A little worried

Mia123 · May 18, 2008

I, too, went to college late 80's/early 90's and could have cared less. I failed classes, stopped going, did not withdrawl. My GPA was in the gutter. In 2001, after my 1st son was born, I decided I needed to go back to school and set a good example for him. I had to take the remedial math classes, but started plugging away. After 2 years of pre-reqs, with mostly A's and a few B's, I was accepted into the community college's Associates Degree Nursing Program. But guess what! I was pregnant with twins and I knew there was no way I could do full time nursing school AND have newborn twins. SOOOO.... I decided to start taking pre-reqs for the BSN program. I transferred to a different college that offered more online classes and I continued taking a few classes a semester and some online classes. I continued to keep my grades at A's and a few B's. I finally completed all the pre-reqs and applied to a University that had just started a part-time BSN program in the town I live in! Until this, I had been driving a minimum of one hour each way to class. Now, it would only be 7 minutes to class if I got in! My GPA was slightly above the minimum to apply (2.75). I was very worried about that! BUT, I had completed ALL my pre-reqs and did awesome on my TEAS test. To make a long story short, I got in on my first try, have been loving the part-time program, AND I WILL BE GRADUATING WITH MY BSN IN DECEMBER 2008!!!! :yeah: :yeah: :yeah:

It can be done! It was not and is not easy, but it is dooable. I am not on the Dean's list, but my GPA when I graduate will be up to a 3.2.

Hotflashn · May 18, 2008

First, go to an informational meeting at LMC and ANY OTHER COLLEGE you can possibly go to. Do not count on getting into LMC - there are often 400 applicants for like 40 slots or whatever. Even if you apply year after year you may not ever get your name chosen. It has poor odds! Solano and Napa have waitlists, get on them (and any others you can) as soon as you can, then keep applying to LMC or CC lotteries. If you get in, great, if not, at least you have a guaranteed seat in one of the other programs waiting for you. Do not put all your eggs in one basket. The waitlist schools have long lists, but they move faster than they say. Apply to as many schools as possible. The lottery schools usually require that you have more of your GE and supporting classes finished before you can put your name in the hat, but waitlists schools in the area often let you apply with just the 4 core ADN preqs. So you can get on the lists and keep working on LMCs additional prereqs, then take whatever comes up first.

Go to as many of those wretched info seminars as you can stomach. Hear what the different programs require and pick up tips and hints. By going to several you can relaly get a feel for what you need to do. Do whatever you can to optimize your chances.

Lastly, get some As! If you do well on your bioscience prereqs, you CAN get in and the past will likely be canceled our. Talk to counselors at the schools and see if you can't get an academic forgiveness to sort of strike the long ago bad grades from your record. I am not sure exactly how to go about it, but many program offer fresh starts. Also, any RN program you go to will want ALL of your transcripts from any school you have attended even if it is not nursing related. Those grades can be part of your overall GPA. You might not be able to get into the highly impacted and competitive BSN programs, but you should be able to get into the ADN programs in the area if you do well from here on out. Another option might be going through a side door - LVN to RN, and if you want a BSN then RN to BSN. Though in the long run that can be more schooling, you can often get into the LVN program at LMC.

Good luck!