I know this question may seem far fetched, but I thought id ask on here instead of being thrown around all over with nursing schools that cant offer me much insight.
I live in Atlanta, Ga. Growing up I always knew I wanted to be in healthcare , but didn't know exactly what. I got into GA tech out of high school and majored in biology ( mainly because I wasn't educated on other paths), so I just picked my highest subject from h.s which was biology. I kind of wanted to be a doctor, but then decided I didn't want to deal with touching people I wanted to be in lab.
Fast forward one year, my time at tech came to an end and I had to deal with alot of family stuff . My brother was diagnosed with a condition, and my parents financial responsibilities went to him and I had to not only be there for my FAMILY but provide for myself. I ended up switching to a local school closer to my home and switched my major from chem E to biochem to bio back to biochem ( YEA I KNOW don't ASK)
Anyways, after having a *** college career - withdrawing several times from various classes because of the stress, I ended up with a 2.5 GPA. I still was able to take the higher level micro, anatomy/physio/ chem1 and chem 2 so I have the pre-reqs. but not a great GPA.
I needed ip not even pursuing anything science until the pandemic, but was left feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled in lab work and need something more stimulating. which is why I want to become a nurse... BUT
I do not have a BSN , and was told that because I already have a non nursing bachelors NP would be better for me.
How do I go from a bachelors to NP? and with my low GPA is this even possible? will they look at my grades can I rectify it?
I do not plan on practicing as an NP right away as I know you need some experience as an RN first. but it would just be a better route to get the RN
Any help is appreciated
P.S - I also do not plan on staying in GA - I plan on moving to Texas
Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).
londonflo said:
The op did not say I want to go straight to an NP curriculum. Please review what I have emphasized above.....1. you do not know anything about the rigors of a med tech curriculum NOR nursing BSN admissions - who the heck determines what is in your "culture and sensitivity" order, other actions and who determines the "confirmation at 12, 24 etc hours???" YOU KNOW what you write in the order (entered into the computer 2020s like) Oops they compare symptoms (provided to you) to the culture and outcome of a culture? And they tell you their findings (it is also called a 'lab report. ') to determine course of action based on antibiotic (as specific infection_) C & S.. But of course if you never ordered labs,..... .. And I am already outside my depth with what they do, like you.
Frankly, Why have admission committees and Any DEAN look at an application? Copy and Paste accomplishes this as you have shown .
As I said the OP had forgotten more science than you ever learned. She has built on an advanced science curriculum ( better than yours, me thinks) .Competed 400 level sciences. Can she give her time to focus on other areas and not 'punished' , (rather a detour) to go YOUR straight nursing route.
Okay, -- do you we take a GPA in a field that is not considered rigorous (I am afraid to give example, not willing to offend but a BSN graduate (another school) raised her GPA by taking baking, food service courses.
the OP has shown she can accomplish a RIGOROUS demanding curriculum.
Measurable: a sound knowledge base as evidenced by evaluation of transcripts with the course syllabus/course catalog AND a job-performance evaluation: better indicator of an expectation of achievement than an A from a student who is a FT student.,
I have served on admission committees for baccalaureate programs for 40 years. I created the entry requirements for 3 baccalaureate programs for BSN programs.
You, as I recall, changed fields from financial executive to health care. Somewhere, someone gave you a chance or you are a unicorn. .
Going to a For-profit NP is NOT something I support/advocate. However the OP asked about the road to being an RN, BSN and NP. An elitist mentality is not something I support; endorse, or seek to instill in others.
Letters of Recommdation
we only read these when all the application has been read and then shredded in most cases. Frankly I have written probably (50 years times 35 a year) ...Never had once someone call me about one.
Full Glass - keep your day job. elitism has no place here.
I am rather baffled by your response. You make personal attacks on me and my knowledge base, which you know nothing about. For someone like yourself who claims to have been a nursing professor who also worked in admissions, that doesn't make sense.
As for your admissions experience, I don't know what schools you have worked for. My discussion of admissions is based on my experience with professors from UCLA and Johns Hopkins who also worked in Admissions. I think they know what they are talking about. I had a terrible original undergrad GPA, did what they recommended, and got into Hopkins, UCLA, Univ of San Diego Hahn School of Nursing, and Long Beach State.
