Exasperated...! 5th rejection?!?

[FurmanGirl]

Please hear me out, I really need to vent. I came hear looking for help with nursing school admissions, and now I find the situation even more hopeless than before with all your mentions of high GPAs. You're welcome to give advice, it would be very much appreciated. OK, here's my story... I just graduated from a private, top liberal arts college. Though many have not heard of it, it is very selective, with the entering classes AVERAGE SAT score set at 1302, this was not an easy school to get into. It's main competitors are schools like Harvad, Yale, Wake Forest, Duke, etc... However, it was always my dream, so I stayed, even after deciding to go into nursing (my school didn't have a nursing program). BIG MISTAKE. Yes, I only have a 2.9, but that would be a 4.0 equivalent at any other regional school. AND I got a Bachelor's degree in Biology, the hardest major there (so difficult that all the schools at the state medical university add .5 to a GPA from my school, all of them except the nursing school). Do nursing schools care that I have a STRONG background in research and medicine? TONS of volunteer experience? An internship and research thesis in nursing? Excellent references and essays? Good GRE and MAT as well as SAT and ACT scores? NOOO! I have applied, and been rejected 5 times for 5 different BSN programs. I understand that there is limited space, professors, and money, but I REALLY want to be a nurse. More than anything... But no one cares. They think my GPA is definitive of my ability to give quality patient care. I'm GOOD with people, I live to help others. They can't see that with a GPA. It seems that all they want is to have a high pass rate on the final exam, and that projection is based on statistics from GPAs (that I have yet to see). Not everyone is a good test taker. They don't care if the person who passes isn't really 100% into it. And THEN the schools I've applied to tell me to take BS classes like underwater basket weaving, ANYTHING to increase my GPA. Since when do schools prefer quantity over quality? I took challenging classes, where I learned more than I ever could from an easy class. So now I find myself at a technical school, where the 4 courses I'm in I have an average of OVER 100 in each, statistics being one of them. And the people in my classes who are completely clueless are already in a nursing program simply because they have a 4.0 from a tech school. I'm very limited in my school choices in SC. And I'm just completely livid...about everything. And before you say it, I'm not dissing an education from a technical college, I just think there should be a grading scale that takes into account the difficulty of ones' courses, as well as the grades earned, not to mention acceptances based on something more than solely GPA. Am I the only one who finds this unfair? What's in the past can't be undone. So, I don't see a way to get into nursing school. Sure, I could take more useless courses, spend tons of time and money... I could get another job in a health-related career. I could volunteer more. But what use is it if no one looks at this? What else can be done???

[Shannon RN 2be]

I think its terriable how hard it is to get into a nursing program. All the time we hear about the nursing shortage. However, the nursing programs are admitting so few people there is no way that we can fill the shortage of nurses. I attend a local community college too. I think that you going to school at the cc is a great idea. I think that would help you so you can get into the program. I do agree it is awful you have to go through this just to get into a program. Good luck with your search. I hope you can get into a program.

Hugs :icon_hug:

Shannon

[Micci]

I think its terriable how hard it is to get into a nursing program. All the time we hear about the nursing shortage. However, the nursing programs are admitting so few people there is no way that we can fill the shortage of nurses.

Well, the problem is that the nursing shortage has caused there to be a shortage of nurse instructors. Also, at the ADN advising session, the nurse instructor also pointed out that there is a limit as far as clinical spaces at hospitals. There can only be so many students in a group at a time and only so many students in the hospital at one time. My CNA class had the same issue, that licensing only allows a certain amount of students on the floor in the nursing home at one time.

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As far as enterance stuff not being fair. Unfortunately, admission processes are always going to be unfair to someone. Lotteries are unfair to those who have earned high grades. GPA's are unfair to those who attended presitgious universities. Standardized tests are unfair to poor testers. Giving extra points to those who already have degrees in other subjects (my personal gripe) is unfair to those of us working on our first degree. Most nursing programs are trying to do the best they can as fairly as possible, knowing that most are not getting in.

Though I sympathize with the original poster, to some extent, in some ways I don't. You have a degree in something at least that you can use to gain employment. You also have the option of taking classes to boost your gpa or retaking key classes at the community college level. YOu may not go the exact route you want, but ADN programs will look at only your applicable gen ed grades and give you extra points for your bach degree. You should be able to score pretty high on enterance exams and that should get your foot in the door. From what I have been told, nurses with Assoc degrees make about the same as nurses with Bach's and do the exact same work. Also, hospitals will pay for you to go on to get your Bach in nursing. It may be a longer route than you want, but I'm confident you will get into nursing if you want.

[AuntieRN]

Furmangirl

I too am in SC. I also attend a community college. I have a 2.99 GPA. Here they go by your GPA in your prereq's. Also, if you already have a degree you are bumped way up on the list. I got bumped a year anyways for some reason and my girlfriend got bumped almost 2 years. I once told a friend of mine (who is an RN already) that I felt I was not getting the education from CC that I would have from the bigger Univ. and she reminded me that at least at the CC they knew who I was and there weren't so many people in my class that I couldn't get help from the professor if I needed it. Pts really do not care what kind of school you went to all they care is that you are competent enough to take care of them. We all take the same NCLEX exam regardless of where we go. CC seem easier to get into. If you are interested in what school I go to and interested in applying let me know I will get you the information. Good luck!!!!

[llg, PhD, RN]

As far as enterance stuff not being fair. Unfortunately, admission processes are always going to be unfair to someone. Lotteries are unfair to those who have earned high grades. GPA's are unfair to those who attended presitgious universities. Standardized tests are unfair to poor testers. Giving extra points to those who already have degrees in other subjects (my personal gripe) is unfair to those of us working on our first degree. Most nursing programs are trying to do the best they can as fairly as possible, knowing that most are not getting in.

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Great post. The path to becoming a nurse is not always as smooth and easy as we would like it to be and most of us has had to overcome a few obstacles to fulfill our career goals. It sounds to me as if the OP has the ability to overcome her obstacles if she sets her mind to simply doing what needs to be done.

llg

[JGHmaleRN]

Furmangirl I don't know if you want to go out of state to anursing school.

If so the one I went to in Parkersburg WV is part of WVU. They are not as fixed on GPA rating as much as what you bring to the nursing field. I a had students in my class that had a GPA 2.5. She was one of the best student nurses on the floor. Because she cared about her pt's not what her grade were as long as she was passing. She passed boards the first try. A couple

of the 3.8 and 4.0 failed boards. Good luck and would welome you to WVU.

[SouthernLPN2RN, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

What else can be done???

Try Piedmont Tech in Greenwood and/or TriCounty. I think Piedmont has a smaller wait list. I am currently at PTC in my transition semester (LPN to RN). Next semester I'll be in the third smester of the ADN program. After I graduate, I plan on getting my BSN from Lander (online one year course). Since you've already got a degree, I don't know how you would feel being enrolled at a 4 year college with a large population of new HS grads. The population at a community college is going to be more diverse with age groups than the 4-year colleges.