Getting Into Nursing School - Perfect Grades vs. Regular Grades w/experience

[Quabilah Williams, CNA]

Hi everyone! I wanted to have a bit of a discussion and get feedback from all my nurses, nursing students, and pre-nursing students.

We all know getting into nursing school is hard and ridden with anxiety. Struggling to keep that 4.0, applying to multiple programs, taking & retaking TEAS and HESI exams; it all sucks! But it's worth it for us to finally enter our career field.

Focusing in on GPA status and grades, what has been your experiences getting into nursing school with the 'perfect' 4.0 versus something like a 3.0? Did getting Bs or that one C in a science class throw you off when starting Nursing Fundamentals or clinicals? I think it's been discussed before somewhere, but I've read that some nursing professors prefer students with a subpar GPA rather than a straight A student because they tend to choke on the floor? If you had any experience in healthcare prior to starting nursing school, do you think it helped your application and clinical experience?

Nursing programs say they accept applications from students with low GPAs (I mean lower than 3.3) because every cohort is different, but if GPA holds a heavier weight in the application process, where does that leave everyone else? Do you think nursing schools should be upfront about the cutoff GPA they actually accept? Say the admissions criteria is a minimum of 3.0 but historically, no cohort has been accepted with less than a 3.8. With a shortage of nurses, programs should be more fluid maybe?

Make no mistake, I'm very happy for those that achieved perfect grades and made it into nursing school, you worked hard and you earned it! How were clinicals for you? But for those that struggled academically but still got in, how's nursing school for you? What finally helped you get into nursing school?

I'd like this to be an informative discussion from everyone. Let's try to keep this thread as friendly as possible!

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

I"m just going to address the cutoff GPA part of your post. This is one that you cannot really put a solid number, or GPA, on I believe. This is probably why a school will not be upfront or put a do or die number on it w/ the exception of the bare minimum which is usually the 3.0. While you may have a historical GPA of 3.8 perhaps given, as used in your example, you don't really know the criteria they are using for that and there can be a lot of variances.

1) Is this an average or an actual confirmed GPA? From what I've seen on many published nursing school websites they either typically have a range or put down an average GPA or number. Again, using your example, 3.8 could be an average and you have 3.2's and 3.6's, 3.9, etc.. in the mix.

2)Did only everybody in the initial acceptance average into that GPA & that's how they came about that number? Or are the GPAs of those taken off the waitlist factored in there as well and that's the average GPA accepted? Also, it all can vary year to year, as we all know since one year you can have everybody going in w/ a 3.8 - 4.0 and the next year it may be less.

GPAs can be funny when it comes to schools. Many of the entry-level/2nd career tracks also take into consideration life experiences, where the GPA is definitely considered, but they like to see the diversity in backgrounds of the applicants and take other things into consideration and the GPA is just another thing in a long list of criteria they take into consideration.

I don't think it would be wise for a school to put out a cutoff GPA acceptance. Of course, they need to set the bar somewhere and 3.0 is where it's at. Besides, there is money to be made here and if they put out don't apply unless you're a 3.99, they wouldn't get extra $$ from all the application fees. Why would any school turn down extra income? It is a business after all.

[16BitSalt, BSN, RN]

From my own experience, I had a 3.2 and got into my ADN program. I scored an 80 on the TEAS. I have 9 years of experience as a nursing assistant, but I don't recall them asking about my employment. There were eight applicants per seat for our class. I was pretty surprised to be honest, because everyone else seemed to have a higher GPA than me.

As for school now, I get Bs and Cs. I've never been in danger of failing and I'm at a 97% likelihood of passing my NCLEX according to ATI. I'm not the best student, but I can assess my patients, prioritize, and respond in an emergency. I know how to coordinate with my peers and the nursing staff on my clinical floors. I may not be a stellar student, but I'll continue to put forth the effort and walk across that stage in May to get my pin and degree.

The whole process of nursing school from start to finish has been a mystery! I would love a little more transparency in regards to expectations. The unknown creates an unnecessary amount of stress!

[Shan, RN]

The reason they can't give a cutoff GPA is because that number changes slightly depending on the cohort. That's what they mean by saying each one is different. For example, let's say that only a few applicants have a 4.0, some have a 3.5, and most have a 3.3 (a crude and unrealistic example, but it works for this). Most of the cohort would have a lower GPA. If the next year, most of the applicants have GPAs closer to 4.0, the average admitted GPA and the "cutoff" GPA are both going to be higher. That's how our school explained it (they didn't require GPA, but the same thing goes for letter grades of prereqs).

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

The GPA required for admission is dependent mostly on the GPA of the people applying for admission. It may say you can be admitted with a 3.0 - but if most of the people applying have a 3.8, then a 3.0 isn't even going to make the wait list. This is what they mean when they say "entry is competitive".

As far as "experience", nobody in nursing school has nursing experience. CNA experience and other types of medical experience do not indicate the academic capacity of an individual to stick with a nursing program and go on to pass NCLEX.