Why would you think I have never ordered labs? Of course I have ordered labs! That is one of the NP duties under assessment, as appropriate. I also interpret the results. I don't know why you make a big deal about computers - I have been designing, developing, and implementing large information systems for major corporations and government agencies since the 1990s. Not only did I design software applications, I also developed instruction programs.
You appear to question my science knowledge, which is not the issue. The issue is changing careers and getting into a nursing school, then a nurse practitioner program. I have demonstrated success in doing exactly what the OP was concerned about - getting into those schools when one's original GPA was less than stellar.
The admissions requirements are the requirements, regardless of what you, I, or anyone else thinks. I provided the requirements, which were quite clear. The science prereqs must be taken and with a specified GPA. End of story.
If the OP has a 3.0 GPA in her science prereqs, then she should be able to get into some nursing schools. However, if she does not, then she has to retake some of them. In addition, some schools will only accept prereqs that are 5 years old or less. As I stated, some requirements may be waived, but not all of them.
As for letters of recommendation, they are taken more seriously at the schools I attended. Frankly, if a student did poorly and came back 10 years later to request a letter of recommendation, a professor could very well politely refuse.
As for my original education background, I majored in East Asian Studies at Yale. It was an extremely challenging interdisciplinary major. I also studed Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, hardly easy languages.
I then ended up as a high tech management consulting exec working for elite consulting firms like Accenture, Price Waterhouse, Oracle Consulting, etc., managing multimillion dollar programs for Fortune 500 corporations and large government agencies. This entailed being a "business doctor" that assessed, diagnosed, and developed "treatment plans" for organization issues involving the use of technology, business process reorganization, and corporate strategy changes. I personally advised C-level executives, and heads of large federal and state agencies, at these organizations. Ended up running my own practice with P&L responsiblity. My job was far more difficult than any RN or NP job. I traveled constantly, worked 50-70 hour weeks or more, and was on call literally 24/7. Being an NP is a big relief.
FYI, I took my nursing school prereqs at UCLA, completing the premed prereq curriculum through a special program there. However, my science knowledge is not the issue being discussed. In addition, I completed the Executive Program in Healthcare Management and Leadership at UCLA. One of my professors was an advisor to the Obama administration. In addition to caring for my terminally ill mother, I became a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) or "tech," as prep for nursing school, which was very useful.
Expecting future RNs and NPs to have demonstrated commitment to the field and to meet admissions requirements is hardly elitist. RNs and NPs literally have the power of life and death, so we should have rigorous standards for the professions. It saddens me that striving for excellence is considered by some in nursing to be "elitist."
If the OP's academic record is adequate, then she should just go ahead and apply to some direct-entry MSN and some ABSN programs. Another option is to attend community college and earn an ADN, obtain an RN, then work as an RN while completing a bridge to BSN program. Some community college ADN programs will accept a 2.5 GPA in the prereqs. I'm a big fan of community colleges, as they offer great teaching for affordable tuition.
If the OP applies and gets into a reputable (NOT for-profit) ABSN or MSN program with things just as they are (bad GPA, old prereqs), then I will have been proven wrong. I'm not counting community college, as they have lower admissions requirements. However, here in CA, it is hard to get into a community college ADN program, as it is the least expensive option. Most of those schools have years-long waiting lists (although most people get in before the stated time of the waiting list).
At decent schools, the admissions process is competitive. That means the OP is going to be compared to other applicants. The OP needs to come up with a way to make their application stand out and be competitive.
It doesn't matter what you or I think. What matters is what the school's admissions committee thinks.
I hope people realize that meeting the GPA stated parameters does not guarantee entry to a program. Nor does not meeting a GPA mean refusal from the college. These GPAs were put in place because of research findings/published findings among HS graduates successfully completing a program. AND because with the public perception that 'nursing' is a great ticket to a great financial future, we got inundated with applications.
Please reread what I wrote above. Your credentials are impressive. I know you are proud of them. However did I read this right? - that you went from a major in:
FullGlass said:
As for my original education background, I majored in East Asian Studies at Yale. It was an extremely challenging interdisciplinary major. I also studed Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, hardly easy languages.
