Do nursing programs consider ALL GPA's that you have?

Do nursing programs consider ALL GPA's that you have?

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Hi everyone!

I need some advise, if anyone can help! I've decided to apply for an ABSN program for fall 2020. However, I have an associates degree where my overall GPA was a 3.7, and when I received my BS degree, my overall GPA was a 3.1, so will they factor both of those GPA's when making their acceptance decision? Or, will they only use the BS degree GPA?

Also, my biggest worry right now is that I received a C+ in Micro & in Chem; however, I received an A- in A&P l & Psych. Although I received those 2 C's my GPA is still over a 3.0 due to my other grades. I am taking A&P ll this semester, where I am going to work my butt off to get an A to keep my GPA over a 3.0.

Do you guys think I will have a shot at getting into the program although I have those 2 c's? I'm scared because I really want this, but I was rejected from an ADN nursing program about a month ago. I just hope they give me a shot!

I'm also going to apply for their regular nursing program also, although it takes 3yrs to complete for transfer students.

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Specializes in Emergency Room, CEN, TCRN.

All depends on the program. Talk to the student adviser for program you are interested in.

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Agreed. Every school seems to be vastly different. Some schools only look at only the nursing pre-req GPA, others look at the overall cumulative GPA. If you post the name of the program you are applying to I can try and find the answer for you.

Good luck,

Sam

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5 hours ago, sam619 said:

Agreed. Every school seems to be vastly different. Some schools only look at only the nursing pre-req GPA, others look at the overall cumulative GPA. If you post the name of the program you are applying to I can try and find the answer for you.

Good luck,

Sam

Thank you for responding! It’s a new program at Mercy College in NY, at their Bronx Campus. I actually received my BS degree from Mercy.

5 hours ago, gere7404 said:

All depends on the program. Talk to the student adviser for program you are interested in.

Thank you for responding! Yeah, I was going to see if I could email or speak with someone, because there’s not a lot of information on the program itself because it’s kind of new.

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I would definitely shoot a quick email to their nursing admissions department with the question on how they would consider multiple GPAs.

In my experience, I wasn't accepted into the program I applied to when I had a C in two of my prerequisites. I retook them and got in with no issues! It's worth getting to know how the specific school considers applications and how much extracurricular experience matters.

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Thank you for responding! I will definitely reach out to see what they will do for multiple GPA’s. I’m nervous though because chemistry was extremely hard for me. & micro wasn’t too bad, I received an A in the lab, but a C+ In the lecture. So, I’m not too sure how everything will work out, but I will try to get more info. Thanks for the advice!

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Specializes in Current EMT-IV & Nursing Student.

Hi,

I'm in a very similar situation, so I wanted to throw in my experience. I completed my Associate's Degree with a 3.8 and my Bachelor's with a 3.2. The majority of the pre-requisites for the school I applied to for my ABSN were completed with As or Bs, but I got a C in one pre-requisite, as well as in two other classes. I was really worried about how this would affect me, especially because I know it looks like a downward trend. However, upon contacting my school to ask if I should retake classes, they insinuated that as long as your GPA is above a 3.0, they look primarily at your HESI A2 scores. I studied hard for months for that exam and ended up with a 97% cumulative score and was accepted into the program.

That being said, I agree with the posters above. A lot of ABSN programs realize that we completed our Bachelor's degrees years ago and that our circumstances now are far different. More weight tends to be put on entrance exams, work experience, interviews, essays, and other such things your program requires, as these show more of our recent performance.

As to your particular school, I found this thread from last year. Hopefully, it's helpful!

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I checked the website and it looks a bit vague. I assume they want at least a 3.0 GPA from your prior BS/BA and at least a 3.0 on the pre reqs:

-Anatomy II with lab

-Microbiology

-Psychology or Human development

-Genetics or Chemistry

In my experience they mostly look at the main science pre-reqs for admission. I'd recommend sending an email or call the counselor for a definitive answer. For now try and at least get a B in your classes! Good luck!

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Thank you so much!! & I will definitely reach out to them!

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7 hours ago, sam619 said:

I checked the website and it looks a bit vague. I assume they want at least a 3.0 GPA from your prior BS/BA and at least a 3.0 on the pre reqs:

-Anatomy II with lab

-Microbiology

-Psychology or Human development

-Genetics or Chemistry

In my experience they mostly look at the main science pre-reqs for admission. I'd recommend sending an email or call the counselor for a definitive answer. For now try and at least get a B in your classes! Good luck!

Thank you so much!! & I definitely will reach out to them!

20 hours ago, alpinegirl said:

Hi,

I'm in a very similar situation, so I wanted to throw in my experience. I completed my Associate's Degree with a 3.8 and my Bachelor's with a 3.2. The majority of the pre-requisites for the school I applied to for my ABSN were completed with As or Bs, but I got a C in one pre-requisite, as well as in two other classes. I was really worried about how this would affect me, especially because I know it looks like a downward trend. However, upon contacting my school to ask if I should retake classes, they insinuated that as long as your GPA is above a 3.0, they look primarily at your HESI A2 scores. I studied hard for months for that exam and ended up with a 97% cumulative score and was accepted into the program.

