Hello! Before I go on, I apologize in advance for so much text. I'm a very detailed person, haha. I also apologize if this is in the wrong section.
Anyway! I'm 17 years old and I recently got my GED and I'm trying to get into college now to become an RN. I was moved between schools a lot 5th-8th grade and therefore didn't learn much, and in the first month of 9th grade I was forced by my parents and school to drop out. I'm a VERY dedicated and smart person, though, and within a month of attending a GED I was able to get my GED with a higher average than my teachers had ever seen (and these were elderly teachers who had been teaching a long time). I am POSITIVE I want to become a RN. I'm not worried about not being able to pass school, I know I can because like I said- I'm very smart and dedicated. What I'm worried about is getting in to school and knowing what steps to take (if that makes any sense, haha).
I've tried to understand the whole process of college and medical school, but nobody in my family and none of my friends have gone to college so I really don't have anybody to advise me. Honestly all I know are the basics, so I really don't know HOW to get into a college that's right for me and my plans. I know it sounds stupid for me not to know, but I don't and that's why I'm here. I want to succeed and I want to know everything there is to know in order to achieve my goal.
So a few questions:
-What's the whole process of getting your BSN, from getting your high school diploma (in this case, GED) to actually having your BSN?
-For nurses who got their GED: Did you having your GED and not a high school diploma effect your ability to get into colleges?
-If you attended/are attending an out of state college for school, how did you decide which college to go to?
I know I DON'T want to stay in my state for school, mainly because EVERY school here is an extreme party school, even the 'smart schools' and I'm NOT into that. I also would like to experience a new area. But I don't want to spend money to go and visit every school I have in mind without knowing if I can even attend it yet. But I also don't want to apply, find out, and then visit the school and possibly realize I don't like the atmosphere and don't want to go there. How did you decide?
I think for the time being that's all the questions I have. I'm sure I'll think of more later. I'm sorry if I'm not making sense in this thread, if I wasn't clear on something just let me know. :) Thank you all so much! I love this forum, and I'm so thankful to have found a place where I can find out so much information!
I got my GED in 2003 when my family moved to the US. I attended about four different state colleges to get my prereqs done and none of them ever had a problem with admitting me.
I'm so sorry for reply to you all so late! I've tried to type my response 3 times, but for some reason my laptop finds it funny to randomly shut off each time! haha.
Thank you all SO MUCH for all of this knowledge! I feel MUCH MORE confident in my plans now that I actually know what I need to do! I'm very serious about my goals, but not knowing what to do to get where I want to be can be very stressful and overwhelming. For now I'll focus on studying and taking the ACT's and SAT's. I was originally planning to go to a community college and transferring to a 4 year university afterward, but I wasn't sure what I should be studying there or how long to expect to be there, so y'all have helped quite a bit with that, and I think I'll do that route! :) I'm so happy to see that other RN's have come from this path or similar and have succeeded. It's great to know that hard work does pay off, no matter what kind of past you come from! Thank you all so much! God bless!
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@opensesame: Thank you very much. I would be lying if I were to say that I haven't had it rough so far, but I'm far from the victim of the circumstance! :) Where I've lacked in a 'proper upbringing' I've been blessed beyond words by being able to see how God is working day by day in my life. He has crafted my life in a perfect imperfection to glorify Him in all areas of my life at any given moment! Thank you for your help, God bless!
@MySonIsAdorable: Thank you! I've had some bad experiences when I've tried to ask for help in the past, which is why I was so worried about sounding stupid haha. I was afraid to say something TOO dumb and be criticized that I won't make a good nurse. I'm so happy that you all were able to understand where I was coming from, though! :) I didn't move around a lot being of the army either.. my family became very unstable after my dad's drug addiction began after my parents divorce. So I switched schools a lot moving between family members. I'm not very worried about bad influences.. I'm not exactly the leader but I'm far from the follower. I pick my associations carefully. I mainly meant the noise, LOL
@czyja: Thank you SO MUCH!! That really means a lot to me. I hope I make a good nurse. I don't expect it to be an easy job, but I know it'll be worth it. Thank you very much! :)
God bless you all! Thank you all so so much! I know I've said that so many times already, but once more won't kill y'all
I agree with the previous posters about going to a community college first and then transferring to a university.
I moved to the United States in 1994 from a different country. At the time it was roughly $200-$300 to get my transcript translated and it cost $65 to receive a GED. I opted for my GED. I attended a community college and received my Associates in Arts Degree. I then joined the military as a reservist because they were offering an LPN program for free and all I had to do was attend basic training and subsequently an EMT program followed by the LPN program. Afterwards, I applied to a 4 year university and finished my BSN with a 3.85 GPA.
You can definitely make it. A strong will and determination can take you in the direction you want to go.
I dropped out of 10th grade and got my GED. I am currently an Emergency Department RN.
Alot of the 4 year BSN programs will not accept you because you cannot meet their admission requirements. However, I went the community college route for my Associates, RN and than transfered to an RN-BSN program without difficulty.
