Acceptance chances?

[Jenney]

Ok, so I have been attending community college for two years now. I started out with a very low math level, so it took semester or two to build it up for my science courses. I have one more semester before I will apply to nursing schools. By this time i will have the following classes completed:

AP 1

AP 2

Microbiology

Chemistry

Gen Pysch

Pysch life span

Pharm Calc

Sociology

English 1

English 2

Communications

Statistics

A few of these classes I had to retake. I now have a mix of A's and B's, and hopefully with hard work the end of next semester classes will be all A's. If all goes well my GPA will end out to be around a 3.5 or 3.6 (I know, not great). Just wondering if anyone else has been in this sort of a situation. Nursing is the only career out there for me, I literally need to do it. Just worrying that my lower GPA will affect me, I hear of people around me with better grades not getting into programs, I know how difficult it is. It would be awful applying to a ton of programs and not getting into any. I also live near Boston, and would love to get accepted into a school in/near Boston, but I will be applying everywhere i can hah. Sorry for the long post!

[LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN]

What is the minimum GPA requirement at the school you want to apply to? That seems like a good GPA to me, and they do look at more than GPA. For example, TEAS scores, your volunteer history, some schools requre essays, reference letters can help even if the school doesn't require them, if they are a staff recommendation from a well respected professor or member of the health sciences board. While I had a 4.0 my last semester before applying, my cum GPA wasn't that great (like I won't even say what it was, it was that meh). I think what set me apart and got me in was my TEAS score in the 99th percentile, my letter of recommendation from a well respected professor (an MD), and a brief cover letter attached to my application describing why I thought I would be an assett to the program.Good luck to you!

[mz23]

Lol that doeent sound bad to me. But it depends on the school and who else is applying and some school s dont like more than 1 repeat (just in sciences). I think my gpa is like yoursv i have all As in prereqs except for the a&b. So im getting my cna cert plus volunteering and hoping to do well on my teas coming up in August!

[thejadedmonkey]

My nursing program accepted applicants based on a points system. You earned points for higher grades, higher exam scores, volunteering/community service, for having a military service background, for prior nursing related certifications/licenses (CNA/EMT/Paramedic/LPN), for any prior degrees (Bachelor's or higher), and some other random things I'm forgetting.

My application's point score was TERRIBLE. I had full points for grades and exam scores, but 0 points from anything else. I didn't have any volunteer points because I was working full time and going to school full time, I never served in the armed forces, and had no prior healthcare experience of any kind. This meant I failed to score any points on about half of my application. My wimpy little application was going up against people who spent 3-4 years preparing for the nursing program and were close to maxing out on possible points, so I was definitely worried I would not be accepted.

However, I somehow still got in! So all I can tell you is every admissions committee values different aspects of your application differently. I would not worry overmuch about a GPA unless you have solid information about your GPA being below the accepted GPA cutoff line.

[Soccermang21]

A really solid interview can go a long way in making up for an average gpa.