Academic advisor gave me inconsistent advice and I don't know what to think or do

[adriana12995]

Two weeks ago I spoke to my academic advisor at my college only to be told that I will not get into the nursing program with my current institutional gpa of 3.2 even though my overall gpa is at 3.7.

My overall gpa has always been decent but i messed up in some college level science classes that i took during high school. That same advisor had told me last year that i should take some easy art classes to raise my gpa, and i did, but now she is telling me that i need to retake those science classes. I wouldn't find this a problem if i wasn't already in my third year of college, with too many credits, and at risk of having my financial aid taken away as a result of the going over the credits limit from the dual enrollment classes i took in high school. She also took a condescending tone, saying how it was "cute" that I was minoring in art and of how when she was my age she went backpacking I don't know where and then became a nurse next year. I don't know why but this combo, at the moment, really ticked me off.

If i want to become a nurse, i will have to retake several classes and pay for them myself, and unless i win the lottery, that's not gonna happen. If only i cound turn back time, i would not have taken those classes and would have waited until i got to college. But i had no one to advice me and that academic advisor should have told me a year before that I needed to retake classes.

I am so confused and have been depressed since that conversation and I just don't know what to do. I am sorry if this seems like rant (well, it is) but I wanted to share this context in order for someone to give me some advice on what to do, since it seems not even my school advisor will tell me consistent information. With what she had told me before, I thought my college accepted students into the program based on overall gpa, not on institutional gpa.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do? For current or former nursing students, did your school look at your institutional gpa or your overall gpa? Please excuse me if i posted this on the wrong forum part, this is my first post here.

[BrendanO, MSN, RN]

How many schools have you earned college credit from? Your dual-enrollment classes are counting towards your institutional GPA? What science classes did you take in dual-credit programs, and what grades did you get? If you had dual-credit Biology and Chemistry classes where you earned Ds, yeah, you're probably going to need to re-take those to be a competitive applicant.

Nursing schools can use whatever criteria they want to evaluate and admit their students. Seems like there are 50 different ways to calculate GPAs (which courses count, is there a separate science GPA, etc.), weight admissions tests, and other factors. You might consider talking directly to the director of the nursing program, or their admissions person, to see where your credentials stand in comparison to past applicants.

[Buyer beware, BSN]

How many schools have you earned college credit from? Your dual-enrollment classes are counting towards your institutional GPA? What science classes did you take in dual-credit programs, and what grades did you get? If you had dual-credit Biology and Chemistry classes where you earned Ds, yeah, you're probably going to need to re-take those to be a competitive applicant.

Nursing schools can use whatever criteria they want to evaluate and admit their students. Seems like there are 50 different ways to calculate GPAs (which courses count, is there a separate science GPA, etc.), weight admissions tests, and other factors. You might consider talking directly to the director of the nursing program, or their admissions person, to see where your credentials stand in comparison to past applicants.

Seems like this academic advisor needs some advice on how not to be miserable and inept at giving advice.

So before I start talking about unethical and deceptive behavior on this advisor's part, I would ask this person why this school requires a student to be "shaken down" before you're "advised" to retake the science courses.

I won't get into my suspicions about what loan mill you may be going to but since you haven't mentioned the institution I'll leave it there and take a calculated guess.