That being said, I agree with the posters above. A lot of ABSN programs realize that we completed our Bachelor's degrees years ago and that our circumstances now are far different. More weight tends to be put on entrance exams, work experience, interviews, essays, and other such things your program requires, as these show more of our recent performance.

As to your particular school, I found this thread from last year. Hopefully, it's helpful!

Thank you so much for all the advise, & for the thread you’ve found! I will definitely reach out to the director. I just want to make sure I have all the requirements!

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I'm not familiar with Mercy College or their ABSN program. What I found in general from looking into and applying to several different programs, the schools take into consideration all grades. From there, it can vary. Not uncommon for programs to look at both your overall GPA for all courses, and the GPA for specific science courses such as chemistry, physiology, human anatomy, and microbiology. The courses can vary.

That said, the programs may have requirements of an overall GPA, the science GPA, maybe minimum grades certain classes such as B for the nursing prerequisite science courses. Very similar to how school are similar but vary to minimum scores for the TEAS or HESI exams.

I did find a page with admission requirements for transfer students (which is basically you since you have a bachelors: https://www.mercy.edu/degrees-programs/bs-nursing#program-info The accelerated BS info: https://www.mercy.edu/degrees-programs/bs-accelerated-second-degree-nursing#program-info What I will say, based on other accelerated programs, they may do a more holistic approach to their decision; look at you as a whole versus just grades. I would definitely contact the school or nursing to find out what they look for in candidates and your concerns. I did with UCLA's accelerated master's program because my bachelor's issuing transcripts has a lower GPA than their minimum, but I was a transfer student which my previous school's grades did not reflect those grades. They told me what they look for in candidates and what I needed to be considered.

In my opinion, your biggest hurdle maybe those C-s in key nursing prerequisite science classes. I would explore retaking those classes to improve those to B; I recommend getting As. If it's been some time (like years), then you can say you were refreshing. Some programs have recently requirements in certain classes. Some programs may ding you for repeating certain courses too.

Lastly, I'm assuming New York is like California. Nursing school is very competitive to get into. You should apply to several schools. There is more than one way to becoming a nurse. I suggest to applying to ADN, BSN, and accelerated masters. There a bridge programs for ADN to BSN. You can try LVN/LPN to BSN programs.

Best of luck in your journey. Nursing is still very attainable for you. The path you take may be different than you expect.

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6 hours ago, botmann said:

I'm not familiar with Mercy College or their ABSN program. What I found in general from looking into and applying to several different programs, the schools take into consideration all grades. From there, it can vary. Not uncommon for programs to look at both your overall GPA for all courses, and the GPA for specific science courses such as chemistry, physiology, human anatomy, and microbiology. The courses can vary.

That said, the programs may have requirements of an overall GPA, the science GPA, maybe minimum grades certain classes such as B for the nursing prerequisite science courses. Very similar to how school are similar but vary to minimum scores for the TEAS or HESI exams.

I did find a page with admission requirements for transfer students (which is basically you since you have a bachelors: https://www.mercy.edu/degrees-programs/bs-nursing#program-info The accelerated BS info: https://www.mercy.edu/degrees-programs/bs-accelerated-second-degree-nursing#program-info What I will say, based on other accelerated programs, they may do a more holistic approach to their decision; look at you as a whole versus just grades. I would definitely contact the school or nursing to find out what they look for in candidates and your concerns. I did with UCLA's accelerated master's program because my bachelor's issuing transcripts has a lower GPA than their minimum, but I was a transfer student which my previous school's grades did not reflect those grades. They told me what they look for in candidates and what I needed to be considered.

In my opinion, your biggest hurdle maybe those C-s in key nursing prerequisite science classes. I would explore retaking those classes to improve those to B; I recommend getting As. If it's been some time (like years), then you can say you were refreshing. Some programs have recently requirements in certain classes. Some programs may ding you for repeating certain courses too.

Lastly, I'm assuming New York is like California. Nursing school is very competitive to get into. You should apply to several schools. There is more than one way to becoming a nurse. I suggest to applying to ADN, BSN, and accelerated masters. There a bridge programs for ADN to BSN. You can try LVN/LPN to BSN programs.

Best of luck in your journey. Nursing is still very attainable for you. The path you take may be different than you expect.

Thank you so much for your advise! I emailed the director & hopefully will be able to get more info soon. You’re absolutely correct, NY is so competitive for Nursing. I went to my local community college & the wait was about 2 1/2 years!!! So, that’s why I decided to try & go back to Mercy although it is a private school & much more expensive. I’m going to apply to a few more programs as well, just to give myself a better chance. Unfortunately, they’re not a lot of ADN programs near me. There are two that I know of, Montefiore & Cochran. I was denied from Monte, which I already suspected, only because at the time I was missing a prereq & I didn’t do so well on the entrance exam. I said I would try again, but I have to wait an entire year to retake the exam. The other school gives the same exam as Monte, which is the Kaplan exam. However before I tried at that school I want to make sure, I understand the exam, & study so I won’t make the same mistakes. It’s a lot, but hopefully I’ll reach my goal soon! I thank you for all the information you’ve found & well wishes!!

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