Frustrations of an older student

[suzilks1]

I know this post will cause a lot of controversy but I am writing it for those of us who are older adults struggling to earn a spot in a program. The program I am applying for has changed its policies to be an unbelievable contradiction to itself.

I was a first time college student 30 years ago when I was 18. I was immature and irresponsible and did poorly in school for three semesters which obviously and deservedly lowered my GPA. In 1992, I went back and over the years took a class here and there as I could between children and jobs. I earned A's in every one with the goal being to earn my nursing degree when my children were grown.

This past year when my youngest turned 16 I decided it was time for me to finish up and apply to the program. I was encouraged and pursued by the local community college. I was initially denied admission once because my math skills were thirty years old and my compass score stunk and they had just raised the score needed to be accepted. (since then they have lowered it back to it's original number) Yes that was frustrating but I stunk at math and that's an important skill and my own fault so I relearned some of it on my own then retook the compass.

I was admitted and then took an intermediate and college level algebra with and A and a B. I retook the science courses I had already taken previously with A's because they were too old to be counted being six years old instead of five. I raised my Regents GPA to a 3.81. I took the PAX and earned a 97.

As of this semester, I am finished with all of my pre-reqs and ready to apply. However, this week I was told by my advisor that my ranking score will be based not upon my Regents GPA by on my Hope GPA which is cumulative of all college courses taken in my life. This will include the courses from 30 years ago that have been retaken and in which I earned A's.

Let me get this straight, my ACT which was excellent and my A's in science courses taken six years ago are too old to be counted but my bad grades in theater and history which have been retaken are fair game??

Before anyone here blasts me for whining, hear me out. I am a parent. I tell my kids there are repercussions in life for everything you do. That is true. But when you pick and choose what is too old and what is not and when straight A's for the past years are not enough and your efforts at jumping through all the academic hoops are never enough that is not right.

None of my multiple letters of recommendation from my professors will be considered nor my prior health care employment. At this point, going to take both the ACT and SAT again and hope I do as well as I did before. I cannot do anything about my GPA unless I continue to pay for classes that I do not need. Funny thing I am being ranked by the Hope scholarship GPA but will never be eligible because I am from out of state. I still don't know how my ACT is too old to be a judge of my academic performance as I was told but my grades when I was 18 are not.

As for my GPA, my Regents GPA of 3.81 will be tossed aside in favor of my Hope GPA of 2.83. Having said all of this, I have two words of advice. When they say it is on your permanent record IT WILL BE so don't screw up when you are young.

If you are my age, make sure you read all the fine print and find a school that will take into account your circumstances as an older student and work with you, not against you. If this makes you mad, please don't give me a lecture. I'm writing it for those of us who are struggling against the systems that are contradictory and who are frustrated with our best efforts not being enough.

[meeep, BSN, RN]

They decided to use the hope gpa to rank us in other words to say who gets in or not. Dalton State nursing program.

Wow, that's crazy! I would just apply to a different program. There are quite a few

In GA who only look at your pre-req GPA.

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

I can't believe schools don't have some sort of statute of limitations on these things. After 15 years, one should just be given a clean slate.

[SubSippi]

A friend of mine works in admissions at our school, and she saw that problem a good bit...older people wanting to go back to school with bad grades from the past. She has said that when a potential student kind of got to know them, as in calling and asking what they can do, making appointments with the recruiters and trying to figure out a solution, most of the time they'd be able to figure something out.

Now, she didn't work for the nursing school, just regular admissions for the whole university. But it really couldn't hurt to put a face with your name. She has said before that she would contact the nursing school for some people and try to figure something they could do to work with the student, so talking to your admissions office could help.

Also, if you are already a student, that means you're already admitted, but schools usually have a retention department that focuses solely on getting students to not drop out. Maybe try talking to them if you already go to the school. I've found that often times they will bend over backwards to help students out, because their salaries depend on the number of students they keep.

As far as the nursing school goes, they might have rules and standards, but nothing is ever set in stone. The people in charge can make exceptions if they want to.

[Flatlander]

I know how you feel, I think. My 3.79 GPA in my MA program couldn't get me into nursing school, but my ACT scores from age 17 finally did. (I hadn't even tried to retrieve them because I thought they'd be too old, or no longer available. I only requested them as a last ditch effort and lo and behold, there they were, mailed to me on request from my high school.) Lucky for me I had basic smarts in my youth, even though I was a lousy student (my high school records show a 'D' in Chemistry, which should have been an 'F' and a fair sprinkling of C's due to lack of effort.) "We get too soon old and too late smart," to quote my grandmother.

[mz23]

There is schools who just count prenursing classes.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

If you're treated this way, then for which exact reason you continue to pursue THIS particular school?!

One good thing which came from nursing schools' mushrooming is the multitude of options. I began from that, too - with foreign diploma received 20 years before. One school suggested that I "just go back to school" (yeah, from 6 grade and up). Another requested "some kind of American education" as if education doesn't exist anywhere beyond continental USA borders. Third one wanted two years of prereqs. But I just walked into another one and was admitted pretty much on the spot, with "that" diploma and "that" accent.

If there are schools specifically catering for immigrant minorities, there must be one around the place you live with reasonable admission rules. Shopp around.

