Acceptance Rates / GPA Questions

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I am currently active duty Air Force stationed overseas, I absolutely love the military, but I am ready to move to the next step and become an Air Force Officer, as a nurse.

I've got a few questions/concerns though that have been worrying me. I plan on attending nursing school (all pre-reqs will be finished) once my enlistment is up in 2008. I don't have a historically good college record, I was young and dumb and just wanted to have fun, so I dropped several classes and did poorly in others. My cumulative GPA is currently a 2.76 and I'm not sure if I can raise it to a ~3.5 with only about 8-10 more classes needed to fill my nursing pre-reqs. I'm taking online classes now through University of Phoenix (general courses like English and History) and I am doing very well. Once I get back to the US early next year I'll start going to regular classes again at community college.

All the military asks for is a BSN, they don't care what school I went to or anything like that, I just need to get my BSN, and with my grade history I don't think I will competetive at the "better" schools. So I'm willing to move ANYWHERE in the US after my enlistment is up and gain residency in order to attend a nursing school that will accept me. Are there nursing schools out there that are statistically easier to get into? I mean one that would accept me with a ~3.1-3.3gpa. My GI BILL will cover up to $12K a year for school, so as long as it's less than that I'm fine.

Can anyone offer any advice, or perhaps some names of nursing schools that are a little easier to get into?

Thanks,

Jason Garrett

Acceptance guidelines vary greatly from school to school. Some have a cuttoff GPA and then do a lottery. Some do a modified lottery where the higher your GPA is the more "chances" you have of getting picked. Some go by GPA alone. My program is based soley on the following GPA criteria:

1. Grades in Biol, A&P 1, A&P 2, and Micro Biol

2. Grades in comp, psych, soc, and interpersonal communications

To be competive for admission in my school you need at least 3 of group 1 completed with a 3.25gpa or so and 3 of group 2 with at least a 3.0 gpa. Talk to admissions at the schools you want to attend and see what they are looking for. Also, most schools give prefference to those students who have completed prereqs at their institution.

I appreciate the response.

The pre-reqs you listed are one's that I haven't done yet, I've been stationed in Italy for the last 3 years and it's not easy to get anything but basic classes done (English, Math, Social Sciences, etc). So as long as I do very well in the science classes I should have a pretty good shot right?

Also, is there anything I can do in the mean-time (once I get back to the US) that will improve my chances of being accepted. For instance, volunteering at a hospital/clinic, or anything else like that?

Thanks!

Jason

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Hi Jason - thanks for your service. Are you able to cross-train to a medical job? That might help. Otherwise, perhaps cross-train to something in the medical field? BTW - are you at Aviano? We were stationed in Spain and I always wanted to visit Italy - but never made it.

Hi Jason - thanks for your service. Are you able to cross-train to a medical job? That might help. Otherwise, perhaps cross-train to something in the medical field? BTW - are you at Aviano? We were stationed in Spain and I always wanted to visit Italy - but never made it.

Yeah, I'm stationed at Aviano (currently deployed to the middle-east though). Cross-training is not really an option because they will make me extend my enlistment for another 4 years. I'm not going to be able to complete nursing school and remain enlisted at the same time. So I am just waiting for my enlistment to end so I can attend school full time.

I'm in Wyoming, and the school I'm attending does things (IMO) very fairly. They take all the classes required for the degree (ADN), set aside the nursing classes, and use all the remaining classes to determine entry into the program. The classes are weighted by importance to the major; eg, Anatomy is worth a possible 12 points (for an A, 8 for a B, etc.), but a class like History is worth fewer points - a point is even awarded for having taken PE. The goal being that students entering the nursing program have as many coreq's completed as possible, even though the only prereq's are Anatomy and a math class (fewer non-nursing courses to worry about during nursing school). The total number of points possible is 95. I think the lowest points admitted to the program this year was 51. (They don't have a cut-off - if they have 60 slots, they take the 60 students with the highest points). There are no waiting lists other than the alternate list to replace those who are accepted and decide not to enroll that year, so everyone gets a fair shake every year. There have also been rumors as to the enrollment being greatly expanded. I know you mentioned getting a BSN; there is an on-line RN to BSN program through the University of Wyoming that can be completed in a year if all lower division requirements have been fulfilled - this is what I'm planning. Also, there is an Air Force base here. PM me if you have any questions.

Specializes in Operating Room.

Consider retaking any classes that will pertain to your BSN in order to get your GPA up. OR....depending on how long it's been, you may be able to do a 10 year fresh start. (Sorry, but I didn't look to see if you b-day was listed on your profile)

Good luck!

Consider retaking any classes that will pertain to your BSN in order to get your GPA up. OR....depending on how long it's been, you may be able to do a 10 year fresh start. (Sorry, but I didn't look to see if you b-day was listed on your profile)

Good luck!

Well, luckily I haven't yet taken many of the pre-reqs for the BSN, just humanities type stuff. So I should be able to start off on a good note once I get back to the US and get into Biology and A&P etc.

Thanks for the advice!

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