Advice on how to pursue a BSN

juliaann · Apr 16, 2010

I can answer some of these questions, as nursing will also be my second degree.

As for GPA, it's really going to depend on your school, and how competive asmission is in your area. For the most part, ASN programs at community colleges tend to accept a lower GPA. Accelerated BSNs tend to have fewer seats than ASN or traditional BSN programs, so they tend to be more competitive. For comparision's sake, here's how it goes in my town (Tulsa, OK):

Community College ASN program: 500ish applicants for 90 seats each semester. Minimum GPA to apply: 2.5. Average GPA of accepted students: 3.2. No wait list. You either get in, or you don't, and apply again next semester. Most people improve their chances by taking some of the co-reqs early, getting their CNA, and taking additional unrelated classes to boost their GPA.

State Univeristy Accelerated BSN: 300ish applicants for 32 spots each year (the aBSN only starts once a year, in the summer). Min. GPA required to apply: 3.0. Average GPA of accepted students: 3.8. There is not much you can do to improve your chances and re-apply if you don't have a competitve GPA to start with. The nursing advisor actually told me that if you don't get in on your first application, you're not going to. It's just too competitve.

Of course your situation is likely to be very different, and you may have more schools and programs to pick from, but I think in general it will be "easier" to get into an ASN program (I hate that term, because no nursing school is easy to get into these days, and they all require excellent scholarship and work ethic - I'm not trying to belittle the intelligence or hard work of students in ASN programs or attending community colleges).

I would start working on your pre-reqs - assuming you have to take all your sciences, that's quite a bit of credit hours that can really pull up your GPA if you do well (4-5 credit hours for bio, chem, anatomy, physiology, micro, biochem, etc. and 3 for psych, nutrition, etc. if you haven't taken any of these yet sure adds up)! I would definitely not rule out any options yet.

As far as I can tell, most graduate programs lump all your undergrad work together when looking at GPA, regardless of it being at different schools and/or different programs. I know the school where I'm taking my pre-reqs is just adding them to the GPA I brought in from my first degree, I don't have a seperate GPA for this school. Some grad programs may look at your nursing GPA seperate from your business degree GPA, but some may not. It'll really depend on the program.

Talk to an advisor! Good luck!

happy2learn · Apr 22, 2010

i can answer some of these questions, as nursing will also be my second degree.
as for gpa, it's really going to depend on your school, and how competive asmission is in your area. for the most part, asn programs at community colleges tend to accept a lower gpa. accelerated bsns tend to have fewer seats than asn or traditional bsn programs, so they tend to be more competitive. for comparision's sake, here's how it goes in my town (tulsa, ok):
community college asn program: 500ish applicants for 90 seats each semester. minimum gpa to apply: 2.5. average gpa of accepted students: 3.2. no wait list. you either get in, or you don't, and apply again next semester. most people improve their chances by taking some of the co-reqs early, getting their cna, and taking additional unrelated classes to boost their gpa. not the community college i go to. there is a wait list. you must complete 2 terms of courses on the curriculum, be an stna, and have current health records, then you get on the wait list. they say the wait is 2 - 2 1/2 years, but many students drop or transfer schools, so the average is 1 1/2 years. also, we are able to work on some nursing courses(ones that are not clinicals) and courses that will apply to the local universities bsn program, while we wait. so it will essentially take 4 years to get the bsn, which is normal(for those not holding a degree)
state univeristy accelerated bsn: 300ish applicants for 32 spots each year (the absn only starts once a year, in the summer). min. gpa required to apply: 3.0. average gpa of accepted students: 3.8. there is not much you can do to improve your chances and re-apply if you don't have a competitve gpa to start with. the nursing advisor actually told me that if you don't get in on your first application, you're not going to. it's just too competitve. you will need a good gpa to get into the accelerated program. there are many students i know that are taking easy, but relevant, courses at the community college simply to raise their gpa, and give them a little more knowledge. my local university starts their program a few times a year, not once. oh, and if you are accepted into the accelerated bsn you are automatically accepted into the msn. it is really an accelerated msn course, but you are able to just quit the program once you get your bsn and just take the nclex.
of course your situation is likely to be very different, and you may have more schools and programs to pick from, but i think in general it will be "easier" to get into an asn program (i hate that term, because no nursing school is easy to get into these days, and they all require excellent scholarship and work ethic - i'm not trying to belittle the intelligence or hard work of students in asn programs or attending community colleges).
i would start working on your pre-reqs - assuming you have to take all your sciences, that's quite a bit of credit hours that can really pull up your gpa if you do well (4-5 credit hours for bio, chem, anatomy, physiology, micro, biochem, etc. and 3 for psych, nutrition, etc. if you haven't taken any of these yet sure adds up)! i would definitely not rule out any options yet.
as far as i can tell, most graduate programs lump all your undergrad work together when looking at gpa, regardless of it being at different schools and/or different programs. i know the school where i'm taking my pre-reqs is just adding them to the gpa i brought in from my first degree, i don't have a seperate gpa for this school. some grad programs may look at your nursing gpa seperate from your business degree gpa, but some may not. it'll really depend on the program.
talk to an advisor! good luck!

this just shows how different every place is. i think it would be a good idea to take some easy courses to raise your gpa, then apply to a few different schools programs.