Are A's really not practical in nursing school?

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I am wondering if it is really not practical to expect to continue getting A's once I start the NS program in 2 months? As someone who received an A in all prereqs including intro to bio, both A&P, chem x2, psy intro, psy (human dev), humanities, nurse aid & tech, etc... I kinda find it hard to believe.

I have 2 kids, who are in elementary school/ preschool... but I do not have to work.

So I would like to hear from A students who either continued getting A's or those who were A students and now find themselves as B/C students.

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Anything is possible!!! That said, getting all A's in nursing school is a challenge. But again, it's doable. I was able to maintain my 4.0 from my prereqs through my first semester of nursing school (Fundamentals, Health Assessment, Patho and Research--all A's, wooho!) and work part-time but it wasn't without lots of sacrifices (I missed alot of my fave shows/movies, family shindigs, date nights with my boyfriend) but it's definately doable! That said, I think its a completely different universe between pre-reqs and nursing and if you go in with your same study skills and habits, I think you'll do great. I find when I am more concerned with learning the material (vs studying to get an A) I actually do better bc I'm able to go about questions from a more well-rounded and critcial thinking point of view.

Keep studying hard and you will do great, regardless of the grade!

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

Lots and lots of people graduate from NS with strait As. Nursing isn't really very difficult compared to some other fields of study. There isn't any reason that a nursing student who applies themselves can't get all As.

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Specializes in Operating Room.

I was in the same state of mind as you. When I heard our passing grade is 75% I thought, pfft like I'll ever get a C! I've never gotten a C in my life. Then when I was going through my junior year, the hardest year, I started hearing people say "I'll be happy with a B!" "No matter how hard I study for med/surg I can never get an A!" "I just hope I pass!" The test questions are so much different from the sciences. Sciences, all you do is memorize. Nursing is all about application. The answers are all right, but one is the best out of the four. That is why it is hard to get A's in nursing. What I learned after slaving away junior year is that as long as I try my best, everything will be okay. I got two B's last semester, wow that was hard to look at. I don't know anyone who was raving about their grades either. Oh, and like most other nursing programs, ours is very competitive so it is not as if we are an unintelligent bunch.

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Specializes in E.D..

It truly depends on the program you're in. I went from straight As to B/Cs due to the difficulty of my specific school. Some schools are a little easier, but that doesn't mean you're as prepared to pass NCLEX, My school's philosophy is hard testing to weed out those who won't pass NCLEX...thus, my GPA is less than friends who chose other programs. But, always remember...C=NURSE!

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We were told from our director during orientation not to expect to get straight A's. I think it's possible as we get a few students a year that get straigt A's. Seriously, a few. I think they warn us so that students don't become too distraught during core classes.

Anything is possible. One of our past students who got straight A's spoke english as her second language for Gods sake. Can you imagine? She was the only straight A student that year. I think it depends on the school, personal situations, attitude, instructor. Not that I'm blaming instructors. I love all mine, but some are much, much easier than others.

We have two grades. Clinical and lecture. My clinical grade is the grade I watch the most.

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It is possible to get all A's, to have a full time job, and kids...etc---it all depends on you.

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Specializes in NICU.

Part of it is the grading system. In all other majors that I have encountered roughly 90-100%= A, 80-89%= B, 70-79% = C, and do on. Of course there are +'s and -'s in there too, and I've even seen a system that used A, BA, CB, C, etc, in lieu of the +'s and -'s, but you get the point.

Nursing programs though have a tendency to score differently. Why? I have no idea. In my program the grading was:

94-100% = A

86-93.99% = B

80-85.99% = C

below an 80% was failing

I don't recall where all the +'s and -'s fell, but you can see that just to get an 'A' left a lot less room for error. It's still perfectly doable (I made mostly A's), but the smallest errors can really add up to lower your grade.

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I was in the same state of mind as you. When I heard our passing grade is 75% I thought, pfft like I'll ever get a C! I've never gotten a C in my life. Then when I was going through my junior year, the hardest year, I started hearing people say "I'll be happy with a B!" "No matter how hard I study for med/surg I can never get an A!" "I just hope I pass!" The test questions are so much different from the sciences. Sciences, all you do is memorize. Nursing is all about application. The answers are all right, but one is the best out of the four. That is why it is hard to get A's in nursing. What I learned after slaving away junior year is that as long as I try my best, everything will be okay. I got two B's last semester, wow that was hard to look at. I don't know anyone who was raving about their grades either. Oh, and like most other nursing programs, ours is very competitive so it is not as if we are an unintelligent bunch.

I COMPLETELY agree with this. Most students in my program are pulling low B's and C's. They all have degrees, many Master's. This is not going to be anything like what you had in the pre-requisite material. At least at my school there is a HUGE emphasis on application. You'll find out real quick if you've got it in you or if you're going to have to work your butt off. Good luck!

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I am wondering the same thing! I am about to enter my second year of nursing school, and have earned all A's so far. Junior year is supposed to me the most challenging, and I want to maintain my GPA. I think Facebook might have to go... :)

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Specializes in Home Health.

High grades are good if you want to be able to put on your resume that you graduated magna, or summa cum laude, or Salutatorian, Valadectorian.

I was Salutatuorian of my graduating class and I always make sure that is on my resume under honors and awards.

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I am wondering the same thing! I am about to enter my second year of nursing school, and have earned all A's so far. Junior year is supposed to me the most challenging, and I want to maintain my GPA. I think Facebook might have to go... :)

That's what I did-- once I started nursing school I closed my facebook account. I know myself, I would be checking messages and writing back every 5 seconds.

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