New Admissions standards for TCC RN program

cloyola · May 25, 2009

Wow, your a winner! You get the tin foil. Enjoy!

Neats, BSN · May 26, 2009

so as i read this i think about what i have completed to get my bsn.

i think the lottery is great but there should be some rewards for students studying hard to get the sought after "a".

i received a gpa of 3.8 in my courses and worked hard. i had to go to school out of state (wa) to get my bsn because i cannot compete with the students who have the money and time to retake nursing req courses to get the "a". i got a b+ in micro and this bumped me down the list. i worked hard to get that b+ and am proud of this. i am a great rn, spend time listening to my patients and do not regret obtaining my bsn.

i do wish the state of wa would have had the lottery when i was going thru nursing school as i have seen a great many student be turned away because their gpa is not high enough. i have also witnessed a great many nursing students become nurses and think "why" did they become a nurse? i then listen to them say i graduated with a 4.0 gpa...they had no concept of truly taking care of their patients. not all nurses who graduate with a 4.0 are bad nurses so please anyone reading this do not take offense.

what i am saying is the point system is in part unfair to those who have a lower gpa than 4.0. some of us do study hard and only get a b+ in micro where some students are book smart and can just look at the book and get an a. it does not mean i did not study as hard as the person who received an a.

nursing educational staff should not only look at the future nurses capability of tackling the course work but also how they would truly interact with patients...i think at least 40 hours of some volunteer work would help these potential nurses become better nurses or completely make these potential nurses rethink their chosen profession.

lastly, just because a nursing school has high standards for nursing acceptance does not make it a good nursing school. what makes a highly sought after nursing school is a factor of influences such as availability of nursing student slots, being accredited with college and nursing professions, clinical facility rotations and the college instructors themselves.

cloyola · May 26, 2009

Well said! You put that in a classy way I never could! You are so right on.

Ebostylin · May 26, 2009

Yes I agree, well said Neats. I also got a 3.3 in Microbiology at a community college and I'm about to graduate from UW in a few weeks! If you think I will sit my butt through another Microbiology class just to up my grade to a 3.6.........um, no thank you, lol. I agree that some people are just book smart and being book smart doesn't mean that you will be a good nurse. I think it's rediculous that people take classes over just so that they can get a grade that is just a few points higher.

I also agree with most of what Cloyola said, although I would have put things a bit more....... elegantly.. lawlz

I've always been in favor of the lottery system (minimum 3.0 gpa though like TCC does it), there's more to being a good nurse than just grades, nawmeen?

CorpsmanRN, BSN, RN · Jul 4, 2009

Wow, didn't know about that change at TCC.

I never really thought lottery systems were a good way to go, but I hated the 'based on gpa only' idea even more. I was rejected from TCC & Highline because my gpa wasn't high enough. I already had 8 years experience in the medical field & had recommendations from several PA's, NP's & MD's. I personally prefer the schools that do an interview process/allow recommendations, letters, etc into ones file. I was accepted into Pierce. I'm sure it's very time consuming for the staff and likely a reason some schools don't do it.

Wonder how it'll turn out for TCC (whether they stick to it or change it up). Good luck to all. I know easier said than done but Don't give up!

fegleyb · Jul 23, 2009

hi everyone,

i just completed the tcc program and yes, it is challenging, but i thoroughly enjoyed it. regardless of what you have going on in your life (kids, no kids, divorce, work, etc) everyone has to put in the same amount of effort to be successful at school. so if your life is chaotic at the moment it's probably best to postpone. if you can't keep your grades up or you miss too many classes/clinicals, you don't pass (it happens, but infrequently thank goodness!). the instructors are all very kind and seem to have a genuine interest in your success. the workload keeps you very busy, so i wouldn't work if you don't have to, but i have seen people do well while tackling both. my thought about prerequisite grades is that if you can get a's or b's you'll probably be successful, so the lottery system sounds alright to me! my concern with pulling grades that are lower is that the dropout rate would increase and then everyone loses.

as far as the comments about grades having to do with whether or not you will be compassionate, i'm thinking it's pretty obvious that's not the case. i think that above all, schools should be concerned with graduating competent nurses that hopefully are compassionate, not compassionate nurses with mediocre grades are more likely to go out and make mistakes that harm people. being compassionate and nurturing is truly wonderful, but if your patient is in a coma because you calculated the med wrong, well, ya know...

so, how do they know if you're compassionate? well, first, if you think about it... how many people would sign on for this field, 2-6 years of studying, and not be truly interested in caring for people? it probably happens, but my guess is not very often! second, an interview seems like a great idea, but can't we all dress up, put on a chipper face, and say sweet things?

i guess you can see that i value focusing on academic competence and believe the compassion is an inherent part of each person applying for the program. i've yet to see anyone in the tcc program that didn't seem genuinely caring.

my two cents!

good luck to all of you!

:nuke:

GoSounders · Aug 1, 2009

Hello everybody-

First of all, I mean no offense to any of the lottery proponents here.

Unfortunately, the overall impression given from previous posts tends to lean towards intellectual dishonesty. Does anybody here really believe that a 3.0 student is just as likely to succeed as a 4.0 student? Or that a 3.0 student is likely more compassionate than a 4.0 student? I sure hope not cause that is just "creepy." The grades we earn in college are interpreted for more than just their corresponding GPA. They demonstrate a combination of dedication, aptitude, and an awareness of ones own strengths and weaknesses. Ironically, these are all skills required to make it through nursing school.

Admissions boards realize that if they tried admitting only students with a C or D average, their drop out and NCLEX failure rates would inevitably increase. This same basic principle applies between admitting only 4.0 students versus 3.0 students. Don't get me wrong, many of these 3.0 students are smart, well-adjusted people who very well could ace the NCLEX. The reality we live in however, dictates that they are statistically not as likely to.

What it all boils down to is, a school with a successful nursing program attracts more students, and therefore more dollars. This ties in with (IMHO) the likely motive behind TCC changing their admissions criteria: More wannabe RN's who can't cut 4.0 will pay for prerequisite courses and aim for B's. As stated in a previous post, the applicant pool will probably become much larger and profitable. Who knows, they might need to add additional Microbiology and A&P courses. $$$$