BSN acceptance with low GPA and/or retake prereqs?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Pediatric Cardiac ICU.

Hi all!

This might be a little long, as I have a bit of history to tell. I started taking RN prerequisites at a community college straight out of high school in 2007 at 17 years old. Going to college before I was ready and mature enough was the worst mistake I've made to date. Not to mention, I had a lot of issues at home going on as well. I had a very low GPA (too low for me to even say.. I even got 3 D's!). After getting rejected to the nursing program I applied to, I decided to take a semester off to think about what I was going to do. After much thought, I decided I wanted to go to LVN school. After taking a few entrance exams and a personal interview, I was in (no prereqs required). With my newly found maturity, I did well in nursing school, graduated on time, and passed my NCLEX the first try. I have now been working as an LPN (relocated to Washington State from Texas one year ago) since the beginning of 2012. I currently work full time at Swedish Medical Center who provides tuition assistance. I finally feel ready to pursue my RN once again, although I am very scared of wasted time. I just restarted at North Seattle College. NSC surprisingly took 60 of my previous credits, which is amazing, except my gpa sucks. It is even worse than before as they did not take many of my A's due to them not being applicable to my degree program. I plan on getting A's from here on out, and only have 30 credits until I graduate with my Associate of Science transfer degree.

With all that being said, here is my question. I have almost all nursing prereqs completed from 2007-2008, but with my grades being so low, I am 99% sure that I will not get accepted into a BSN program; even if I get all A's in my remaining classes. Do you guys think I should first apply to a nursing program before retaking any of my classes? Or retake at least the D's before going through the hassle of writing essays and the application process in general? I know many nursing school's do not like retakes (ESPECIALLY in the core nursing prerequisites), but I know NONE of them like D's either! Does anyone out there have experience with retaking classes after an extended time away from school? Has anyone been in a similar situation? Although I am excited to finally pursue my RN once again - I am very scared of wasting time and am starting to feel discouraged. Any help/advice/encouragement is appreciated!

BTW I will be applying to BSN programs in the Seattle area. In addition to being an LPN for 4 years, I have volunteer hours and also work for a company that is partnered with the nursing programs in the area. I am hoping these things will help schools look past my awful former grades.

Thanks again!

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You need to contact the school(s) you're interested in and ask them for advice on how best to improve your chances. They are the best and most accurate source of information. Good luck!

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I would definitely retake classes, especially ones that you made a D in because nursing school will not even accept them. Also there are only so many years that science class (A/P, micro, etc) credits are accepted/valid so you need to check with the schools you want to go to about that.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
You need to contact the school(s) you're interested in and ask them for advice on how best to improve your chances. They are the best and most accurate source of information. Good luck!

Agree.

Each program is different, and a lot of programs, at least in my area go on a case by case basis and can be very supportive towards a licensed nurse; the program I went to have me credit for being a LPN, looked at what I needed to re take or test out (aka CLEP) and told me what I needed on their required entrance exam; I exceed the expected requirements, and have been an RN for almost 4 years. :yes:

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Specializes in Pediatric Cardiac ICU.

Thanks guys! I will definitely start contacting schools about what they want/need from me. I still have at least 30 credits to go until I'll be ready to apply (since I am finishing my AS first), but since I plan on applying to many nursing schools to better my chances of getting accepted, I might as well start gathering as much info as I can now.

@ladyfree28 thanks for sharing your experience.. it's definitely helpful and gives me some encouragement!

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