you can take those classes and receive good grades, you will be able to raise your GPA. If you are looking to attend a community college, most require you take A & P, math, psych, and/or micobiology, english, etc before you apply. If you don't have too many hrs on your college record, those classes might raise enough to get in.

Acceptance to the BSN program can be difficult. Many students with 3.5-4.0 apply, which makes it hard for others with just a 3.0. Taking classes at a community college might offer you some more options, but many two-year RN programs are also requiring 3.0's these days. The supply of pre-nursing students has out ranked the demand. You do have the option of getting your RN at a two-year school and then bridging from RN to BSN. If you have your RN, the GPA requirement for RN - BSN might be lowered b/c it's basically all online. Where I live, the 4 year program requires a 3.0, but the RN to BSN requires only a 2.5. It's basically college certified continuing education, so why not accept a huge amount of RN's (who have already proven themselves as nurses), give them online classes, and bill them each semester. Plus, many RN's already have full-time families and jobs. They don't have the time to drive to campus everyday and go through hrs and hrs of clinicals. Most RN-BSN's studied when the kids where asleep or on their days off. But, the point is, you have better flexibility if you go this route. However, it is slower.

I will say that if you can get into a four year program right off the bat, it is much faster. Going back takes time and it can be stressful. If you can get your GPA up, that's the way to go. Just get it done. You can always take classes needed to graduate while you are waiting. A&P II, patho, electives can be done before you get into school. This will lighten the workload when you actually go and it will offer more GPA points for admission.

When it comes down to it, do what you have to do. If you really want to be a nurse, getting your RN or BSN won't matter in the long run. One is faster than the other, but make sure you know all the options so you can get where you want to go. Good Luck!