Can't get into nursing school!

[jellybean321]

Hey ya'll, so here is my dilemma. I am a pre-nursing student, all of my pre-reqs are done and I'm ready to apply to nursing school. However I talked to the advisor at my school and was told that there is a slim chance I will get in. (I actually appreciate the realism- I would rather someone tell me straight up then string me along so this isn't the problem). There are 80 seats in the nursing program and over 1,000 people applied last admission. I go to a community college in a small state (there aren't many colleges to choose from) and they require the NLN. My school uses a ranking system for admission based on your classes and NLN score. So for example, A&P if you have an A you get 4 points, if you have a B you get 3 points, etc. And they also calculate your NLN score into points for the ranking system. I get mostly high B's in all of my classes but didn't do so great on the NLN (and I can't take it again for another 6 months).

SO I am just feeling EXTREMELY discouraged. All of those 80 students who get accepted will have done excellent on their NLN and have 4.0 GPA's, I'm sure, especially when they are choosing from over 1000 students. And most of them dont have to work, well I do..I have to work full-time to pay my bills. I'm not right out of high school, I live on my own and take care of myself so not working is not an option. Some girls in my current class I am taking have been waiting 2 years to get into nursing school. This is just ridiculous to me. Why do people do this? I refuse to wait 2, and what sounds like more than 2 years to get into nursing school. It may never happen and you're just sitting there waiting and applying. How is this OK?! I am incredibly frustrated and just needed to vent on this site because I know others must feel the same way or are in the same boat. I'm considering changing my major at this point because I am not going to sit around and wait forever and ever for a REMOTE chance to get in. I may never get in and then I'm sitting around waiting for nothing. What is everyones thoughts on this?

Thanks for your comments ?

-Frustrated Pre-Nursing Student

[i♥words]

Well first you should apply and see if you get in. :) I've often found discrepancies between advisers' comments and reality, to put it gently. Second, are there any other schools, both ADN and BSN, say, within a 3 hour commute radius, that you could apply to? If you are willing to move then apply to schools even farther away. Then consider retaking the major courses like A&P to bring those grades up. I know many nursing schools are extremely competitive, but not ALL are.

[OCNRN63, RN]

You need to take ownership for your GPA, not complain that other students with higher GPAs were able to get better grades because they didn't have to work. Unless you are BFFs with them, you don't know what personal burdens they are bearing.

Study hard, re-take those courses and get your grades up. Re-take the NLN in 6 months and get a better grade.

The ball is in your court.

[elprup, BSN, RN]

swansonplace said:

Have you thought of the lpn program. In florida, LPN's get in automatically. How about a plan B career. Physician's assistant, physical therapist, lab tech, respiratory therapist, dietician, bachelor's instead of community college, dentist, chiropractor, biology, etc.

Great idea. Might not be what we all want to hear, but good advice.

[RNpatrol]

This is definitely a problem that many are facing. You'll find a lot of creative alternatives as you start applying and getting rejection letters. The schools that I was applying to and not making the cut only selected 30 people once a year. I wanted to be done with nursing school by the time I was 40, so I looked into larger cities about 2 hours away and started to take their prerequisites. I was very fortunate that the schools that I applied to had just changed their selection process and it narrowed the random selection field down substantially. Got in first try. Don't throw in the towel just yet, just be open to other options that may present themselves! I felt the same way about the 4.0 people who lived at home and didn't have to work, and I also respect those hard workers that were able to pull the 4.0's, but it was frustrating when you have a 3.7 gpa and you still were not chosen for school. Good luck with whatever you decide!

[BD-RN, BSN, RN]

I was in a similar situation 4 years ago when I decided to go back to school. I went to an info session at the local state college and learned I basically had no chance of getting in because I was a young white female with an average GPA. In my prereq classes people were on the wait list at the comm. college for 2+ years! Screw that! I too, was in my mid 20's and supporting myself. So I took matters into my own hands and applied EVERYWHERE. Literally all over the country. If there was a nursing program, I was applying. The next fall, I was living packing my little civic to drive from California to North Carolina. I was denied entry into MOST of the programs I applied to (UCLA, UCSF, Norteastern, etc) and missed deadlines on others.

Moral of the story: DON'T GIVE UP. APPLY EVERYWHERE. YOU make your dreams happen, by hook or crook.

[andendeavor]

Do many schools allow retakes? I've noticed that a lot of people advise people to retake classes if they even get a B... For all of the schools I've looked at, they only allowed retakes if the grade was below a C or they didn't allow retakes at all, though it may just depend on area.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

That's weird. There were about 140 applicants for 90 spots at my school. However, there are some catches here. My school had two nursing courses before you entered the upper division - fundamentals and assessment, basically, which you had to pass with a B- or better in addition to anatomy, physiology, etc. There were a limited amount of spaces in fundamentals, which was in the fall, and assessment, which was in the spring. So, to even be able to apply to the program, you had to take the fall class and pass it, and then you were accepted contingent on passing assessment in the spring if you were one of the better applicants.

See if you can find a program like this. You'd come out at a huge advantage with previous coursework, because my school let people register for classes based on status. Seniors registered before juniors, etc. Since you have previous college coursework, you'd have a higher status and would be able to sneak in to the fundamentals class before people with less college credits, and then you'd naturally have a smaller applicant pool to deal with in the spring. Granted, my class still usually had GPAs at least 3.60 and higher, and some years it was 3.80 and higher - that fundamentals class had NCLEX style questions, and it weeded a lot of people out.

[Mandy0728]

Our community college does a point system and the TEAS test, but our BSN program that I applied to solely looks at cumulative gpa. There's usually 120-130 applicants & only 80 are admitted.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Has anyone taken a look at health careers other than nursing? Most require the same pre-reqs. Starting salaries are equivalent, and unlike nursing, those salaries don't top out after 5 years. Look at laboratory science, PTA, OTA, Radiology, etc....

Trust me - nursing is not worth the effort/expense that so many people are putting into it. Especially not if you're paying ridiculous amounts to a commercial school for the privilege of graduating and becoming (yet another) unemployed new nursing grad.

[swansonplace]

Physicians Assistant is something to consider

[dmk3]

I am in a similar situation. Getting into the nursing program is a struggle. I don't really have any advice. If you REALLY want it, stick it out waiting or settle on a different health care related job. Nursing isn't for everyone, and there are many options.

[twigszoo]

I would try to apply anyway. I had a slim chance of getting into the program I start in the fall (over 340 applicants for 40 seats), and I was first an alternate.