No-Pass in second half of General Chemistry

[atberk]

I got a C freshman year in General Chemistry (Chem 1A). I'm currently an incoming junior at Cal majoring in Public Health. I took the second portion of General Chemistry (Chem 1B) spring semester of sophomore year because at the time, I wanted to pursue a career as a Physician's Assistant, which required a whole year of Gen Chem. That's the only reason I took it. When I realized that PA was not the route that I wanted to go in, I switched to pursuing nursing with a MEPN program because it was something I was more passionate about and had lots of interest in. Therefore, I changed the grading option for Chem 1B to P/NP. However, during the midst of figuring everything out and juggling my other classes, I lost motivation to do work in Chem 1B since it wasn't "going towards" anything (nursing schools only want one semester of gen chem, and my Public Health major didn't require it), and I ended up with a NP. Even though it doesn't affect my GPA, I'm sure that it does not look good. I realize that this was a very immature way of dealing with the situation, but what's done is done, and I am just wondering if my chances of being accepted into a nursing program are severely decreased. I still have a lot of other prereqs to take, so I will try to get above a B/B+ in all the remaining science prereqs. Looking forward, does anyone have advice on how I can still be a competitive applicant despite my NP in Gen Chem? If it helps at all, I still did get a C in the other Gen Chem course I took freshman year. I know that if I am more disciplined with my study habits that I can do well in the other courses. It's just a matter of self-discipline and motivation.

[vanessaem, BSN, RN]

Many nursing schools would like you to have a B or better in the following subjects: Chemistry, A&P 1 and 2, and Microbiology. It might help if you try and take the Gen Chem again if possible and bump that grade up to at least a B or another Chemistry course which your nursing school of choice will accept and get a B or better in that. There's a lot of competition to get into nursing schools and you will want to look as good as possible. If they see that you're improving your grades, especially in the courses mentioned above, that will make you look better in the long run.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

What is your general GPA? If you are looking to be an NP a C won't cut it. It won't cut it to get into most nursing programs as a RN. Sciences are more heavily weighted in most colleges looking at nursing applicants. You need to speak with an advisor on what you need to do to become a competitive applicant.