3 F's in previous BS/Likelyhood of ABSN?

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I graduated with a degree in biological sciences with secondary teaching certification in May of 2010. It was a hard fought process but I did not struggle with comprehension.

I transferred from a community college with a 3.6 GPA and had about the same gpa until my final year of college. For the first 7 semester I received only two C's (Calculus and Physics 2=partly due to teaching clinicals :/) However my 8th semester, I received 3 F's. I had some serious family issues (suicidal sibling) and was sick most of the semester. I ended up not attending one class (Animal Physiology Upper Level Bio Major kind we worked with goldfish and cow blood lol) and deciding that I could not complete final projects in two other courses (one teaching course and a bio senior seminar). I could have taken incompletes but I did not know if I would gain my composure before the deadline. I retook these classes the following semester and received A's and B's.

I have always been a strong student and even now I still have nightmares about missing college deadlines or class. I still have prereqs to take (AP I & II, Nutrition, Lifespan) and plan on doing volunteering and getting my CNA. I want to become a nurse more than anything but I'm afraid my transcripts will come back to bite me. I graduated with a 3.34 GPA from my university and have an accumulated (cc and uni) of 3.45.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How did you/would you explain this? What can I do to make myself more competitive? Do schools focus more on gpa or individual grads in non-prereq classes?

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Its all in the CC or university you apply to. My CC, in salisbury MD, only goes by the GPA based on the pre requisites for nursing. It doesn't matter if I got a C in sociology ( which I didn't), just the five pre nursing courses and admission is solely based on GPA.

Next is that some schools do lottery selection where it doesnt matter about your GPA, everyone is chosen randomly. So your best shot of getting into these programs are on a hope and a prayer.

The next type is entry exams such as the TEAS V or the HESI. These tests are just like the GPA admission, the highest scores get in but I believe you have to score above a certain percentile in each category of said test such as math, reading, science, etc...

And lastly is what you're talking about. Some programs look at previous experience such as CNA or some sort of volunteer work and grants admission based off of that.

In short, you have to check around where you live and see what CC or universities grant admission based on what categories. Could be one, could be more than one.

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Thank you for your very detailed response. I didn't realize there were so many admission processes. Hopefully, I can dress up my flaws some how.

If anyone else has any experience with having failing grades in non-prereq courses and BSN/ABSN, I would appreciate your input. I'm pretty sure I could get into ASN programs but I'd rather go straight for the BSN. I'd rather not waste anymore time than necessary. I won't be apply for nursing school until next year summer and will talk to my desired schools prior to applying.

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Some schools will replace your F's with the retaken grades, or at take the average of the bad grade and retaken grade (so you would receive a C). That could really help. A 3.34 and 3.45 are good GPAs. Try to get a 4.0 with the remaining pre reqs too. The CNA will really help with any school that looks at previous health care experience. You just have to look at the schools around you that offer an ABSN and see what they require and look at. Good luck to you

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The college/university has their requirement and the program have their own detailed requirement as well.

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