BSN programs that accept low GPAs?

Kt26 · Aug 17, 2015

What area do you live in? I have found that smaller, private schools with BSN programs sometimes tend to be less competitive and have minimum GPA requirements in the ranges of 2.7-3.0

Nurse Mek · Aug 17, 2015

Bloomfield College in NJ, 2.5

Miss Infermiera2b, BSN, RN · Aug 17, 2015

Is there any way to improve your GPA? I think most reputable programs don't accept students with a GPA that low.

elkpark · Aug 17, 2015

Good luck. Please be aware that, just because a school lists a minimum GPA of 2.5, 2.7, etc., as a minimum for application, that doesn't mean that anyone with a GPA that low is actually getting accepted. Nursing has become so popular as a career choice that schools are swamped with highly qualified applicants. You'd be amazed at who (with what qualifications, I mean) is not getting into nursing school these days. The last BSN program in which I taught, a state university program, respectable but nothing special, said in all their literature that the minimum to apply was a 2.5 GPA. However, the reality was that no one with less than a 3.7 GPA got in (and the nursing program administration was v. proud of this and bragged about it all the time). I served on the selection committee. There were so many more applicants with 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, and 4.0 GPAs than we could possibly accept that it was a real challenge to narrow that group down to the number of seats we could fill -- the applicants with lower GPAs never even got seriously considered. Please understand I'm not saying I think this is a good thing -- but it's the reality in most nursing programs these days.

Best wishes for your journey!

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Aug 17, 2015

Just wanted to add.... there is a REASON for enforcing admission criteria, including GPA. These parameters are established due to the school's experience and analysis of student achievement. Students who meet those criteria have been shown to have the best chance of successfully completing the program. Nursing curriculum is "cumulative" - with each course building on the previous ones. Students with poor performance in the foundational courses are dealing with an enormous handicap that may be impossible to overcome.

OliverElio87, BSN, RN · Aug 17, 2015

If you have good pre-req/science GPA, I would look for schools that only take that into consideration and not the overall GPA.