Feeling blackballed out of RN program

[JackieHouse, LPN, EMT-B]

This is a bit of a story, and I'll try to keep names out of it.

I decided to go back to nursing school after setting down my pride and realizing I was not going to make it in engineering....around last summer. I have a degree in Legal Studies (A.S., 2012) as well as a Lib Arts with a concentration in pre-engineering studies (A.A., 2015). I studied for the HESI exam off and on starting last September (2015). I took it in January on the first date it was offered and made a 93%. I only had 3 classes left to take besides my clinical hours, so I figured I would finish my RN out. I applied to the college I was attending's RN program in January days after taking my HESI. I stayed in contact with my advisor and selections were in early March. I did not get in, but this was no surprise as I was told by the advisor that the 3 remaining classes (even though I was currently in 2 of them with B averages) would be counted against me. I applied to another nearby college in the next county for their fall semester RN program, though it took me a bit longer to finish their application due to needing a physical exam, shot records, updated vaccinations, and a TB test. After turning all that in, I received a call from one of the health sciences secretaries letting me know I had gotten an old application (off their website of all places!) and I was now going to need a CPR card. I finished ALL THAT with a month to spare for their deadline on the 2nd of June. I was in constant contact with the admissions office because I was nervous about the upcoming deadline and I wanted to be SURE I didn't miss anything. Numerous emails were sent back and forth between myself and the admissions office, needing updates for this, a certain transcript hadn't been delivered, etc. The deadline came and passed and I had been reassured 3 times that they had EVERYTHING they needed. Weeks went by and last Saturday (July 9th) I got a letter saying I had not been selected for the program. I was shocked, but I grieved over it and moved on. Monday night in my microbiology lab, a guy in my class came to me and told me that maybe I should call the second college's office and see what I could do this fall to better my chances of being accepted. I would prefer to be in that college, though it's more of a drive, it's an 18 month course instead of the full 2 years. I told him I wasn't sure what more I could do, I was finished with all my courses besides the microbiology class/lab I'm in now, I have a 3.2 GPA (with nearly 200 credit hours of classes *whew*), and I made a 93 on the HESI. He was as puzzled as I was as to why I wouldn't be a good choice.

Tuesday morning I called the college and requested to speak to someone in the nursing advising department or someone with knowledge of the selection process. I was transferred to a lady, we'll call her Jane. I told her my name and asked her if there was anything I could do to improve my chances of being selected in the fall. Without pulling my file, she told me that I could attempt to get a better HESI score. I told her I had a 93, and she sounded a bit puzzled and asked me for my last name. Upon opening my records, she told me they did not have a copy of my HESI transcript at all, it had never been in the file. I WAS LIVID. Through the numerous people that had looked in my file prior to the deadline, through the admissions office and then the nursing office I'm assuming, not one single person told me the HESI was not in there. That is part of the application packet and I should NOT have been told several times it was completed if that transcript was not in there. We are told here that you have to have official copies of everything, so I paid the $15.00 to Elservier and had the official transcript of scores sent to their college, not to mention the numerous other colleges I had to pay for transcripts from (which all made it, imagine that). Jane told me that I should not have simply 'paid for something online and expected it would be mailed to their college.' I replied to her that was the way ALL transcripts are done, and that I had contacted their admissions office many times to assure everything made it there. (I would never insult someone by saying it, but I thought to myself I hadn't just shot random emails off into oblivion and hoped for the best, I followed up closely-this is not a game to me. This is going to be my life, my career!) Jane asked me for copies of proof that I had sent the transcript, a copy of the transcript for the scores, and copies of the emails back and forth to the admissions office. I complied and tried to be as nice as I could muster for someone that felt completely jilted, cheated, and lied to. I just know that my file, as hard as I worked on it, was tossed to the side with the 'did not comply/incomplete' files, and that's just not me. I'm sick and disgusted about it, tbh. At this point, I feel like there is nothing I can do but sit on my hands and wait until selections in October for the spring semester.I'm not sure what I could have done differently other than gone down there and LOOKED at the file to make sure everything was there, which I've never heard of before. I have no idea. A friend of mine that was accepted for the fall told me to hang out and let things run their course, that they may put people in as runner-ups for people who don't pass their drug tests or background checks-however if they didn't even review my file because of lack of a HESI, I doubt they seriously have me in any runner up categories.

Thanks for letting me vent, just feeling totally blindsided and a bit (lot) let down.

[windsurfer8, BSN, RN]

I was kicked out of my parents house at 16. joined the military to pay for college. Life isn't fair. For me I appreciate every day I have AND I appreciate all the roadblocks life put up because it made me resilient and able to solve problems when things fall apart. You can either let this define you or you carry on. Totally up to you. This is just the beginning of things going "wrong" in the nursing world. Try responding instead of reacting. Good luck

[caliotter3]

I know somebody who was not selected for a particular nursing program. When she went to the office to follow up, they pulled her file, opened it, and sitting right on top of the pile, was the unopened envelope containing her final transcripts prior to submission. She was also livid and complained up and down the chain to no avail. She ended her quest for nursing school and entered another profession. You could say that she let that incident define her nursing career. Yes, life is unfair. Most of the time, one can not change things, only deal with the new set of circumstances.