While these are hard majors, they do not have a direct connection to a later health profession major. The OP's does.
In my first semester teaching, I learned that using my own college experiences and achievements as a yardstick to measure someone else's future potential for success or failure, may not give an actual true prediction for success. What each applicant has to offer, should be evaluated independent of all the others. Yes, we write the admission 'requirements' in a general nature for our most common applicant - the high school graduate. But using a holistic approach to assess the application of a non-traditional applicant promotes diversity in a student body, & gives credit for previous mastered learning.
Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).
londonflo said:
Please reread what I wrote above. Your credentials are impressive. I know you are proud of them. However did I read this right? - that you went from a major in:
While these are hard majors, they do not have a direct connection to a later health profession major. The OP's does.
In my first semester teaching, I learned that using my own college experiences and achievements as a yardstick to measure someone else's future potential for success or failure, may not give an actual true prediction for success. YMMV
Actually, my major taught me to understand other cultures and peoples. That is very important in healthcare, especially in nursing.
How is a nursing school supposed to know if an applicant will be able to complete the program? They have to go by the ability to complete academic coursework at a reasonable level. There is no way to verify work knowledge.
That said, we don't know what grades the OP got in her science prereqs. Maybe she got straight As. If so, great. If, however, she got less than a 3.0 GPA in her science prereqs, that is going to reduce her chances of getting into a decent nursing school. Or if the nursing schools she is interested in require all science prereqs to be no more than 5 years old, she is going to have to retake all or some of them.
The OP wishes to get into a nursing school, so she must fulfill the admissions requirements. End of story.
If the OP fulfills the requirements, they will get in.
If the OP does not wish to retake any classes to earn a more competitive GPA, that is a choice they can make. In that case, then just apply to some nursing schools and see what happens.
However, the OP wrote their original post because they were concerned about how to get into nursing school. I tried to give advice on improving one's chances. It is up to the OP to decide how they want to proceed. There is absolutely nothing stopping them from just applying to schools now, "as is," and seeing what happens.
Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).
Just wanted to add another piece of advice that may help some.
If you need to retake a course to raise your GPA, or take additional relevant coursework for the same reason, consider doing so at an Extension program at the college with the nursing school you are interested in.
For example, I took/retook most of my prereqs, as well as other relevant coursework, through UCLA Extension (in collaboration w/regular univ depts). Here is why:
1. Fulfilled missing prereqs
2. Raised GPA
3. I got to know actual UCLA professors, some of whom also taught at the nursing school. Since I did well, they were willing to write recommendations. A recent recommendation from a UCLA professor is going to carry a lot of weight with the UCLA nursing school, or any other university.
Extension programs are open to anyone, no application or state residency needed. They are more expensive, but can be more convenient, as many are now delivered online. Most 4 year colleges/universities have Extension programs, including some private schools. In CA, a lot of community colleges also have Extension. They are often taught by actual college professors of that college, with pretty much the same course material. Just make sure that your nursing school of choice will accept these as credit. In CA, the Extension catalog includes this info as to which are transferable for college credit.
Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
chemist11 said:
I have a degree with advanced classes in chemistry (organic, biochem, analytical/physical chem, inorganic, calculus, physics, genetics, micro, immunology , virology , biotech, bioinformatics, anatomy, physiology , and engineering classes ).. my guess would be for a program that only requires gen chem 1 and 2.. theyll take my other classes into consideration..
I went into nursing from pharmaceutical research (also at Pfizer, coincidentally), I chose to start at the community college level, got my ADN while working full time. I was able to use my job description to get two science pre-requisites waived because they were out of date. Other than that, my previous degrees didn't really help much with school. Because they only require gen chem 1 and 2, your other difficult classes might cover electives, but unfortunately they won't really be considered for much else. (I was disappointed to realize I had a whole Master's degree in Molecular and Cell Biology that I would never use again. ) I went ADN to MSN and then NP. I now understand the path you meant, I misunderstood a previous post. I didn't get a BSN in my path either, because I already had a BS/MS in science. Good luck with the path you choose.
