Concerned Dad !!!!

Nurses General Nursing

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My Daughter has started the nursing curriculum at the University of South Carolina Columbia. She is into here sophomore year and has come up against this upper division issue. The university has a posted minimum GPA of 2.77 to be considered for the upper division. She has a 3.0 right now and the university has artificially raised the GPA requirement to 3.44 and now she doesn't meet the requirements to get into upper division. The university says because of the economy and budget cuts it can not accept as many students into the upper division so raising the GPA requirements is a way to lower the number of students in upper division. So now my daughter thinks she has wasted 2 years of college to get to this point and now is told she can not advance in the program. At this point she does not know what to do and is thinking that the only option is to change her major to something else. She has been working very hard this semester and her grades are better than most of the students that did get in. Any suggestions as to a path forward would be greatly appreciated as she would like to continue her course in the nursing program.

Thanks

Concerned Dad

:cry:

I can understand your concern. Your daughter should check with her advisor because maybe the new GPA is for any future nursing students. I know at my college after you have declared a major (such as nursing) they go by your declaration date and they can not change the GPA on you after that date. Although, they can change it on future students. She should also talk to the Chairperson of the Nursing dept and see what they have to say or what she could do about the situation. Good luck!

Specializes in Med/surg, pediatrics, gi, gu,stepdown un.

I would think your daughter would not have any problem getting into a 2 year ADN program or LPN program at this point. She has not wasted 2 years. Maybe your daughter is also grandfathered into the program since she started before they decided to raise the GPA. I would definitely pursue talking to someone in the Nursing Department about this,before moving on to another college.

Specializes in Psych, LTC, Acute Care.

That Sucks!

These Universities and colleges do stuff like this all the time to weed out deserving people. Your daughter is a smart girl to maintain a 3.0. I suggest that she start applying to other universities and transfer to their nursing programs. My roommate from college did it. She was going to another college and transfered to the college I was attending and got into the nursing program. If I were you I would talk to other university nursing departments and explain the your daughters situation and see if she can get into theirs.

I was in the same situation as your daughter when I went to college. My GPA was too low and I did not get in. I changed my major to Recreation Therapy and graduated in 1996. I worked in the field with a much lower wage than nursing and had to work a 2nd job to get by. I finally decided to go back into nursing 9 years (2004)The competition is thick everywhere. I got turned down at every college for 2 years. I got into a LPN program and applied to Excelsior College immediatley and 1 year later I got my RN 3 weeks ago.( 2009). So 12 years after graduating from my original University I got my RN. I say this because I wasted so much time with another career because I changed majors instead of aggresively persuing my nursing degree. If your daughters heart is in nursing, no other major is going to take the place of it. Do all you can to get her transfered into another nursing program. I feel her pain because I have been there. Its not fair but if she can go to another school to get in then I suggest that she try to do it. I also suggest looking into community college nursing programs. Keep us posted and let us know what the outcome is.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Cath Lab, Cardiology,Neuro.

I agree with Ruffles, your daughter should see if she was grandfathered in since she started the program before the rule was made.

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Chascal,

I can understand your frustration - both as a tuition-paying parent and a nurse. I know it won't make te situation any easier to accept, but I'd like you to provide you with a bit of information about how nursing programs work.

There are absolute accreditation rules that govern nursing education, including the ratio of faculty to students, faculty qualilfications, selection of clinical sites, ... etc. Violation of any of these rules can result in loss of accreditation - which has dire consequences. Nursing programs are notoriously expensive compared to other academic divisions. They are unable to bring in the big grants because faculty are too busy teaching to pursue them (they can't use Teaching Assistants like othe programs do). As a result, the number of students they can accept is very limited. Currently, it seems like everyone wants to go to nursing school - so competition for admission has increased dramatically.

I agree that your daughter needs to speak to an advisor to find out exactly what is going on. It would appear at first glance that either the number of available slots for students may have decreased due to some reason - maybe loss of funded faculty positions - OR the applicant pool has surged and pushed the cut-off score higher.

Your daughter is lucky to have such a concerned and involved parent. With your support, I am sure she will find a way to move ahead in her nursing education.

Specializes in cardiac/critical care/ informatics.

I agree with the op's

Talk with her advisor and see if she is grandfathered in

Look at other universities/colleges

Good Luck

Specializes in ER, ICU cath lab, remote med.

I live in South Carolina, and as I recall, USC Nursing's upper division is competitive. That means that while the minimum GPA for advancement is 2.75, those students with the highest GPAs are considered first. The 3.4 minimum they're telling you about now...perhaps that is a realistic expectation for students who will actually be accepted into the upper division? She has options for other BSN programs in SC...Francis Marion University, MUSC, SC State, Charelston Southern; or she can try the ADN programs. You can contact most schools and get statistics about past graduating classes...number of applicants, number admitted, average GPA of those admitted, etc. That information will benefit your daughter in planning her future/determining her chances of getting accepted to individual programs.

Well....first of all, she is an ADULT. I'd advise her to see her advisor, etc., but really it's not your business to go there and do it for her. It's good that you are concerned for her, but she needs to get it together to do it herself, with some coaching and advising from you on the sidelines.

I've seen that a lot of BSN programs require a much higher GPA than 2.77 for consideration. Maybe her best bet would be to go into an ADN program instead. She hasn't 'wasted' two years. She's gotten prerequisites out of the way, and that should make it easy for her to transfer into another 4 year program if that's what she wants to do. She has a lot of options, but she needs to find out what they are by talking with an advisor and doing some research. Push her to do it on her own initiative. Good luck.

Specializes in Pain mgmt, PCU.
well....first of all, she is an adult. i'd advise her to see her adviser, etc., but really it's not your business to go there and do it for her. it's good that you are concerned for her, but she needs to get it together to do it herself, with some coaching and advising from you on the sidelines.

i would agree. while you are trying to help your daughter, and i can appreciate that, be careful not to be what academia call a helicopter parent, one who hovers. good luck to her:yeah:

Universities are being inundated with applicants for nursing programs. Here in Atlanta, Kennesaw State University is a wildly popular program. Even though they have the same type of requirements as you mention the current thinking on the street is that you better have a 4.0 when you apply because that is the level of competition. They never even get to the 3.9 students. Potential students are looking for programs hundreds of miles away. RN to BSN is looking like a route that many will take. I would never have imagined this thirty years ago.:yeah:

Specializes in NICU.

Well I think it is great that you are on the internet doing some research to help your daughter. And I think some people are being too hard on you. I wouldn't necessarily say "she is an adult... blah blah" quite yet. If she has never lived alone and had to support herself and pay her own bills I wouldn't yet consider her an adult. She is still a dependent of her parents.

One problem is that in college it is almost impossible to raise her GPA in a short period of time. The only thing I would do is go to the dean and explain that when she started the program the GPA requirements were not as high and it really is not fair that they raise the requirement in the middle of her schooling. I would be demanding. Remember you are paying them for her education. Without students they have nothing.

And I guess I'll forgive you for sending her to USC..... Go Clemson!!!

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