[suzilks1]

The closest ones are quite a distance away other than my local community college. I still have a son who doesn't drive yet and at this stage, it's not feasible the ones that are farther away. I have decided to retake the SAT and ACT and hope for the best. I actually have my old ACT but they refused to accept it. In a few years when all my kids are grown and gone I will have more options as far as distance I can go for school but I really, really don't want to wait any longer. My time clock is ticking. The older you get, the faster it goes. ;P

[suzilks1]

I agree and i have made face to face visits as well as contacted the Dean of Nursing, Registrar, Dean of Adult Learners, etc. Just waiting on replies.

[adjappleton]

I would think you should only have to take the ACT or the SAT, not both? By the way, it is **ridiculous** that you are going through this. They are the only game in town and they know it. Good luck!

[JoseQuinones]

It's a big move, but you could try Interamerican University in Puerto Rico. They only require a 2.5 to get in. Great weather, kind people, learn some Spanish to expand your resume, and graduate in less time because of the advanced program. Plus, it's über cheap compared to most schools in the States. Lots of my classmates are in situations similar to yours.

[Dohardthings]

I understand what you mean, as I had the same situation kinda. My school still looks at my overall GPA, which is a 3.46, but they also do look at the GPA of the prereqs, which is a 4.0. Thank heavens. Otherwise, that would suck. Especially in your situation. I am also maintaining a 4.0 from here on out so that when I apply to grad school later, I am hoping they will see that those grades are from a long time ago.

[tanalore145]

OMG, I know exactly how you feel. I'm in Georgia too and it has been a nightmare for me as well. I'm 31, first started at KSU when I was 18, didn't know what I wanted to do, jumped around from Psychology to Art to Biology before finally just stopping because I couldn't make up my mind. My GPA was like 2.89 when I was done, lost my hope, and didn't care anymore for school.

Ten years later and I finally know what I want to do and I know my passion is with Nursing. I even am a certified nursing assistant, registered here in GA, but yet I struggled to get into the program with 900 other applicants and me with my terrible past. I worked really hard for the past two years, retaking some classes, doing all the pre-nursing classes, I finally got my GPA back up to 3.2, pre-reqs equalled 3.4 and that was with two young children at home all day and hubbie working all the time. I feel very, very accomplished because I have never had so many As in my life. I was always a B/C student in highschool, so making the Dean's List was so exciting for me because I've never had that type of honor before. But having your favorite school slap you in the face is just heart breaking, I even managed to get an interview one time, went and bought a really nice suit, did the practice interview at the career center, and they still told me, "sorry, we don't want you." I cried for days, all your dreams down the toilet, I didn't give up though, tried applying at a few other schools. I can only go so far though, I don't have the money to move to another school, so everything has to be within driving distance. That only left me with 3 schools and all 3 kept turning me down.

I finally have a bit of hope now. My husband is originally from Australia and we finally decided to move there. His mother told us she would pay for our move and get us restarted on life. We've struggled a lot these past few years, hubby lost his job, we had a big loss in finances, etc, it has not been fun these past few years, and then not getting into school just made it worse.

My brother-in-law is a Registered Nurse in Australia and I've told him my entire sob story about the problems I've faced here. He just laughs and tells me I will have no problem getting into the nursing program in Australia. I'm like, WHAT?!?!? Reality check, they have no applying for the program, no pre-reqs, no NCLEX, what, what, what?!?!?! Apparently in Aussieland, if you want to be a nurse, you tell them when you first register for school and you're listed as a nursing student, you go straight into the program, do pass GO, do collect $200!!! Honestly, with everything I've been through these past few years, I just can't believe it.

So now I'm just waiting for us to finally make our jump across the big ocean. I stopped my schooling here, my mother-in-law paid off my student loans, so I could have a fresh start (seriously, she is the greatest mom ever, I couldn't have asked for anyone better). My brother-in-law even told me that Univ of Sydney will probably let me transfer my pre-req nursing classes and I might be able to finish their nursing program in two years instead of the standard three. I'm very excited, but I'm really nervous too. What if it doesn't all go like he says it will? What if my terrible grades still follow me? I also probably won't be able to go back to school for at least a year or two, so hopefully I can keep working as a CNA and gain experience, but I also feel like I will be forty by the time I graduate. It's so scary, being in another country, different school systems. But I keep telling myself, the patients and the work are the same, I still get to save lives and help people take better care of themselves and that's all that really matters to me.

I'm so sorry you've had to struggle with the system. I really think America needs to change something when it comes to how these nursing programs work. Like I said, my brother-in-law laughed, he doesn't understand why they push so much junk on us just to pass. It's almost like they don't want anyone to pass at all. He didn't even have to take any chemistry classes. I'll sit there and talk about organic chemistry and he has no clue, he's like, that's doctor stuff. Ugh, now I feel like I'm going to be way more educated than all the other students in Australia and then I'll be questioning myself on why I don't just go to med school and be a doctor, lol.

Anyway, I really hope you finally make it into a program somewhere, like some of the other responses, my suggestion would be to try schools outside of GA, it just seems like a death trap here. But that might not be an option for you, and when you're limited on options, hope can disappear quickly. Don't let that happen, always try to be open to different options. If you want to be a nurse that bad, then sacrifices will be worth it.