Are C's really the new A's in nursing school?

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A few nursing students I have met told me this. Is this true? Seems kind of scary. Lol.

My ADN programs claims to accept C's but once you factor in the ATI exam, you really need to have a B.

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No, no, no. Folks still get As in nursing school. We can't all be "the best" at something, for whatever reasons you want to believe, but that doesn't mean that we're all performing at the same level.

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Our grading scale was c: 78-86, b:87-92, a: 93+. The 78 was pushed up to an 80 for the class after us. We got graded on tests, a lil bit of homework, and ati testing. B's were common but a's were unheard of. 2 ppl/90 some....i think every program is different too. I dont think your lecture is the most important thing. The students who did get very high grades often had trouble correlating it to a patient on a care plan. A lot of "c" nurses excelled in clinical and could take a higher patient load and effectively manage cares while explaing correlation. There are "c" nurses who got there by slacking and that too showed up in clinical. There are also "a" students who are good guessers. Id say most of the kids in my class ended up with a "b"

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Grade deflation is a huge problem in my area (imo). I would support a standardized grading scale across the country, especially for high schools. Better yet, I think we should go from a letter grade system to a percentage system. In my nursing school, an A is 94-100, a B is 87-93, and a C is 80-86. Less than 80 is failing. So where I am a C is the new B. I have no problem with a school saying we require 80% to pass. I do have an issue when I will compete with other students for graduate school who went to schools with different grading scales. I could be a straight 93% student and have a 3.0 gpa competing with someone with the same percentage who has a 4.0 gpa. That's why I think we should switch to percentage reporting instead of letter grades.

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Specializes in PD,Nxstage,hemo.

I feel that nursing school is a whole nother level of thinking and one shouldn't even compare their preq's grades to nursing coorifice grades. Its a whole nother ball game. I recieved all A's and B's in all my preq classes. I'm a single mom and I work full time/more less 30 hrs a week while I'm in school and let me tell you the B's that I get feel like A's in nursing school. I have gotten C's and I'm ok with that to bc that means I still passed (Anything below a 75% if failing).

One of my instructors told me this "Look your nursing license isn't gonna have, I made A, B or C in nursing school. Its gonna say RN"

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ok so I read most of your comments...I am going to start nursing school this fall and am very nervous about the whole grading system.

I just wanted to mention one thing: Anyone of you who wants to go to grad school, should be as close to As as possible. There is no Grad school that will accept people into a masters or phd degree in nursing with a C average. Since I want to go to grad school, I will be studying very hard and do my best. But I wouldn't shoot for Cs KNOWING I want to go to grad school one day...at some point, the door will close for those who are only shooting for Cs (and I only meant those people that chose to get C grades). and the door will close either by not making it into the next semester, or never be able to go to grad school. Plus, It's nursing school, you work with people's health..I could never tell myself oh I'm just shooting for a C, and hopefully won't kill anyone. Anyways...I'm sure there are possibilities to get As, otherwise the schools wouldn't offer them. Just do your best and make sure that you make the right decisions.

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Specializes in PD,Nxstage,hemo.
ok so I read most of your comments...I am going to start nursing school this fall and am very nervous about the whole grading system.

I just wanted to mention one thing: Anyone of you who wants to go to grad school, should be as close to As as possible. There is no Grad school that will accept people into a masters or phd degree in nursing with a C average. Since I want to go to grad school, I will be studying very hard and do my best. But I wouldn't shoot for Cs KNOWING I want to go to grad school one day...at some point, the door will close for those who are only shooting for Cs (and I only meant those people that chose to get C grades). and the door will close either by not making it into the next semester, or never be able to go to grad school. Plus, It's nursing school, you work with people's health..I could never tell myself oh I'm just shooting for a C, and hopefully won't kill anyone. Anyways...I'm sure there are possibilities to get As, otherwise the schools wouldn't offer them. Just do your best and make sure that you make the right decisions.

I can almost bet my life that NO nursing student is "trying to shoot for a C". As you read the post of students here please don't judge or take their words out of context. I know some smash up RN's that didnt make all A's and B's in nursing that are excellant RN's and I know some RN's that made A's and B's that i wouldnt let take care of my dog. Just saying...

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keepmovinglpn: yes, I agree with you! I was just talking about and for the people who just do Cs and who always say that nursing school is soooo hard that it is impossible to get As, and then mess up and get kicked out. It's like heads up, if you want to continue your education, you gotta put effort into it. I just don't like when people say that about nursing school, just because they're too lazy to put effort into it. so please don't feel offended. It offends me to hear that...I know there are people who study really hard an get Cs, I might be on of them, but those people are the people who at least try and don't run around screaming ohhhh in nursing school Cs are the new As. Sorry, don't mean to offend anyone. just wanted to say try to do your best if you want to go to Grad School, because just shooting for a C won't get you there (it's a different story for students who study hard and makes C). Hope that helps.

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ok so I read most of your comments...I am going to start nursing school this fall and am very nervous about the whole grading system.

I just wanted to mention one thing: Anyone of you who wants to go to grad school, should be as close to As as possible. There is no Grad school that will accept people into a masters or phd degree in nursing with a C average. Since I want to go to grad school, I will be studying very hard and do my best. But I wouldn't shoot for Cs KNOWING I want to go to grad school one day...at some point, the door will close for those who are only shooting for Cs (and I only meant those people that chose to get C grades). and the door will close either by not making it into the next semester, or never be able to go to grad school. Plus, It's nursing school, you work with people's health..I could never tell myself oh I'm just shooting for a C, and hopefully won't kill anyone. Anyways...I'm sure there are possibilities to get As, otherwise the schools wouldn't offer them. Just do your best and make sure that you make the right decisions.

I'm the same way. I want to go to grad school as well, so I want to make the best grades that I possibly can.

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I have heard this quote "C= RN" at my school. I think this train of thought is from the differences in the grading scales for our general courses vs our nursing courses. Our general courses are on a 10 point scale. Therefore a 90 or 89.9= an A. In nursing a 93= A. Also in our general courses we could do the minimum and excel. Our teachers would curve tests, drop grades, & give extra credit. In nursing this is definitely NOT the case. I believe that just because C does allow you to sit for NCLEX doesn't mean we should only strive for the minimum.

So most nursing programs' grading scales are different than general classes' grading scales? I feel stupid for not knowing that.

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Specializes in PD,Nxstage,hemo.
keepmovinglpn: yes, I agree with you! I was just talking about and for the people who just do Cs and who always say that nursing school is soooo hard that it is impossible to get As, and then mess up and get kicked out. It's like heads up, if you want to continue your education, you gotta put effort into it. I just don't like when people say that about nursing school, just because they're too lazy to put effort into it. so please don't feel offended. It offends me to hear that...I know there are people who study really hard an get Cs, I might be on of them, but those people are the people who at least try and don't run around screaming ohhhh in nursing school Cs are the new As. Sorry, don't mean to offend anyone. just wanted to say try to do your best if you want to go to Grad School, because just shooting for a C won't get you there (it's a different story for students who study hard and makes C). Hope that helps.

NurseWannaBe I agree with you as well about the students that just are flat lazy and not study. I just looked at your comment earlier from one side (the side where the student studies hard but just may end up with a C on the test). But we are on the same page now.:up:;)

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In regular school I was an A student. I'm nursing school I am now a B student because A's start at 93!!

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