Did everyone have a 4.0?

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · May 1, 2013

I had a 4.0 in pre-reqs (which is what they use to give points for admissions) but an overall 3.8 GPA. I really don't think your GPA before nursing school is going to be an indicator of how well you'll perform.

It's a whole different ball game now. We'll be using critical thinking, we'll be expected to apply what we learn, not just spoon-fed information to regurgitate on an exam. I've had friends who made it into the program before me that had at or near a 4.0 GPA and struggled to get a C in the first nursing course. I've seen students with a lower GPA who got in on experience points do great.

Breathe, relax...you'll be fine!

CaliforniaKid88 · May 1, 2013

Im not tooting my own horn, but hopefully my case will give you hope: I entered with the same GPA in my prerequisites. I'm in a competitive ADN program. I'm currently at the top (#1) in my class regarding GPA in my current m/s course. Overall through the program I think I'm top 3 if not better in a class of 60. I was admitted #48 out of 60 when I received my admission letter.

As SopranoKris said, its not about regurgitation, its about learning and applying the information to actual patient scenarios. One thing which has helped me in the program is getting an NCLEX review book (Saunders 5th Edition) and reading/doing questions in it while studying the same material that week in my nursing course. Also, near the beginning of the book it teaches you how to answer NCLEX style nursing test questions, which are much different than the tests in my prereqs. Basically, the prereq's check for knowledge. The NCLEX tests for application and analysis/interpretation of that knowledge. It takes a lil bit to get used to, but once you do your UNDERSTANDING of the material skyrockets, and so does your clinical confidence. Cheers!

-CA Kid

Jill2Shay · May 1, 2013

Nope. My program isn't competitive, so if you had a 2.0 in prereques, you can get in. I didn't have a 4.0, close, but not perfect and I'm doing just fine.

Kvedaa · May 1, 2013

I am going to OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University) which is consistently ranked in the top 5 BSN programs in the country; whatever that means. I guess that means it competitive. Some of my classmates had 3.9-4.0 in there prereqs but most had 3.7+ overall for a previous bachelors and everyone seems to be doing okay. I really don't think GPA is the most accurate measure of how good of a student you are, a 3.7 is within latin honors so I say you are probably going to do great! Good luck!

sammyhales · May 1, 2013

I'm 4.0 but friends got in with 3.5 and doing fine. I heard the program is academically easier than the prereqs: more busy work but less taxing intellectually.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 1, 2013

I don't often get annoyed. Everyone has a right to their opinion and if it isn't going to be important in a hundred years it isn't worth the effort to get annoyed.

Well...............I'm slightly annoyed. (sigh)

I feel I need clarify the quality of my schooling......I have been a RN for 34 years. I did not just "regurgitate information" for an exam. When I went to nursing school we had theory, microbiology, gross anatomy, advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology....etc. We, too, had to do EXTENSIVE care plans that were intended to teach us how to use our brains and learn how to think laterally and critically....and we had to do them on EVERY PATIENT... EVERY CLINICAL.

When I went to college where my nursing program was housed....... we did NOT just regurgitate information for an exam. We actually utilized our knowledge on actual patients and not in a sim lab. When I graduated college I had placed many Foley's, IV's and NGT's as well as many other skills for we had extensive clinical requirements in addition to our academic studies.

It might have been called it learning how to "Think like a nurse"....but I was taught how to "think like a nurse"/use critical thinking skills to best care for my patients. This present generation is not unique in this model. It is my generation, using these critical thinking skills, that has brought this profession to where it is right now. Many patients have been cared for using these critical thinking skills to "figure out" what the patient needed for we lacked the technology that did it for us.

To imply anything less I feel is disrespectful and unprofessional. You (the collective you) have to know where you have been to know where you are going. I feel as a profession we need to learn from those that have vast experience and knowledge......to pay it forward...... it will be a shame when it is lost.

Nurses with experience are often accused of "eating their young....However, It is difficult to mentor, share our experience and vast knowledge to a new peer that is disrespectful and clearly not interested....only to be then accused of being mean and of being "nasty old bats".

One needs to give the respect they expect to receive.

OP....each school has their own system for "adjusting" the GPA. When I went to school we were not allowed to repeat a subject until we got the grade we wanted. Unfortunately...honors classes were NOT given any additional regard other than the letter H by the grade. Schools give points for experience in the field, prior schooling, volunteer hours so that the GPA of 4.0 appears to be common.

Not all of these candidates are straight A/4.0 students. Not all of them get perfect scores. MANY have repeated classes until they got the score they wanted. Even though nursing school is competitive right now........mostly due to the economy for everyone is flocking to the nursing profession and the non existent "shortage" and "guaranteed jobs" but also to the lucrative NP and CRNA degrees where the "big bucks are"......however, not everyone is a straight A student.

What has gone wrong that a 3.7 GPA is a bad thing.....I sit once again shaking my head.

Yes nursing school is difficult.... but these 4.0 GPA scores does not mean that everyone is a Rhodes Scholar.

You have been accepted to a program....CONGRATULATIONS! It is hard work but worth it in the end!

I wish you the best on your nursing journey!!!! Good Luck!!!!

Basilejc · May 1, 2013

I have been an LPN for 20+ years and have recently returned to school. I have less than a 4.0. But I also still have two kids at home (one going off to college in September). The program I' m in is an accelerated APN program. I'm not always a great test taker but I'm really good with hands on, I work well with others and I also know that I will be a great Nurse Practitioner, but I will finish with less than a 4.0.

Numbers do not always indicate compassion and caring, which is the back bone of Nursing.

4boysmama · May 1, 2013

Esme, I think you might have misunderstood a previous poster - when she said it's a whole different ball game now, and that it's not just regurgitating info, I think she was referring to how nursing school is compared to pre-reqs, NOT how nursing school is now compared to how it's been in the past. I didn't get the sense that anyone on-thread was disrespecting any nurse's education, and were all in fact emphasizing how challenging nursing school is.

Tait, MSN, RN · May 1, 2013

I did not have much over a 3.0 when I was placed on the lotterized wait list for my ADN. I graduated with a 3.2ish. RN-BSN I got a 3.6 and I finished with a 3.96 in my Master's. So that is 2003-2013. Perhaps it was my path that let me carry less than a 4.0, but it all seems to have worked out ok for me.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · May 1, 2013

Esme, I was in no way implying that we're expected to regurgitate information in nursing school. If you read my post, I specifically stated that we will NOT be doing this. I know it won't be like pre-reqs and that GPA prior to nursing school isn't an indicator of how well you'll perform in nursing school. Please re-read my post and you'll see what I mean. Sorry if there was any misunderstanding, but that was not my intention :)

ShyeoftheTiger · May 1, 2013

What has gone wrong that a 3.7 GPA is a bad thing.....I sit once again shaking my head.
Yes nursing school is difficult.... but these 4.0 GPA scores does not mean that everyone is a Rhodes Scholar.

If I'm giving my honest opinion, I don't think it has really become a bad thing. I read this last night, thinking that people needed to have an ego-stroking party about their pre-nursing GPAs.

I don't believe that anyone with a 3.7 (which can be dang hard to earn taking nursing prereqs) should really ask the question "am I going to do badly because I don't have a 4.0?" A 3.7 student should know the answer to that question just as much as a 4.0 student should...

Sorry if that's harsh... Everybody needs an ego boost every now and then!