Do I stand a chance at getting into Nursing School

[xavierh93]

Hey all,

I'm 22 and will be graduating with my BS in May. My overall GPA is about a 3.43

My TEAS score was 86.7

I have applied to two accelerated nursing programs in my area and I am on the waitlist for one and waiting on a reply for the other one.

I am going to apply to two concurrent nursing programs. But I was wondering if I stand a chance at all? Is there anything I can do to be more competitive.

I think my GPA is holding me back the most. When I entered undergrad I was lost and had no idea what I wanted to do and didn't really take school too seriously but I have matured now and have developed good studying habits.

But now I'm freaking out because I feel like I messed up my whole future and don't know what to do. Please somebody help me

[Zyprexa_Ho]

Hi from reddit!

[FutureNurseglen]

Have you tried volunteering yet? Doing a couple of hours would make a huge difference in your nursing application, and it can help put you ahead of those who don't have any healthcare experience.

[cracklingkraken, ASN, RN]

Have you tried volunteering yet? Doing a couple of hours would make a huge difference in your nursing application, and it can help put you ahead of those who don't have any healthcare experience.

This isn't true for a lot of programs. Programs often consider your grades, entrance exam scores, and possibly SAT scores, depending on if it's a uni or CC.

At OP, I would say your chances are pretty good. But each applicant pool is different, as well as the program requirements. Best of luck.

[Ioreth, ADN, RN]

With your GPA, you wouldn't get into my school. They just look at GPA for the 4 prerequisites and TEAS score, and the TEAS score is just whether or not you are above average benchmarks. This spring the lowest accepted is 3.7, and they haven't taken lower than 3.5 in the last few years. I would recommend retaking your lowest grade. Either that or retake the easiest class you don't have an A in. You are already close enough that you might as well apply and see what happens.

Some people have had great success with accelerated programs, but they do have a higher dropout rate and generally lower NCLEX pass rates. Don't completely dismiss the idea of going the ADN then bridge to BSN route. I have a friend who is a hiring manager at a local hospital, and she prefers not to hire the accelerated students because she finds that they tend to be less knowledgeable and prepared than the ADN-BSN students. Accelerated programs are all consuming for the duration, and it will feel like drinking from a firehose.

That said, don't go the other extreme and settle for a school that isn't nationally accredited. Those are super easy to get into, but they have consistently the lowest NCLEX pass rates and the students have a horrible time getting their first job.

You can do this. Just aim for the stars and you'll get there eventually even if it does take an extra semester.

[Ioreth, ADN, RN]

Thinking back over what I wrote, and I don't mean for it to come across as harsh as it did. Yesh!

This is just the situation at my school. I live in a very large city and we have 3 nursing programs in town. With the population density and low number of admissions at the schools, the competition here is very high. Your situation may not look anything like mine. It all depends on the specific requirements at your prospective schools and the degree of competition. The best thing you can do is to sit down with a nursing counselor (not a general ed one, but the one assigned to the nursing program) and work through your situation. He or she will have specific recommendations on what your next course of action would be. Just breathe and try to relax. No need to freak out before you know how it is likely to go down. Good luck!