Getting into Nursing School!

[Miss.LeoRN]

Hi everyone. This might be considered a "repost" as I have posted the same questions in another forum, but I am fairly anxious to see what others have to say and it doesn't seem like that forum is very... active. So I thought here might be better in getting more opinions.

1st Question; I am enrolling into a community college program in south NJ. I have a decent GPA (3.89) but I have not taken TEAS yet. I am hoping for a minimal overall score of 85 (school requires a minimal of 70 for acceptance, 60 for consideration). I plan to study from the ATI book and take the practice. Until recently I never really considered the "competitive" nature of entry to the program. But, I've I've been reading about schools where even having a 90 overall and a 3.8 GPA will "put you in an alternate line". I know something like this can be subjective to the number of students applying but now I feel like I am freaking out. My husband says I am stressing too much over it and situations like I've mentioned are more for high end prestigious "fancy" nursing schools. Opinions?

2nd Question; Background checks! I wasn't worried about this one either. I have never actually been arrested and no mud shots have ever been taken. So, I don't think I have one. But, when I search my names on those background checking sites it always comes up going "is this the person you're looking for? get their record now!". Does that mean I have a criminal record?! I do have court records in general. For example; I had two restraining orders (I was the petitioner), an old friend of mine took me to "small claims" for $70 because I lost.. I can't even remember, I think it was a curling iron. I have another "small claims" because I bounced a check. I've also gotten one speeding ticket (just a speeding ticket, no charges, no court, I paid the fee and it was done). Now, all this occurred 15+ years ago, in the state where I grew up (WI, I live in NJ now). I was 18/19 at the time.

I want to chalk this up to the fact that I do have "court stuff" on my "record" and I was feeling fairly confident on "not" having a criminal record until I read another post on here about a girl who was kicked out of NS because of a speeding ticket? Okay, she also had a reckless endangerment charge which actually might have been the deciding factor as well as how ever long it had been since the incident.

But, now I am concerned on my own "history". Does this seem like something I should be concerned about here in NJ?

Thank you for any responses or insights!

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Good day:

1. The GPA value varies from school to school. The community college I'm attending, that does have a nursing program, has a minimum GPA requirement of 2.65. I hear most students who get in are in the 3.x range. Though there is a lot of pressure to be as close to a 4.0 as possible since they give out points for specific prerequisites based on one's grade in the course as well as points for one's GPA (i.e. 4 times ones GPA so a 4.0 would provide 16 points). I'm told the program requires 60 points to be considered.

So, call the various schools you are interested in on the phone and ask what are their requirements in terms of GPA or specific grade, grade ranges for specific courses.

2. Smiling as I write this.... I'm glad to read you had no "mud shots" ;-) I think you meant, mug shots. What you've seen from varous search engines are advertisements (scams depending on a point of view). While no one here can provide legal advice (including me), from what you've shared, I would not be worried about it.

Thank you.

[RunBabyRN]

1. Your GPA is great, and very competitive. Study the TEAS V ATI book, and you'll be fine. DON'T STRESS SO MUCH!! We nursing students tend to be perfectionists- try to let that go a bit. All you can do is apply and see what happens.

2. Your background check, I would assume, should be fine. There will always be those scammy-things that come up on a Google search (regardless of what you type in- it could be dfsogihaergoiahe ewgiohaerpuh and it would come up with something). What each school looks at varies, but I've had a *few* (ahem) speeding tickets in my time, and that didn't hold me back from getting into my program, or from running the skills lab for another nursing program a couple of years ago! I'm no legal expert, and again, what each school looks at varies, to an extent, but realistically, unless you have a history of drug trafficking or child molestation or something, you're likely fine.