Current Nurse Seeking Advice

Ambbuur, RN · Oct 28, 2019

Please don't be discouraged, you are already taking the right steps to get yourself on track. My first suggestion to take some additional classes such as organic chem and physics if you haven't already to help boost your GPA a little bit more. These classes are required by many schools, but not required by all. Second, study your butt off for the GRE for at least a few months, but more like six. For some schools, a high GRE score can help offset your GPA. Next, spend another year or so just learning all you can in your ICU, additional experience is definitely a plus. If the majority of applicants are just making the minimum 1-2 years of experience, it looks good to have >3 years of experience. Lastly, cast your net wide in the schools that you apply to and don't be discouraged by rejection letters, it's bound to happen.

Also if you haven't checked out this thread, go ahead and take a look. You may find some additional tips and encouragement from someone else who was in your position and was accepted

Good luck!

fourthtimesacharm, CRNA · Oct 31, 2019

Don't be discouraged. If this is something you want--go for it! We have a few people in our class that were accepted with lower GPAs. I agree with the last post too. When you are ready to start applying, cast a wide net and keep going even if you get rejected. Overall I did 9 applications to 6 different schools, 8 total interviews, 7 nos, 2 maybe's--one of which turned into a yes. Find the schools that are looking for a well rounded package and not just a good GPA. Getting A's in the classes you are taking show exactly what they are looking for. Good luck!

ngocchau_allie · Jan 6, 2020

Hi, I would love to seek your advice. I am a aspiring CRNA student- and I hope

to apply to the Samuel Merritt program one day. I saw from your other posts that you were accepted to their programs ** Congrats** My question is for their chemistry requirement- did you have to take ochem and biochemistry in addition to general chemistry?

Defibn', RN, EMT-P · Jan 8, 2020

On 10/27/2019 at 4:50 AM, murse201717 said:
Hello to all,
I am a current MICU nurse at a level 1 trauma hospital with roughly 2 years experience. I am extremely passionate and dedicated to becoming a CRNA, but I seem to have hit rock bottom at the moment. Reading some of the statistics that I come across on this website has put me in a spot where I feel like it will be highly unlikely for me to get into a school, and I just seem to be lost as to what my next step should be. I am planning on applying to schools all over the country, I've retaken all the classes that I have scored subpar in, and I'm involved in many committees/ community work. Any insight/ tips someone can give me will greatly be appreciated!
My current stats:
cumulative undergrad GPA: 3.181 (Prior to retaking my classes it was 2.956. I've gotten A's in all the classes I've retaken.)
Cumulative science GPA: 3.68
CCRN, ACLS, BLS, PALS certified. I plan on taking my GRE relatively soon.

Your science GPA is great. But you know that. Your cumulative GPA isn't great, but you know that too. It looks like you are just about everything to make up for it. The only advice I can think of is to be sure every other part of your application is awesome. Do well on the GRE. If you can get a 310 or higher, it will set you apart. You may have to take it two or three times. The GRE is something that you can practice at and make a better score. Make sure that your LORs are awesome. Be sure you are getting the best ICU experience available to you. Maybe pay someone to make your resume look fancy. You can't really do much about you undergrad GPA at this point. You could take a couple harder sciences such as upper level chems. Also, you could take a couple graduate science classes and get As. If you apply to a handful of programs and are flexible, you're likely to get an interview. Have explanations ready for your poor academic performance in the past. Have a great personal statement. Sorry this post is all over the place. Keep choppin' wood!

Jeff G · Mar 12, 2020

Graduate science courses can be challenging. Even for me as a Chemistry/physics teacher at a community college, I found some of those courses (such as immunology) rather challenging. The major issue I had with graduate level science courses is the time commitment. For example, we had to do presentations and write grant proposals.

If you need online general Chemistry, organic Chemistry, or physics courses, please let me know. I have plans of offer an online biochemistry course, but I am currently in the planning stage.