[elkpark]

I understand this is frustrating, but, as others have already noted, you can get angry about it and let that keep you from pursuing you goals, or you can keep doing what you need to do to move forward. Plenty of people here have had similar experiences. For what it's worth, in any of the nursing schools with which I've had any experience, you wouldn't get in simply because a 3.2 GPA is just not competitive. regardless of anything else that is or isn't in your folder. I realize that varies among different parts of the country. Are you in an area in which a 3.2 GPA is competitive? Most nursing programs nowadays are v. particular because of the ridiculous demand; they are swamped with highly qualified applicants, many, many more than they can accept, and the challenge for the schools is to decide which few of the hordes of well-qualified candidates they are going to accept. Just because a school publishes in its literature that a 2.5 GPA, or 3.0 GPA is the minimum to get accepted, that doesn't mean anyone with those GPAs is actually getting in.

I don't mean to sound negative or discouraging, but lots of people new to nursing just don't realize that that is the situation in nursing education these days. I wonder if that might be a factor in your situation.

Best wishes for your journey! I hope that you will find a way to work this out.

[JackieHouse, LPN, EMT-B]

All of your advice is spot on. I'm tough, just frustrated. Fortunately I'm hardheaded and persistent enough that I'm not going to quit, just look for more silver linings. I will wait till October for the next round of selections, in the meantime I am also going to apply to the LPN program at our local tech college. Their interviews/selections are in October as well. I have seen some with worse GPA's than mine get in at all of these colleges (a good GPA here is 3.8, average is 3.5, I've seen some 3.1's get in), the first one (that I attend now) has an applicant load of about 2000 and accepts 200, the second college (the one I would like to attend) has about 140 applicants and chooses 60, I'm not sure about the LPN program but I do know here they allow you to merge into third semester RN courses once you have an LPN-plus the LPN program is a little more 'veteran student' friendly. I did write a message last night to "Jane" and asked if I could be considered for the runner up pool for the fall courses, but made sure to let her know I will be looking forward to October selections if not. I have also been in contact with the American Red Cross to do some volunteer work while I wait. As my old supervisor once told me 'adapt and overcome,' right?

Caliotter, I cannot even imagine what your friend felt seeing that! I swear sometimes these admissions people don't know their ____ from a hole in the ground. At the larger college (the one I attend now) they assign you a specific nursing advisor who is really part of the health sciences program to guide you and make sure you have what you need and to check/recheck the files. Unfortunately, at the smaller college they don't assign you anyone initially, you're just kind of floundering in the dark with crossed fingers. I have honestly not been able to find a certain person listed in the directory as 'nursing department' besides the Dean of Nursing which is disappointing, but I've heard many many good things about their program so it's worth the wait.

[Quota, BSN, RN]

These schools sound like they do a lot more to assist in the application process than my first choice school does. It's very clearly stated in the application information that you are fully responsible for all the required documents to be in you're application packet that you either mail in or physically drop off at the admissions office. There are a few online submission parts that will email you a confirmation that you are expected to print out and place in the physical application packet.

If you miss something in your application you are out of consideration and there is no one available to go over why you didn't get in after the admissions cycle. The back up school I'll also be applying to does work with you a bit more but still no where near as much as it seems the schools you are working with do.

[Conqueror+, BSN, RN]

This is the one upside to online/digital applications. I can literally see pdfs of everything that has been submitted and they are checked off as complete when they are received/processed.

[PBryce]

I'm confused, are you still completing the final prerequisite course? If that is the case from what I read then you would not be ready to apply. Also, what do you mean about 2 classes with a B working against you? Perhaps the advisor meant they are not helping boost your GPA, which could very well be the big call out here. Noting that you needed more time to complete the physical and requirements is something we all have to do so if the application is submitted 100% complete by a deadline that is all that matters. Most schools assign a randomized date/time stamp anyway, but they are also competitive with minimal GPA's getting qualified near 3.8. It's a tough competition with the sheer numbers being so high of applicants. Try not to take it personal and focus on the facts, keep a log of communications without emotion so your judgement is not clouded. Make an appt with the nursing advisor once you have a timeline of FACTS to present and ask how you stack up to the competition for the applicants selected in the next round. I personally think showing humility and drive to better your own situation goes a long way.

Believe me, I am in my 40's and felt like faculty black listed me after failing ONE mid-term exam in the 2nd of 4 semesters in Dental Hygiene. I have over 30K in debt and it took me 2 yrs of prereqs, 2 yrs of waiting, and almost fully invested in the 5th of a 6 yr journey only to be dismissed over one exam. I was eligible for a retake as many other students were allowed, some more than once...and as the oldest student felt like I just couldn't win. My point is that I wasted a couple months being depressed that I was not given a fair opportunity. I prayed and realize my path may have been clear to me, but it just was not meant to be.

We are not alone in these frustrations, but we will be left behind if we don't dust ourselves off and move on. Best of luck to you!

[LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN]

Sorry this happened! I go to a well respected college and our pre nursing advisors were AWFUL. I literally learned to not trust one thing my advisor said and I checked on everything myself with my own eyes. She had steered me wrong multiple times during pre req planning and I knew I was on my own from then on lol. The good thing about my school is that we are able to track our transcripts, applications, etc. Did you call the company who administered your exam to see what happened? Just to avoid this happening again. My entry test took place at my school so thankfully that was one thing I didn't need to worry about.

[andrea3434]

That's not necessarily true. At my school we are allowed to apply with certain prerequisites in progress. If we were accepted it was on the condition we passed the current prereqs and our GPA didn't fall below minimum requirements.

(Sorry thought I quoted PBryce's reply)