ABSN GPA Dilemma!

chicagoing, ADN, RN · Jan 14, 2011

I am not familiar with Samuel Merritt's ABSN program, but I would check with admissions to determine whether they consider the last 60 hours of the undergraduate degree or the last 60 hours of college credit.

Kaliangel · Jan 14, 2011

They told me they only consider the last 60 hours of college credit:)

coast2coast · Jan 14, 2011

OP, is there a minimum GPA to apply ? Will you meet it?

There are many GPA calculators available on the web. It might be a good idea to see how many credits you would need to take, making straight A's, to bring your "last 60 hours GPA" up to a more competitive number. It sounds like you have plenty of time to take classes, so this might give you a good goal to aim for - "I need 30 credits with an A- average" or something like that.

If you can afford it, you could even pad your current classes with some easy A's. Not necessarily nursing school pre-req's, just classes that you think you can do well in that will help drive up the new GPA.

An upward trend in grades ALWAYS helps . Just make sure you meet any minimum GPA requirements and ace those pre-req's.

It has been a few years since you graduated ... many of us were immature the first time through college and our GPAs reflect that. It is easy to say somewhere in your admissions essay that you are now an adult with some life experience, who has gained the inspiration and responsibility needed to pursue a new career.

Kaliangel · Jan 14, 2011

coast2coast- Thank you for the response. Yes there is a minimum GPA, it is 3.0. I started taking classes this semester and I will hopefully get mostly A's maybe a couple B's. I spoke with the admission counselor and she said that they look at the last 60 semester units you have taken (it doesn't matter if it was the last 60 of you bachelors or at a community college). I figured that works in my favor as long as I do well at the community college I will be attending for the next couple of years. I could possibly have a 4.0 for my "last 60 semester units" if I do well :). I guess I am just obsessing over the fact that they will see on my transcipts that I do have some bad grades (a couple F's from not dropping classes before the cut-off) and that even though it doesn't "count" it will still look bad.

I went straight into a university from high school and I was very immature. I think at that time I had more of a "I just want to graduate" attitude instead of really understanding how it would effect me in the future. Hopefully all will go well. Thanks!

rloh961 · Jan 14, 2011

I went straight into a university from high school and I was very immature. I think at that time I had more of a "I just want to graduate" attitude instead of really understanding how it would effect me in the future. Hopefully all will go well. Thanks!

I think a lot of us were the same way, and admissions committees must see it all the time. People with poor early college grades because they didn't take it seriously, but who have since grown up and are more serious about study and their future careers. That's why I do believe these committees place a lot more emphasis on your later GPA, as Samuel Merritt apparently does.

Just work at scoring well on your prereqs, and include somewhere in your application a statement that you were not a serious student at first, but you are more mature now and are taking school seriously. Beyond that, don't worry yourself about your past. ABSN programs are all about giving people a second chance, right?

Kaliangel · Jan 14, 2011

I was thinking the same thing to rloh961. I really hope they have that same thought process :). I made an appointment with one of the admissions counselors for the 24th of this month. I am going to take my transcipts in and discuss all of it so I hope that it goes ok!

Mommy2M&M · Mar 30, 2011

Hi Kali! I am in the same exact boat you are in, only I have a 2.34 from my previous degree in 2007. When I stumbled across your post I just kept saying, "that is me!" I'll be applying in either 2014 or 2015 to Samuel Merritt, hopefully the Sacramento campus as I think that'll be the easiest commute for me, but I will go wherever they take me. I have taken 3 classes at a community college so far and have gotten all A's. I'm just taking one class at a time so I can be sure to bring my gpa up. Essentially, if I get all A's on the rest of my pre-req's the most I'm looking at is a 3.4 for my last 60 units....but if I get all A's in the rest of my science courses, that'll be a 4.0. I'm hoping that that will get their attention and that they'll see that my life has completely changed since I got all those awful grades at my last college.

I was curious to see what the counselor said to you when you went in for a meeting. I am planning on doing the same thing in the near future. Thanks for posting! Nice to know I'm not the only one with this previous degree's gpa weighing me down.

newRNstudent02 · Apr 23, 2011

Have you looked at the number of applicants for last term? The competition is stiff at smu. You're competing for a spot with ucd and ucb grads, and the cost of attendance is crazy expensive. You might want to check with other threads about their reputation and education. It's not the best. There are a lot of ABSN programs out there. I would consider a few before you decide on just one school.

Kaliangel · Apr 23, 2011

@Mommy2M&M- I spoke with one of the admissions counselors and she told me they look at the whole application and only count the last 60 semester units. She made it sound like it wouldn't be that big of a deal but i can't help but think that they will be able to still see it and it will effect me in some way. I am like you, just taking one class at a time. I'm not in any kind of rush. I have a great job right now but nursing is something I have always wanted to pursue. I am a single mom and I am in the process of buying a house so I was thinking that it won't be for awhile before I actually try and apply for the program.

@newRNstudent02- Yes I do see that the competion is tough but at the same time when I spoke to the admissions counselor it seemed like they took people with all kinds of backgrounds not just great grades. I recently met a girl that graduated from UC Davis with a 3.8 GPA and had high TEAS scores but she was still rejected so that shows me that grades aren't everything as the average GPA for last semester was around 3.5 I believe. There are not any other ABSN programs in my area so that is why Samuel Merritt came to mind. My current job will let me take up to 18 months off unpaid so at least I would have job to go back to in case something didn't work out or I grauduated and could not find a job right away :)

Mommy2M&M · Apr 25, 2011

Thank you for posting about your experience with the counselor. It really does make me feel a lot better knowing that someone else is going through the same thing I am! I wish you the best of luck with all your pre-req's and with getting into Samuel Merritt!