Do I have a chance at ABSN?

aleong29 · Apr 26, 2013

My stats are almost about the same as yours and I got in to 3 of the 4 nursing programs I applied to in California. I thought my with my stats I didn't stand a chance, but hey, what do you know?! I got in! I'm sure as a psych tech you have patient contact and that's something that will be considered as well and give you some edge. Good luck, and I admire nurses going into the psych part of it as it is one area I can really improve on!

JerseyPersian · Apr 26, 2013

Guys, I really need to know if this is feasible. I don't have a cosigner for loans and have enough before my aggregate loan limits to go to a public program (private ABSNs are out of the question). Meanwhile I was accepted to and deferred a social work masters' program. Should I just take the master's (as the loan limit for graduate education is 100kish)?

JerseyPersian · Apr 27, 2013

Can someone give input please?

Fireman767 · Apr 27, 2013

apply to programs and see. if your between the two it really comes down to what you want to do. I wouldnt say the ABSN is out of the way, your GPA is where they want it, it all comes down to pre-reqs. You would need to get at least a 3.0 for most of the pre-reqs to keep your GPA in range. Worst case, theres always ADN programs that take a year longer but you can get your BSN at the same time if you work your classes correctly (thats what i'm doing and ill get both my ADN and BSN at the same time and it only takes 19 months as compared to 13 at an ABSN program, also only costs a total of $42k. As far as looking at the gpa, they look at cumulative gpa, but from what ive been told, more emphasis is placed on the last 60 credit hours, and they look closer at the 4 year college grades. your cumulative gpa is around a 3.3-3.4 if im correct (ballparking it), which is good as long as your pre-reqs are good. However if you happen to get Cs in the pre-reqs it changes everything. Many programs will also look closely at the pre-reqs, especially A&P 1,2, microbiology, statistics, and a few other classes. so all in all, take the pre-reqs and then ask yourself which route to go.

But back to the matter at hand, if your looking for the cheaper, easier route then the social work is probably the way to go (i have friends who say its not as bad as their undergrad in psych). Nursing is competitive, its very much work, and you will be learning life long, and you need to decide if thats what you want. It almost seems as if you want to make a decision this minute, and thats not a good thing. you should take time to think it through, rather than make a decision. take the pre-reqs and then decide.

AccelCNL, MSN, RN · Apr 27, 2013

Hey JerseyPersian,

I say apply. I went to 3 different colleges and the cum GPA at my first one was a 2.37. Even though I graduated from the last college with my BA, a 3.7+ GPA after 80 plus credits I though I would never get into a program due to my poor collegiate start. I had applied to traditional programs while in undergrad and always received rejections. However, I decided this January ( January 27th to be exact) that I would apply to nursing school one last time. If I did not make it I was going to get ready to apply for either law school or go for my masters in special education. I applied, got in, and now I am ready to start an ABSN program in the fall.

Apply. Never count yourself out. I have wanted to go nursing school since I was 21. It took me almost 7 years to get into a program but I did. Apply everywhere. Even apply to traditional programs ( which I did to hedge my bets.)

I understand how you feel. Getting into nursing school is like trying to get into Harvard particularly in the tri-state area. But I did and I know you can too. I think your work experience will definitely help you.

All you have to do is conquer the prereqs. I wish you all the luck.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Apr 27, 2013

It really depends on the admissions requirements of the separate programs you're applying to. My school has an ABSN program and only looks at pre-req GPA. The university where I'll finish my BSN also has an ABSN program. They look at your cumulative GPA and letters of recommendation. You can't compare apples to oranges to know if you have a shot. You have to look at each, individual program and determine if you're a good fit for those schools.

Without knowing how many credits and quality points you have, I can't accurately calculate your cumulative GPA. You can do this by looking at the bottom of your transcripts. Add up the number of credits, then add up how many quality points you have (usually this is #credits x grade received). Divide quality points by number of credits and that's your cumulative GPA.

You roughly have a 3.45, which isn't bad at all. Your quality points may bump this up a bit higher (or lower) depending on the weighting of your credit hours.

Yes, getting into nursing school is VERY competitive. Sometimes I feel like it would have been easier to get accepted into Med School...LOL