GPA- ack...! 1.82 or 3.1?

[maybe_baby]

(skip to last paragraph to get to the point)

I dropped out of high school and went to college when I was 17. I didn't go willingly. Mom was disappointed about the whole "not finishing high school" thing, and my boyfriend told me he wanted to marry a college grad. At the time, I wanted to be JUNE CLEAVER, and that was IT. The only dreams I pursued was starting my little unrealistic family and home.

So, while in college, for two years, I skipped my classes, I didn't care about homework or grades, I daydreamed about changing diapers and cooking dinner and scrubbing the floors and folding clothes (um....YUCK! with the exception of the kids/changing diapers, now that I'm here, now that I've achieved those big lofty goals of mine, I have to ask myself- what was I thinking??!!?). I took nothing else seriously. In retrospect, I realize I was running away from some lifelong problems and terrors. I wanted normalcy or what I then perceived as normalcy.

But, let's fast-forward to the present- a husband, 3 kids, an overdue mortgage and lots and lots of unfolded laundry, dirty dishes, and unmopped floors later, I'm now 29 and decided within the last couple of years that I want to go back to school. For a while I was torn- nursing or teaching, nursing or teaching. After a couple of recent field trips with my youngest 2, I confidently resolved that nursing it is!

When I withdrew from college back in '99, I didn't formally do so, and consequently, instead of W's, I had several F's to contend with. But the university granted me academic amnesty in 2003. While those F's went poof, they do, unfortunately, remain on my transcripts. Most of them are over 10 years old.

My State University coursework from '03- '06 gives me a GPA of 3.1 (including developmental courses- 3.6 w/o them- I don't know if that is counted in the official GPA or not....some say yes, others say no). But I recently transferred to a community college (Delgado/Charity for the ADN), and my transcripts show both my 3.1, and 1.82 from alllll those F's!

***the point is here, if you wanna skip the life story ------> My question is, especially to any Charity students who may know, will I have to worry about my 1.82????? I mean, I can bring it up to a 2, but I don't think it will go that much higher without taking every single course at the college! None of the courses I took are relevant to CSN curriculum/pre-reqs. They're mostly art courses...and again, they're 10 years old...

[bluechick112]

I guess it's just like lying on your resume. I'm not sure if it's illegal, but I do know that if the college you're applying to specifically says it requires you to send official transcripts from all colleges attended (regardless of how many classes you've taken at each), and they find out you didn't, they can withdraw your acceptance (even if they find out mid-semester that you withheld information from them). This happened to a friend of mine when applying to a state school here in CA. She took two classes online through an out of state college and got A's in both classes, but since those classes weren't prerequisites for her to get in she didn't find it necessary to send them over. They accepted her but later she received a phone call saying they ran her SSN through the system and found out she attended that college for a summer and they withdrew her acceptance due to her withholding information from her application.

It's a shame, really. But I guess they have to know that you were in good standing at every school attended to lower their risk. I've also heard of people doing the same thing and getting away with it, though. Most reputable schools (if not all) clearly state whether they need all official transcripts from all institutions attended and also clearly state what could happen if you don't send them. So I guess it's your choice. I personally won't be taking the risk.

[js408]

I wasn't suggesting withholding any information. If the nursing school requires transcripts from all prior schools, even if you didn't get a degree, then obviously you have to provide it. The school I'm looking at doesn't have anything like that on their application. If they did then of course I'd provide it. The courses I took are from 10 years ago and the school only looks at the most recent 60 credits earned anyway.

I'm not sure if it's illegal, but I do know that if the college you're applying to specifically says it requires you to send official transcripts from all colleges attended (regardless of how many classes you've taken at each), and they find out you didn't, they can withdraw your acceptance (even if they find out mid-semester that you withheld information from them). This happened to a friend of mine when applying to a state school here in CA. She took two classes online through an out of state college and got A's in both classes, but since those classes weren't prerequisites for her to get in she didn't find it necessary to send them over. They accepted her but later she received a phone call saying they ran her SSN through the system and found out she attended that college for a summer and they withdrew her acceptance due to her withholding information from her application.

[AOX4RN, MSN, RN, NP]

I took courses 20 years ago that don't count AT ALL toward my ADN general ed and I stil had to provide the transcripts because it is part of my student record. I haven't taken a single class not required for some part of my ADN and later BSN so everything I have taken will figure at some point. The school gets to decide what is relevant.

[christyness, BSN]

When you apply to a college here in Florida, the application includes a clause in which you agree to release all info about schooling from other institutions. If you fail to do that, you can get kicked out of the school and since you sign a statement attesting to the truth of the application, you can be guilty of perjury.

And then there's financial aid... which could definitely be construed as fraud if you receive money that you would not have received had all your school records been disclosed.

It's a gamble, so I wouldn't recommend it.

To OP: I'm in a very similar situation. My GPA for my first semester back (which was this last Spring) was a 4.0. My overall GPA, including my epic fail from ten years ago is a 1.2. If I get all A's again over the summer, I may barely pull out a 2.0.

Luckily, my school has a few lovely policies. First, they have grade forgiveness. Meaning, if I retake courses that I failed before, the failing grade is kicked out (the only thing is that other schools in the future may count all attempts).

Secondly, if you are a transfer student at my school who has less than a 2.0 when you enter, and you make at least a 2.5 in your first semester, you can be eligible for financial aid even with a low overall GPA. Yay!

Thirdly, and most importantly, our nursing program has a points system (as many do) for determining who is accepted. The GPA they look at is the GPA for your pre-requisite courses and any co-requisite courses you take beforehand. So, for instance, I took Philosophy at the old college. It's not a pre-req for my nursing program, so when time comes, that grade will not count as part of their formula.

I'm sure this varies a LOT from school to school, but don't panic just yet. Talk to an advisor and see what your school and your program has to say about it. If you find that your GPA will be an issue, then try to take several courses that you could pass with your eyes closed. That'll pad your GPA.

[AOX4RN, MSN, RN, NP]

FWIW, Mt. St. Mary's in Los Angeles wanted transcripts from everything, including schools you may have applied to and never took a class. So I have transcripts from colleges where it says nothing at all on them!

[KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN]

I'm in a similar situation as the OP but its only been 2 yrs since I've been in college. My 1st semester in college was like senior year part 2- parties, boys & skipping classes. So as a souvenir I have a big fat shiny F on my transcript But I got it together after that semester, transferred to a community college & buckled down. Took the class over & got a B. Now I want to transfer to another university but I'm sad that I have that F on my transcript

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

I think we all agree that different schools have different rules. For most of the schools that I've attended (with the exception of the current one), they only wanted transcripts from schools where the classes were going to count for the current degree I was seeking. I too was young and dumb 30 years ago - lol.

Let's stay on target and not personalize this please.