FullGlass, BSN, MSN, NP
2 Articles; 1,962 Posts
I am rather baffled by your response. You make personal attacks on me and my knowledge base, which you know nothing about. For someone like yourself who claims to have been a nursing professor who also worked in admissions, that doesn't make sense.
As for your admissions experience, I don't know what schools you have worked for. My discussion of admissions is based on my experience with professors from UCLA and Johns Hopkins who also worked in Admissions. I think they know what they are talking about. I had a terrible original undergrad GPA, did what they recommended, and got into Hopkins, UCLA, Univ of San Diego Hahn School of Nursing, and Long Beach State.
Why would you think I have never ordered labs? Of course I have ordered labs! That is one of the NP duties under assessment, as appropriate. I also interpret the results. I don't know why you make a big deal about computers - I have been designing, developing, and implementing large information systems for major corporations and government agencies since the 1990s. Not only did I design software applications, I also developed instruction programs.
You appear to question my science knowledge, which is not the issue. The issue is changing careers and getting into a nursing school, then a nurse practitioner program. I have demonstrated success in doing exactly what the OP was concerned about - getting into those schools when one's original GPA was less than stellar.
The admissions requirements are the requirements, regardless of what you, I, or anyone else thinks. I provided the requirements, which were quite clear. The science prereqs must be taken and with a specified GPA. End of story.
If the OP has a 3.0 GPA in her science prereqs, then she should be able to get into some nursing schools. However, if she does not, then she has to retake some of them. In addition, some schools will only accept prereqs that are 5 years old or less. As I stated, some requirements may be waived, but not all of them.
As for letters of recommendation, they are taken more seriously at the schools I attended. Frankly, if a student did poorly and came back 10 years later to request a letter of recommendation, a professor could very well politely refuse.
As for my original education background, I majored in East Asian Studies at Yale. It was an extremely challenging interdisciplinary major. I also studed Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, hardly easy languages.
I then ended up as a high tech management consulting exec working for elite consulting firms like Accenture, Price Waterhouse, Oracle Consulting, etc., managing multimillion dollar programs for Fortune 500 corporations and large government agencies. This entailed being a "business doctor" that assessed, diagnosed, and developed "treatment plans" for organization issues involving the use of technology, business process reorganization, and corporate strategy changes. I personally advised C-level executives, and heads of large federal and state agencies, at these organizations. Ended up running my own practice with P&L responsiblity. My job was far more difficult than any RN or NP job. I traveled constantly, worked 50-70 hour weeks or more, and was on call literally 24/7. Being an NP is a big relief.
FYI, I took my nursing school prereqs at UCLA, completing the premed prereq curriculum through a special program there. However, my science knowledge is not the issue being discussed. In addition, I completed the Executive Program in Healthcare Management and Leadership at UCLA. One of my professors was an advisor to the Obama administration. In addition to caring for my terminally ill mother, I became a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) or "tech," as prep for nursing school, which was very useful.
Expecting future RNs and NPs to have demonstrated commitment to the field and to meet admissions requirements is hardly elitist. RNs and NPs literally have the power of life and death, so we should have rigorous standards for the professions. It saddens me that striving for excellence is considered by some in nursing to be "elitist."
If the OP's academic record is adequate, then she should just go ahead and apply to some direct-entry MSN and some ABSN programs. Another option is to attend community college and earn an ADN, obtain an RN, then work as an RN while completing a bridge to BSN program. Some community college ADN programs will accept a 2.5 GPA in the prereqs. I'm a big fan of community colleges, as they offer great teaching for affordable tuition.
If the OP applies and gets into a reputable (NOT for-profit) ABSN or MSN program with things just as they are (bad GPA, old prereqs), then I will have been proven wrong. I'm not counting community college, as they have lower admissions requirements. However, here in CA, it is hard to get into a community college ADN program, as it is the least expensive option. Most of those schools have years-long waiting lists (although most people get in before the stated time of the waiting list).
At decent schools, the admissions process is competitive. That means the OP is going to be compared to other applicants. The OP needs to come up with a way to make their application stand out and be competitive.
It doesn't matter what you or I think. What matters is what the school's admissions committee thinks.