Accelerated Nursing acceptance

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Hello!

I am planning on applying for an accelerated program for the spring of 2018. I am writing because I am really anxious on how competitive admissions is. I didn't do great in my undergrad. 3.3 cumulative but am taking my prerequisites right now and doing well in them. I hope to get a 3.8-4.0 in the prerequisites. My biggest concern is that even though I did well in my prerequisites, admissions will see that I did poorly in my undergrad. Is anyone in the position, or has been in this positon? Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Most ABSN programs in my part of the world use cumulative GPA for admissions - not just pre-reqs. Your program's advisors should be able to tall you how they compute GPA. If they base admissions on multiple criteria, go ahead and ask how they weight each of them. You may be able to get a boost from acing your admissions test.

Best of luck to you.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Moved to the Pre-Nursing Student forum for more responses.

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

It really depends on the criteria of the particular program. I was accepted into one ABSN program with my 3.38 GPA in my prior degree because they weighted pre-req GPA, GRE, life/healthcare experience, personal statement, and interview such that undergrad GPA was not the deciding factor in admissions. I was rejected from another program because they weight undergrad GPA very highly in their admissions process so the fact I was strong in all the other areas of my application didn't particularly matter. I would suggest contacting the program or programs you are interested in and finding out how they weight their admissions criteria.

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I understand how you feel. I have a similar undergrad GPA (~3.4). Although I have a 4.0 science GPA and scored over 95% on the TEAS (completed science prerequisites, remaining non-science courses, and TEAS in the last 13 months), I am certain my undergrad GPA is going to keep me from being accepted into a number of programs. Unfortunately I also took 4 of the non-science nursing prerequisites right out of high school before I had a good head for school and got B's and C's. I wish they only looked at the science classes! Did you complete any of the prerequisites in your undergrad studies? If not, that puts you in a decent position to really do well in all of those courses. I think some programs are only count your prerequisite GPA.

The classes I have taken over the last year have brought me up to around a 3.6 cumulative as well, so keep those grades up from here on out and your GPA will climb up a little each semester.

My advice for the undergrad courses is to put school before social life in terms of priorities, study a lot and try to enjoy the material because most of it is really cool! I think it is also imperative when you are in the position we are, with a less than stellar undergrad GPA, to get some volunteer work in. Many programs require it, and those that don't require it, still like to see it on your application. Best of luck with the rest of the prerequisites. Study hard and you'll do great!

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You are right in that nursing admission is VERY competitive! I'm waiting to hear back on interview offers and I have to say I have gone back to biting my nails. :p

In terms of what you should do now? ACE those pre reqs and study hard for any admissions tests. I had a 3.65 cumulative from my previous degree and was "average" for a lot of programs. To stand out, I got a 4.0 on my pre reqs and busted butt to get a 90 on my admissions exams.

I would highly recommend getting good, consistent volunteer experience in the healthcare field. This can take a while, I was shocked at how many places DON'T need volunteers. Volunteering, even if not required for your schools you choose to apply to, will give you a lot of great experience and material to talk about in an interview/ personal statement.

Don't get down about the GPA just yet. You can control your pre req grades. Take your time taking these classes if you must to get an A. Communicate with your professors and see if they have any tips they can share for success. Talk with other students who have taken the class. KNOW your study style and stick to it! Just because people tell you they made 100 flashcards doesn't mean that's the best way for you to do it. I cannot stress this enough. For years, I studied how everyone else studied and ignored for a while what actually worked for me. One thing that tends to work for MOST people is to review a little bit of material every single day. Science was difficult for me (I was a business/finance major), so I found biting it off in small chunks helped me get A's in all my classes. I cannot cram science.

Start researching programs NOW and reach out to pre-nursing advisors to see what courses they might recommend. Make sure classes you are taking will transfer in to their program, should you choose to apply. Ask them what would make you stand out as a candidate. Do those things.

I would also always recommend you have a back up plan. I have one myself. Look at other programs you may be interested where the pre reqs overlap (if you are even interested in anything else). I also didn't quit my regular job. This may have slowed down my pre-req completion rate, but with the competitiveness of these programs, one can't afford to throw it all to the wind so early. If you have to take your classes slowly, or don't get accepted right away, use that time to save up AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE! Many people work in nursing school, but just as many, if not more, find the workload to be too heavy.

Good luck to you. There are many paths to becoming a nurse, you must walk the one that aligns with you.

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