FNP Hopeful

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So, long story short, I'm looking for some advice here. I want to bump my career up to the FNP level now that I've got a few years of practice as an RN in what amounts to a low level ICU/high acuity PCU hospital setting. The issue that I run into right now, is my GPA, and I have had 0 luck in getting ahold of advisers that will follow through with how this might play out. I think my cumulative (Program + all preceeding work I think?) Sits around a 2.87 right now. When I was younger (15 years ago), I was pre-med and ended up screwing up my GPA pretty badly (two semesters below a 2.0) and dropped out.

That said and done, I went and got my ASN at another college and ended up with a 3.6, transferred it to another college, and finished out my ASN-BSN coursework with ~3.8. However, the two horrible semesters were at the same school that I obtained my BSN, so it drags my cumulative down under the 3.0 mark that most schools look for, despite the grade forgiveness I was granted for being an immature child in my earlier years (Ol Bdab liked to party haha).

At this point, I'm unsure how to go about raising the cumulative (tried to work it out, and according to a few sites Id need almost 27 credit hours at a 3.5 level to drag it above floating.)

The two schools I'm looking to apply to both mention that they want a 3.0 minimum (purdue & indiana university), but "extenuating circumstances will be taken into account."

So the question is, should I take a year of courses to try and boost my GPA with nothing to show for it? Are there other reputable online schools that aren't weighted so heavily on GPA? Sorry, I know this is a wall of text, but this is completely overwhelming!

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

Just took a quick look at Purdue...the admission criteria states that:

"A minimum undergraduate nursing cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.0 on a four-point scale or equivalent "B" average. Note: Applicants not meeting this criterion may be considered for conditional enrollment status."

You might meet the criteria since they're looking for your undergrad nursing GPA (your ASN). If I were you, I would reach out to them in person (by email or phone) and explain your situation. Talk to the people in charge (program director), not just admissions.

Normally I would suggest people with low GPA take extra courses. But since your ASN-BSN GPA is pretty high, I would avoid it if possible.

I experienced something similar. I had a sub-3.0 GPA 20 years ago (partied a lot). But since then I took a number of courses (and got "A's") and never had any problem getting into competitive programs since. It takes more work, but it can be done. I'd much rather do that than apply to a crappy program that takes anyone with a pulse.

Good luck.

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Specializes in Family Planning, STD, OB/Gyn.
On 5/26/2020 at 10:51 AM, umbdude said:

Just took a quick look at Purdue...the admission criteria states that:

"A minimum undergraduate nursing cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.0 on a four-point scale or equivalent "B" average. Note: Applicants not meeting this criterion may be considered for conditional enrollment status."

You might meet the criteria since they're looking for your undergrad nursing GPA (your ASN). If I were you, I would reach out to them in person (by email or phone) and explain your situation. Talk to the people in charge (program director), not just admissions.

Normally I would suggest people with low GPA take extra courses. But since your ASN-BSN GPA is pretty high, I would avoid it if possible.

I experienced something similar. I had a sub-3.0 GPA 20 years ago (partied a lot). But since then I took a number of courses (and got "A's") and never had any problem getting into competitive programs since. It takes more work, but it can be done. I'd much rather do that than apply to a crappy program that takes anyone with a pulse.

Good luck.

I agree with umbdude. I repeated a few courses in my ASN program to boost my GPA before applying for my bachelors and master's program. Reach out and see if there are extras that you can submit in order to improve the chances of being accepted. I totally screwed up my undergrad with 2.8 GPA and transferred out to another school and repeated some classes for my ASN and brought it to 3.2 GPA.

Stay positive. I'm sure you will find a school that is right for you. Good Luck!

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