Am I deluding myself?

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Okay I have a bachelor's in business and my GPA is a 2.73. It was from 03-06. It was a bad time in my life. I had 2 children under the age of 3 and I had just walked out on my abusive husband. My grades suffered. I got mostly B&Cs. But I did complete my degree in 3 years.

I am now trying to get into nursing college. I have completed 1 quarter and have a 3.6 GPA ( I got an A in Biology and a B in Chemistry) From what I am seeing, it is going to take at least 40 - 60 credit hours to bring my gpa up. I have about 30 - 40 classes that I can take towards my degree that are non nursing but since a B is only 3.0 I would need to get mostly As to bring up my gpa.

Should I keep trying or should I just read the writing on the wall. My school looks at nothing but your total GPA and your TEAS test. It's average gpa entrance is 3.2.

I am just so mad because the advisor told me they do fresh starts and I could have only my last 30 credit hours looked at. Now another advisor is telling me no, they will look at all 145 credits I have.

Worst thing is they can't give my GPA for the past 3 colleges I went to. So I don't even know what my real GPA is. It could be actually higher but how do I find out? Then I got an F in Psychology at a community college. When I started Devry I got an A in the class. So do they count both the F and the A? Or just the A?

Help!!

I am so discouraged and the advisor acted like she didn't care at all. I have scheduled a meeting with my actual advisor in hopes that she can help clarify things.

Thanx for letting me vent!!

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I have personally visited and talked to 8 nursing schools. Each college did a transcript evaluation of my records. I have attended 7 different colleges with over 215 credit hours of coursework and a BS in biology. Each school calculated my gpa differently. Some had taken all of my coursework and calculated a gpa. Some only took the courses they were able to transfer. For example a few wouldn't transfer in gross anatomy because they didn't offer any courses with human dissection. I would personally talk to the college and have them do a transcript evaluation after you send in all your transcripts. This is really important. It will determine your overall gpa. I don't understand how you can't calculate your gpa from your past coursework. If they didn't calculate it you can do it yourself. Just take your grades and use a gpa calculator online. You may have a 3.2 depending on how your grades transfer. I have heard of schools using the last 30 credit hours or just grades from your last institution. Try to get the transcript evaluation before you talk to a counselor, it will save you both a lot of time and make her job easier. I really hope you can find a way to work it out. Good luck!

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All schools count all your college coursework (good or bad grades). It's just standard procedure. As far as going into a nursing school, the gpa criteria only applies to the pre-req classes they require, for you to get in. So, for instance -- Eng 101, Chem 101, A & P I and II, etc. They are mostly science classes. So, for other classes that you didn't do well --- it's okay. Chances are, they won't even count those, when they decide to let you into their program.

Also, once you get in and let's say- you had to withdraw or you fail out of the program. You can try to re-apply again to OTHER nursing schools. Most nursing schools don't even care about your failed nursing grades/ "W" grades. They will be looking at your PRE-REQ grades and GPA.

Most nursing schools see it this way: If you fail/withdraw out of A nursing school -- then, you still get second/third chances (at least). Just be honest with them and tell them what had happened. For example, you missed an extra question on the dosage calculation exam (it's a fail) so, you HAD to drop out. Or maybe, you were passing one class, but didn't on the other. Or something else happened, like you had a baby... etc. Nursing schools are usually fair when it comes to this.

It's just hard to try to get into them. Once you get in, it's hard to stay in. So, I guess one has to be a massachist (not sure if, that is even the right term?) to want to be a nurse then?? lol, I dunno. People really have to jump through hoops nowadays (literally). I don't even know why it's still hard to get into nursing schools NOW, since most nursing grads don't even have jobs?

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This post is for vegas2009.

I'm sorry but all schools do NOT count all of your coursework. It is not SOP. University of Missouri is just one of the 3 that omitted 8 of my courses from my gpa that would not transfer. I have attended enough colleges (7) to know what I am talking about. They also didn't calculate my intro nursing, fundamentals, psych nursing, childbearing, etc., all of which I received A's in at Goldfarb School of Nursing. I just needed a letter from my previous nursing school stating I am able to return. I was accepted into every nursing program to which I applied. Just had to make the decision. I was very fortunate. I even turned down one college that gave me a over a 50% scholarship. Too far of a drive. I wish all of you luck!!!!

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What I meant was, if you had a previous degree or have taken general ed classes, for my previous post.

If you have taken nursing classes from A nursing school and got grades for them, it's not the same rule. If you try to transfer to another nursing school, they may or may not take the previous nursing classes you have taken. It really depends on the school. They may just require you to start the same semester all over again.

However, if one drops/fails out from A nursing school --- one can always try to re-apply to the same school or to other schools. It's not the end of the world. It's just that, the time to try to get into these schools, that is a little disheartening. And the money.

Many people who want to be nurses don't get the wake up call UNTIL they graduate and pass the NCLEX -- only to find out that, THEY CAN'T GET jobs.

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Thanx everyone. I think there is a school that just looks at my last school I attended, but the drive is 90 mins. I am thinking about renting a room down there so I can ( if I get accepted) drive down at night. Most of my xfer credit are good. I have a 3.1 if you only include my xfer credits and the courses I have taken at the school I am taking my pre reqs for. Their average gpa admitted is a 3.24 for RN and a 2.9 for LPN. So I would be good.

I am just frustrated. As I said when I got my 1st degree things were tough. I have since remarried and am a stay at home mom. ( my hubby works) we are paying for tuition out of pocket so I really don't want to keep paying tuition if my chances are slim to none.

Thanx for listening. I am just frustrated. I will not give up. If we have to leave the state to find a college that accepts me, I will. I just feel like with the drop out rate in RN schools being high at least they know I will finish the major with a B- average at least. lol

Oh and I know it is hard to get a job. But I am willing to move to Alaska if need be. My SO works remote so he can work from anywhere. I am willing to do whatever is necessary to succeed. I secretly can't wait to leave Ohio anyways. LOL

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Nichole43119 - I live in Ohio as well and can't wait to relocate. lol

Keep up the hard work and try different schools. Eventually you will get in somewhere.

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If I were you I would look into another nursing school. If you already have a bachelors degree I would suggest going for an ADN program. I have a bachelors degree as well and my overrall gpa is a 2.9. However, I just got accepted into a nursing school b/c my gpa within the prereqs are a 3.4. So maybe if you find a school that just looks at your prereqs to determine your gpa that could help. If you wanted to pursue a masters degree later on you can always do a bridge gap program and enter into a masters degree program. There are plenty of schools that offer bridge gap programs for people with bachelors degrees in other displines other then nursing once they are an RN. I am going to do that and go for my CRNA eventually. Thats what my plan is.....I dunno hope this could be of some help.

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