Admission into Nursing Program and GPA

Rianna1 · Aug 28, 2007

Welcome! The best thing to do is apply to as many schools as you can. Here in the San Francisco Bay area the competition for any program is fierce. Some are on lottery system, some are admit by gpa/essay/volunteer and some are on straight wait lists. I applied to 4 schools so far and didn't get into the first two. The other I was put on a two year wait list for an ADN and the other was a private school that also put me on a one year wait list. So, yes, just to give yourself options you should look /apply to other schools.

tanu830 · Aug 28, 2007

Hi everyone!!! I am new here and love this place!!! It's so informative and everyone is so supportive and encouraging.
I am 36 years old and finished my pre-requisites. I can apply to the nurse education program this fall to enter next fall. The school is extremely competitive and I only have one more year of classes to take and then just nurse education classes are left!!!
Now, my question is that I know GPA is considered when getting accepted into the nurse education program. I attended the same school I am going to now when I was 18 yrs. old. Back then it was all partying and my mind was not in the right place. I did get my GPA back up (getting all A's and B's and just one C) but it is def. not as high as I want it to be.
I don't know what to do!!! I am receiving financial aid and will lose it if I run out of classes to take and at 36 I don't want to be on a waiting list forever! How long CAN you be on the waiting list?? Does anyone know this? I am freaking out because I am a single mother with a son to support and really want this badly. It is a dream that I have had for a long time.
Should I be looking at other schools? Would my GPA from this college be transferred to another school even thought the classes that I did not do well in back then were secretarial classes and not nursing? I just don't want to put my heart and soul into something and then get devastated because I will never get into the program.
Has anyone else been in this situation? Should I be looking into other careers - I need honesty! I am such a different person now then I was 18 years ago!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated - Thanks in advance!

hey! im in the exact same situation u are in however im 21 and in my 5th yr tryin to finish bachelors in psych. my GPA is 2.7 and now im desperately tryin to get it as high as i can with the 2-3 semesters i have left. i did good in the nursing pre-reqs, but im soooooooo scared i wont get in unless my gpa is like 3.5:uhoh3:. i thought about applying to accelerated programs, but i heard those are even more competitive than traditional! im not sure what to do either, cuz it depends on the school and its requirements: like if they want an essay and reccomendations and/or entrance exam i hope these things help ppl like us get in somwhere......i would really like to hear others' opinions on this.......especially someone in the nyc area who has been accepted????

deleern · Aug 28, 2007

hey come to minnesota, we have open enrollment for lpn and that gives you an in for the adn program. i just graduated from the adn program, i applied and registered the same day and started the lpn program the next monday. we have people come as far as libya, africa to go to our college. very low cost of living compaired to most of the nation....

pm me if you need information

Music in My Heart · Aug 28, 2007

Well, it all depends on the individual school and you should speak to their admissions folks (for the nursing program specifically) to find out how they weight the various criteria.

If your GPA is above a 3.0 and you have 40-60 units of good grades after your "partying" grades, you'll probably do fine. If you've only got 4 or 5 good classes on top of a bunch of lousy grades then you're probably going to have to take some more classes.

You could consider getting into a BA/BS program outside of nursing while you're on a waiting list and then continue to demonstrate academic excellence and perhaps get in that way or finish off your BA/BS and go for an accelerated 2nd bachelor's program.

You should seriously consider the LPN route, too.

jennyz99 · Aug 28, 2007

It is not only GPA but also work experiences. My GPA is 3.6; but for all my nursing pre-req. classes I got 3.8, still because I have no working experiences in health care, I wasn't accepted for the BSN program at UW (University of Washington). It was verying disappointing. Now I am looking into RN programs at community colleges, but even those are very competitive, and almost all of the programs use health care work experiences as part of admission consideration criteria. I am a returning student; I work 65 hrs a week while taking pre-req. classes and stretched myself so thin, I hardly have any time to sleep, how am I going to find time to get that health care experience? I need my jobs to support my family, since I am the bread maker. I had no idea that nursing is this competitive.

