Failing high school Pre-Calc... can I still be a nurse?

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Mar 7, 2014

Each College and University sets their own admission criteria. As long as you meet their entry criteria, you're good to go. Since I don't know about your area's Colleges/Universities, I can't offer anything more definitive. If you've taken and passed Algebra II, which you likely have given you're in Pre-Calc, you should be able to easily master med calculations because they're pretty easy.

You're 16, you have quite the road to travel before you even get to apply to RN school. It's good that you have a goal in mind and are developing a plan to get there and beyond. Don't be afraid to adjust the plan to fit reality. A lot of us that are in Nursing School have faced challenges and detours and we're all the better for it.

Jack C · Mar 7, 2014

I plan on going where I can get the best training possible. I will get my RN at Indian River State College and then do the RN-BSN program at either USF or FAU. Since I will be working during those two years, i will have saved quite a bit of money (i have a great scholarship on account of my mother being single) and I am thinking about applying to Duke for their Nurse Anesthesia program. I just don't know if i could get in with a fail on my record.

CCRNCMC11 · Mar 7, 2014

Once you get into college no one will ever look or even ask about your high school transcript ever again. Good news for CRNA preparation is that you don't need calculus. What you NEED to do now is start taking ap chemistry and biology. Especially if you want to get into a school like duke, you will need to take organic chemistry in college which is a very advanced and difficult chemistry so start now!

RescueNinjaKy · Mar 7, 2014

Crna programs aren't going to be looking at your high school transcript, they will be looking at your college transcript and possibly your work experience in icu as a rn.

You are still very young so you do have some flexibility and I honestly would recommend worrying about one thing at a time. First worry about getting into the college of your choice.I do not know how their admission criteria work but I will say that you want to pass your pre calc class and not get a F on it. After that worry about your rn-bsn program. And right of the bat you need to know that rn programs are very competitive. At this point you really got to ask yourself, do you have what it takes, because an f in a nursing class is almost grounds for being dropped from a rn program in most schools.so I would say work out whatever it is that's preventing you from passing your pre calc cuz things are only going to get harder. Identify your weakness and work on it, need additional resources, then go spend extra time with tutors.

And let's continue with passing the nclex after. Getting a job for experience, and then getting into a crna program. My point is you don't have time to worry about the distant future even you have pressing issues at the present. Math is important in nursing because of medication calculation, but also because you will need it to pass entrance exams into the nursing program and it could possibly be a prerequisite for the itself.

And please don't take this offensively, but as a dose of reality, if you can't work through your problem in pre calc right now in hs, chances are you're going to be suffering in the nursing curriculum, because it requires A LOT of perseverance, hard work, dedication, and sacrifice to make it in this field.

THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN · Mar 7, 2014

Short answer: get your BSN right out of the gate. Scholarships are usually time limited.

meloda07 · Mar 9, 2014

As frustrating as it might be failing a class in high school won't hinder you as long as you pick the right program. My program doesn't look at any high school stuff except chemistry (they don't even look at high school chemistry if you've passed college chemistry though) and to verify you got a diploma. I would imagine CRNA programs won't bother with high school because they'll have all your nursing courses to go by except maybe to verify you got a diploma.

RunBabyRN · Mar 9, 2014

Few programs look at high school transcripts, and if you do your prerequisites at a community college (SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive than a university, and the courses transfer), no college will care about them, either.

Jack C · Mar 9, 2014

Well I will be going to a "community" college, so I guess I am in the clear. I am just going to focus on the health sciences and take a very basic math course at my local college so I don't have to suffer through any more of this horrid calculus. Thanks very much to all of you :)

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Mar 9, 2014

Programs that will look at HS transcripts will only look at them if your coursework in High School also counts toward satisfying a prerequisite. Generally what the colleges and universities want to know is if you're qualified to be a student there. Once you're accepted, nobody will seriously ask to see your transcripts, or care beyond seeing that you're a HS grad. Focus on getting good science grades and perhaps get into AP Biology and Chemistry. They're correct about O-chem. It's very tough and you'll have to take it before you get into a CRNA program because you'll likely need that knowledge.

If you go for your BSN right away, even if it's just by knocking out your LDGE and prerequisites at the JC level, you'll make it a whole lot easier for you to take the appropriate coursework that will set you up for entry into a CRNA program. Here's the issue... you first have to finish High School, get into your college of choice, gain entry to the program of choice, and then find a job that leads to an ICU position that will provide you a strong foundation for your future CRNA practice. As you said in an earlier post, you're 16. You're probably on track to graduate in a year or two, so say, age 18. Then you're going to likely spend 5 years at University earning your BSN (because often 4 year degrees take 5). That puts you graduating as a BSN at around 23. That's right about 8 years from now. The job situation will probably be different then. Hopefully you'll be able to get a job right away. Figure 1-2 years on a M/S floor unless you're lucky enough to get accepted as a new grad in the ICU (it does happen). That's age 25. Then you get into an ICU job, so that's another 2-3 years (age 27-28) and you can then seriously start on your CRNA quest. That takes 2 years, which then has you graduating that at around age 30. That's 12 years from now.

