Do you have to have a 4.0 to get in ?

PurpleLover · Oct 28, 2013

I did not have a 4.0 that is for sure. I had all B's in my sciences. The school I attend has different criteria than most from what I read on these forums.

1) Maintain a 2.0 GPA

2) Live in either Florence, Darlington Marion County, they feel students from the community are better

3) Complete all Pre and co requisites, such as sciences, english,math, psychology, and elective.

ShelbyaStar · Oct 28, 2013

It depends on the program and how competitive it is. Minimum requirements may not reflect actual requirements that are dictated by the competition. For example, on my program site it says you need a 2.5 to get it. However, I was told by my advisor that my GPA of 2.99 from a previous degree would keep me out, because in reality there are only so many spots open and many students applying have a high GPA. Someone with a 4.0 has a better chance of getting in than someone with a 3.0.... or lower.

I don't think you really need a 4.0 to get in in the majority of them, but it doesn't hurt. I am striving to get a 4.0 in my prereqs to make up for my overall fairly low GPA.

In the end... talk to your advisor and figure out what the average student looks like that gets in.

studentbear, CNA · Oct 28, 2013

I think it really depends on where you live.

At my school, their minimum GPA requirement is a 3.0 and the lowest GPA for their last cohort was a 3.7! So, all of us pre-nursing students aim to get 4.0's in our pre-reqs-- I'm actually going to retake my lifespan psych class because I got a B+. Also, my school only admits nursing students based on pre-req GPA and then personal statements are used as tiebreakers. This is at Whatcom Community College in Washington and I know it's similar in other areas of Western Washington, especially amongst the community colleges.

csmcj, BSN, RN · Oct 28, 2013

As said before, it really depends. It depends on a lot of things, really, such as how competitive your particular application cycle is. For example, in one cycle the average GPA of those applying may be high, like 3.8 or 3.9, while in the next cycle it may only be 3.4 or 3.5. It also depends on how your school views applicants. Some schools look strictly at the numbers (GPA, entrance test scores, etc.), and a lower GPA may have less of a chance of being accepted. Other schools look at applicants holistically, so a lower GPA may have a better chance of acceptance. My school is one of the latter. My GPA was decent but not great (3.1 at the time of my application) but my test scores were good (96 on TEAS). Where many schools would just look at those and probably not accept me, my school takes things a step further and asks for a personal statement with the application as well as interviews in which I was able to explain my reasoning for wanting to go to nursing school as well as why my GPA was as low as it was (in my case it had to do with some mistakes I'd made early on in my education when I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life,but once I made the decision to focus on nursing, my grades improved and stayed consistently high). I still had to contend with how competitive my application cycle was, and was rejected the first time I applied, but on my second application I was accepted.

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Oct 28, 2013

Good day:

The community college I'm attending requires a minimum GPA of a 2.5 to be considered. However, they use a point system where you need a certain number of points to even qualify to be considered. I.e. Get an "A" in Microbiology for 24 points, an "A" in A&P 2 for 16 points and so on. You even get points based on four times your GPA at the time of application into the program; so a 4.0 would net you 16 extra points. Since the nursing program at the college only accepts 68 students twice a year, there's a lot of pressure to maintain a 4.0 or as close to a 4.0 as possible.

Thank you.

schnookimz · Oct 28, 2013

The program I attended looked only at test scores on the entrance exam and admitted off of those.

__patiently_waiting · Oct 28, 2013

Like everyone else said, it depends on where you are. At my school the average GPA accepted might be 3.8 one semester or 3.6 the next semester. It depends on the applicant pool--which means the average GPA fluctuates often. They normally would start from the highest GPA & entrance exam scores and work their way down. That being said, it would be best if you get a 4.0 or as close to it as possible.

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Oct 28, 2013

Good day:

So far I've applied to two separate nursing schools (I cannot apply to the community college that I'm attending for their program until I have enough points). One school goes by the GPA of my community college, and the other school goes by TEAS V test results. The community college I'm attending, a point system.

Thank you.

Idiosyncratic, BSN, RN · Oct 28, 2013

It really depends on your program, the competitiveness, and what they are looking for. For example, here are what my programs require;

One of them, the closer one goes by a point value based on GPA. In other words, your sciences(Chem, and the 3 bio's) are one point bracket, and it's broken down by GPA segments. In other words, if you get a 3.5-4.0 in those classes(only A's, essentially, or 2 A's 2 B's), then you get 8/8 for that point section. However, if you get a 3.0-3.49, you only get 6 out of 8. The same goes for the coreq/pre-req section, but those points get dropped from 1-4(same GPA type, 3.5-4.0 gets your 4/4, 3.0-3.49 gets you 3/4 etc).

However, the other one does things a little differently. Your total GPA is used as part, and the test is used as the other part. You can get 4.0 out of each part.

Hope that helps! Really just depends on your program. :)

Pink Magnolia, BSN, RN · Oct 28, 2013

It depends on the population and majority applying to the school. They look at the data coming in and set a limit.