:trout:

catzy5 · Aug 29, 2007

Hi everyone!!! I am new here and love this place!!! It's so informative and everyone is so supportive and encouraging.
I am 36 years old and finished my pre-requisites. I can apply to the nurse education program this fall to enter next fall. The school is extremely competitive and I only have one more year of classes to take and then just nurse education classes are left!!!
Now, my question is that I know GPA is considered when getting accepted into the nurse education program. I attended the same school I am going to now when I was 18 yrs. old. Back then it was all partying and my mind was not in the right place. I did get my GPA back up (getting all A's and B's and just one C) but it is def. not as high as I want it to be.
I don't know what to do!!! I am receiving financial aid and will lose it if I run out of classes to take and at 36 I don't want to be on a waiting list forever! How long CAN you be on the waiting list?? Does anyone know this? I am freaking out because I am a single mother with a son to support and really want this badly. It is a dream that I have had for a long time.
Should I be looking at other schools? Would my GPA from this college be transferred to another school even thought the classes that I did not do well in back then were secretarial classes and not nursing? I just don't want to put my heart and soul into something and then get devastated because I will never get into the program.
Has anyone else been in this situation? Should I be looking into other careers - I need honesty! I am such a different person now then I was 18 years ago!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated - Thanks in advance!

It differes from school to school so the only person that can answer these questions is your admissions office or a councelor at your school.

My school accepts on 80% of canidates on GPA alone the other 20% is lottery based. We have no wait lists so each semester you start over again. You also can't apply until you have completely finished all pre reqs and they are on your transcripts, which means you finnish and have to wait an entire semester twiddling your thumbs before you can even apply to the program. But thats just my school.

Asherah, BSN, RN · Aug 29, 2007

It is not only GPA but also work experiences. My GPA is 3.6; but for all my nursing pre-req. classes I got 3.8, still because I have no working experiences in health care, I wasn’t accepted for the BSN program at UW (University of Washington). It was verying disappointing. Now I am looking into RN programs at community colleges, but even those are very competitive, and almost all of the programs use health care work experiences as part of admission consideration criteria. I am a returning student; I work 65 hrs a week while taking pre-req. classes and stretched myself so thin, I hardly have any time to sleep, how am I going to find time to get that health care experience? I need my jobs to support my family, since I am the bread maker. I had no idea that nursing is this competitive.
:trout:

I understand that you are frustrated with the situation, however UW is quite competitive and I believe they state on their admissions requirements that applicants have a minimum of 100 hours of paid or volunteer experience. I know that getting a job in health care while you are working is quite hard to fit in...for most of us its unrealistic for us to give up our current jobs for the purpose of getting a new (and probably lower paying) one.

While I'm not applying to UW, my solution to this requirement that many schools have, is a volunteer position eight hours/week at my local hospital through a program that is intended for pre-nursing and pre-med students. Here, I get to rotate through all of the units and shadow specific professionals to determine if I feel that the role would be a good fit for me.

Many schools are imposing these requirements (although few of them list it explicitly on the admission requirements) as they would like to confirm that all applicants have had exposure to "real-life" experiences with patient care or some variant thereof.

If you absolutely can't work in any volunteer time into your current schedule, I would find a school to apply to that accepts that situation, but obviously it would be in your best interest to find at least some time each week to get into some type of volunteer position to see how you really feel about your future career.

Good luck!

Kensington · Aug 29, 2007

It is not only GPA but also work experiences. My GPA is 3.6; but for all my nursing pre-req. classes I got 3.8, still because I have no working experiences in health care, I wasn't accepted for the BSN program at UW (University of Washington). It was verying disappointing. Now I am looking into RN programs at community colleges, but even those are very competitive, and almost all of the programs use health care work experiences as part of admission consideration criteria. I am a returning student; I work 65 hrs a week while taking pre-req. classes and stretched myself so thin, I hardly have any time to sleep, how am I going to find time to get that health care experience? I need my jobs to support my family, since I am the bread maker. I had no idea that nursing is this competitive.
:trout:

Yes, UW is one of the most competitive programs in the country. Look around at some others. You have great grades, and you should have no problem getting into other BSN programs. Any chance that you can relocate?