That's 12 years of life happening that can derail your whole plan. You must be determined, persistent, and be very willing to work hard for a long time in order for you to reach your goal of being a CRNA.

Please don't take this as me trying to dissuade you from reaching your goals, rather showing you that you have a long and difficult journey ahead and it's entirely up to you to decide if you want to embark upon it, and that I wish you the best should you go for it. This is very doable... it's just going to take a long time. Look at the forest... not just the trees. Know the big picture and have a plan for reaching your goal, an appropriately developed plan with alternate routes in the event that you do NOT get accepted into the university and program of your choice. Sometimes those backup plans can save your bacon...

zzbxdo · Mar 9, 2014

Do well in nursing school, do well in the ICU setting (several years to be competitive) get your ccrn etc than you're in business. The best you can do in hs is knock out as many ap classes as you can, take your sciences and maths. You have a clean slate when you're in college, doing well in hs assures you have some background knowledge in your classes.

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Mar 9, 2014

Hi, I'm Jack, a sixteen year old high school sophomore. I am in my school's pre-nursing program and I am excited to get to work as a nurse and later become a CRNA. Unfortunately, I am currently in the most challenging course I have ever taken. Pre-calc. I have not gotten higher than a 50% on any tests in this semester, and it seems I am doomed to fail because the ideas just do not work in my head. But my question is not how to pass this class because that is up to me. I am wondering if I will be able to go to my local college's nursing program at all if I have a big fat F on my transcript. And even if I do make it through that, will any CRNA programs even consider me? Please help, it will be greatly appreciated. :)
P.S. The rest of my grades are all A's and one B, for reference.

Are you a PSO (high school college) student? If you are, I would see if you can still withdraw from the class. It is better to withdraw then to fail. Then I would carefully consider what you actually need to get into the nursing tract at your university or college. Some programs only require algebra. If you are in high school, I recommend approaching the teacher and ask if he can help tutor you in lunch, after school, or before school. Unless you have a specific activity like a sport, I would present all three options. Chances are your choice is before or after school as they are entitled to their lunch break. If you have a study hall, you might be able to ask for some help in that.

If you aren't in the college, technically you aren't in the pre-nursing classes yet. Pre-nursing is usually a specific set of classes you need to take. Most of the time, high school credits and GPA are looked at for the initial admission only. Then after you take one or two years of "pre-reqs" at the college level such as chemistry, math, English, etc then you apply for a nursing program. There are a handful that will accept students directly into a nursing program, but those are becoming less common. I was one of the few people who were admitted into my school's "old criteria" where I fell under the high school requirements of a GPA, taking a chemistry, etc.

However, the requirements are specific for each program. I would pick four schools and request information on admission. Yes, four. Then try to work your high school and college schedules to work in a manner towards the admission. Some schools still utilize a waiting list so you may have all of your pre-reqs completed but you have to wait three or four years to start clinicals. My associate program was like that and that is why they went to the "new criteria" where people receive points based on established criteria and the school ranks people till they fill up clinical seats each semester. Finding out the requirements for your specific chosen schools is the only way to tell if it will hurt you or not.

I would first recommend you get your licensing license before aiming for a specific program like CRNA. You may find you prefer something else like ER or desire to become a NP or midwife. I shockingly want to become a midwife now after I am licensed although I was setting myself up to become a NP in an ER.

As for the RN to BSN path, that is the path I chose. I managed to get into a nursing program quicker than other students who were waiting on a university to accept them because I fell under the old criteria and the school was trying to finish up the waiting list (average was 5 years but I was moved up enough times to start in 1 year). I have friends who repeatedly applied for admission to start clinicals at a more costly university and were denied because there were other applicants with slightly better GPAs than them. On the flip side, there was a classmate in my EMT class who later went on to go the costly university because my school was not moving her up supposedly. She applied two years before me and her start date was further out. That is why I say get four programs in mind (a healthy mix of ADN and BSN programs) and fulfill those pre-reqs.

I also found an RN to BSN program and completed those general education credits during the year I had off along with starting a paramedic class (which ended up overlapping first semester because they bumped me again). So now I have 9 nursing classes and an English class to complete at OU in order to get my BSN. I can knock those out within 9 months assuming that I can sign up for all the classes (I am doubling up on a few and my English credit is 8 weeks from Miami University). My work will pay for my BSN and I am full-time.