have my dreams of being a nurse been shot down?

mrsboots87 · Jul 8, 2014

How does having a baby exclude you from financial aid? Having a baby makes you and indeoentant student and changes your expenses. This usually means easier to qualify for FA. As far as your GPA, look into your colleges retake policy. Some will let you retske to replace the grade, and some will let you retake and then average your two grades. Also look at yourself. It very well may be that your professor was just a jerk, but look back at yoyr semester and see if there was anything you coukd have done differentky. Completely blaming someone else will only lead you to repeating your own mistakes. When retaking the class, take it with a different instructor. I am not judging because my online grammer/puncuation/speling is terrible because I usually use a tab or phone and they are difficult to edit on, but if yoyr writing in that class was similar to your writing of this oost, I understand the grade. If you edit nicely for formal papers then maybe not. In either case, retake the class and improve the grade. Lastly, for one class to bring yoy from a 3.2 to a 1.5means you havnt taken many. Find out what co requisites are required for your desired program and take those. No program will grant yiu a degree off a handful of pre reqs and the core classes. The degree itslef wil require thing lime 1-2 math classes, a psych class or two, microbio, 2 english classes, sometimes a language coures, a couple electives. You would have to take them anyway, so why not take them before applying to the program to boost your GPA. if you are trying for a competitive program, a 3.2 likely wouldn't have cut it anyway. Take more classes and get As and you will be fine.

87RN · Jul 8, 2014

I have heard of some colleges that let students "wipe-out" a whole semester, completely removing it off your transcript. It's not always the best idea because you would lose all the credits earned but in your case, since you only had one class that did more harm than good, I would ask your counselor if that is an option at your college. Try reapplying for FA, you may qualify now that you have a baby. Make sure that when you do take another class, you can commit to it so you don't get another bad grade. Nursing school is hard, you will have more than 1 difficult class at the same time and teachers are pretty strict. A&P and micro classes will require a lot of studying and the tests are pretty tough, you need to get a good grade in the classes to get into nursing school. A lot of us have done it with kids, don't give up, good luck!

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Jul 9, 2014

Good day, kavitag:

Don't give up hope over one class, especially if the class was not a science or prerequisite. While it is past now, why didn't you drop or otherwise withdraw from the class? As suggested, do talk with your advisor and see if you can get some form of academic forgiveness due to the circumstances involved (save any portion of the bad teacher for only absolute necessity as such talk -- even when valid -- often turns things sour).

Thank you.

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · Jul 9, 2014

With a 1.5 GPA you need to be honest with yourself. You are not getting into nursing schools with that GPA. Also no one shot down your chances..YOU did it. Blaming anyone else is a waste of time and no one pays attention. YOU got the GPA you earned and now there are consequences. When you make a med error because you are lazy will you blame someone else? Will you blame your boyfriend for not letting you sleep? Will you blame the hospital? Will you blame the patient? First thing first to be a nurse is being accountable. You will have to work with people who are jerks. Doctors, nurses, administration. You better learn how to survive and succeed under those conditions. I think hard instructors..WHATEVER the class..are the best training for nursing. There is no mercy if you screw up in a hospital. No one.NO ONE is going to hold your hand or tell you it isn't your fault. This is the real world.

panic36 · Jul 10, 2014

Windsurfer put it pretty well. I know quite a few females who have started college pregnant, or in the middle of it, and they worked hard to be successful. I'm not going to bash you for it, but I will say that you shouldn't use it as an excuse. Also, there are more things that you should be worried about than lack of financial aid. A lot of the schools I know make you keep a certain GPA, 2.0 being the lowest, or you will be dismissed from the school.

You really need to look at yourself and think if this is really what you want. College isn't for everyone, and the people who don't really want it, or want it for the wrong reasons wont have the dedication involved in maintaining the GPA necessary for this level of academics.

I think you must be going to a pretty decent school to pay 800 dollars for a single class. I know at my school I paid 650 dollars for 13 units. Also, I like D's better than C's, because a lot of schools I know wont allow you to retake a C course, but you can retake a D.

nzaghar1, BSN, RN · Aug 30, 2014

Help ! I want to become a RN, however when i first started college i wanted to be a forensic psychologist the second semester i changed my major and told my advisor i wanted to become a nurse, so he put me in a liberal arts major program. I am currently a junior in college. last semester spring 2014 i only took one class which was a writing intensive course and i paid out of pocket 800$ because i dont get finanicial aid. I was pregnant but i still attended class every day and passed all my exams after giving birth i even went in the next day and took my final. the professor was horrible, wanted us to google everything and he showed favifotism, nobody wangte dto go complain to the board of ed. so i had a 3.2 gpa now he gave me a D which dropped me all the way to a 1.5 gpa.the olny pre-reqs needed for me to get into the nusrsing program is mircobio and anat & physiology 1&2. but since my gpa dropped so low and i have a baby i cant get financial aid. I live in new york, and i could only afford cuny. but now i feel that since my gpa is so low i dont even have a chance in this world.any advice ???

Don't give up. My nursing school advisor told me that they accepted a guy who once had a 0.75 GPA. Of course he brought it up some but that just goes to show you, when you want something go after it.

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Aug 31, 2014

I'm still failing to see how getting a D on your final translates into a 3.2 GPA dropping to 1.5?? You'd have to have received other lower grades in order for that to happen. Is this your official GPA or just your own estimate? I know our students in financial aid are suspended from receiving financial aid if they earn below a 2.0 average in the semester. Was that your semester average? If so, you might be able to appeal due to extenuating circumstances, just having a baby the day before, etc.

Puncho72,RN · Aug 31, 2014

I don't see how 1 D can drop you to a 1.5 from a 3.2. Maybe for the semester if you were taking 2 classes and got a C and a D. Then for that semester your gpa would be 1.5. If this is the fact look into academic bankruptcy.

anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP · Aug 31, 2014

I don't think that's mathematically possible. A junior usually means you have at least 60 credit hours (freshman 0-30, sophomore 30-60, etc.).

To find GPA you multiply points based on your grade (4 = A, 3 = B, 2 = C, etc.) times the credit hrs for the class (if you make an A in a 3 hr class = 4 points x 3 hrs = 12 total points)

To calculate GPA you add your total points for each class / credit hrs = GPA

Algebra then says we can manipulate the equation to go backwards (multiply both sides by credit hrs, they cancel on one side, etc.)

60 hrs x 3.2 GPA = 192 total points

Even if you made a D in a 3 hr class that would add 3 points (1 point x 3 hrs). You would then have 195 credit hrs with 63 credit hours

So 195 / 63 = 3.09

Or am I missing something?