For entrance to a community college, the ONLY requirements are that you have completed your GED. You will have to take an entrance exam so they know what level to place you for math, reading etc. Complete the nursing program pre-reqs and than you may apply for their nursing program. At my nursing school, they didnt care AT ALL if you got your GED or HS diploma. What they DID care about was your nursing pre-req GPA and entrance exam scores. I had a 4.0 GPA and decent entrance exam scores and got into the program immediately without being waitlisted.
For the RN-BSN program they require that you have a valid RN license and certain core courses that you most likely would have completed prior to getting in to nursing school such as Microbiology, Math, English etc. Their entrance critera is typically based on your nursing school GPA and instructor references only.
Please dont feel that having a GED limits you in life. You may have to take a different route to get where you want, but in no way will it prevent you from getting there. My BSN is the same as any ones elses BSN. Go for it!
You don't have to have an ACT or SAT at a community college, GED is all and their placement exam so they can help you set up your initial schedule and get you in refresher classes if needed before your regular gen ed classes. As another poster posted, it is MUCH cheaper to get prereqs. done at a CC. I graduated from high school, but I still chose to do prereqs. at a CC because they're the same classes, for much cheaper, and from my experience I had to work harder at the CC than at the university for same classes (were worth more credit hours at CC than same class at University). Here in chicago at least, to skip the need for high school transcripts you need to have 24 or more semester credit hours to not be considered a freshman college student. After that your transcripts from the CC is enough (speaking from experience, I got all my Nursing school prereqs. done at a total of 4 different CC here so I could save a ton of money). I'd go to a CC first. Hope this helps.
Thanks! All of that did help, especially the extra information about community colleges. I wasn't sure if community colleges required ACT and SAT scores as well. My only concern is not knowing what university to go to afterward. Because the way some of you have worded it, only some classes will transfer to other colleges depending on which college it is. But I'll talk to somebody at my community college and find out more information from them!
Also, I'm loving all of these success stories! haha I've always been told that 'GED is for dummies' (even from people who know the circumstances for me dropping out) and that the best I could do with a GED was flipping hamburgers.. so it's nice to know that that's far from the truth and there are other successful people who have gone that route! Thank you all so much!
God bless you LeeyuhRae! Never give up, GOD is able to finish the work HE started in you. Given your situation, it might be easier and more cost effective to go the community college route. There are many paths to nursing, and at a community college, you can get your LPN/LVN which is a pratical nurse that works under the RN (program takes about 12 months after completion of prerequisites), or you can get your ADN which takes about 2.5 years to complete. Many universities have LPN to BSN or ADN to BSN programs and like other posters have stated, they don't look at your highschool transcript, just your nursing courses. You mentioned that you dont want to go to school in your state so I wanted to give you some websites for college searches. http://communitycollegeusa.com/ This is a great source for finding a community college. If you would rather go straight for the BSN or need help for later, then http://www.collegeboard.com/ is a great source. I also want you to think about out of state tuition, which is NOT cheap, lol. But many schools will let you be considered in-state if you qualify as an independent student and live and work dependently of your parents (at most schools filing for being an independent and filling for in-state are two seperate applications, but it can be done because I did it!) or you can see if you parents are willing to move to the state you want to go to school. Also, no matter what school you go too, you will need to fill out a FAFSA for potential financial aid and that website is: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ As a final note, I would avoid on-line schools as these tend to be scams. Most schools have on-line classes which are fine. I hoped this helped and stay encouraged!
wow, you sound like me! I had a hard like as well, except my parents never cared about me and were never there to take care of me, i was kinda left on my own. So i dropped out of high school, moved in with my aunt and worked! I met a wonderful guy, got married and now we have two beautiful little boys. I have just completed my GED and im twenty now. I was smart in school as well and im a very dedicated person. Nursing is what i truely want to do.I have a true passion for it, even the yucky stuff and i love taking care of people.I was scared i wouldnt be able to do it, and even have my mom putting me down about it all the time..but with the support of my loving husband i KNOW i can do it and you CAN too!! I have found a college who will except my GED, and actually i think most will. I will start my nursing pre req. in january. I do have to do a placement test. so im not actually a prenursing student but will be soon :)
So know that there is hope! Good luck to you! I know what its like going through a lot. You can do anything you want and set your mind to! Hope to hear soon that you've enrolled in school somewhere.
Good for you! I wish everyone took this much initiative in their life!
I dropped out in the 9th grade with hardly any HS credits to my name. I received my GED when I was 16 and when I started at my CC for pre-reqs I did have to take more of the basic science and math than other students. I suggest starting at your CC like others have said, and meet with an advisor to talk about what classes are needed and create a timeline to manage your goal.
I hvae a question, and I hoope someone out there( who is already a nurse) can answner for me, I have recently had problems with high school and my dream is to be a RN (registered Nurse) and I'm thinking of going to get my GED, Is that possible and will I be able to be accepted into nursing school or a college to study to become a nurse? if so willl my yearly sallary still be as good as a high sxhool graduate or no??
Futterwacken
56 Posts
I got my GED in 2003 when my family moved to the US. I attended about four different state colleges to get my prereqs done and none of them ever had a problem with admitting me.