who was not a good student before choosing nursing?

rebecca41 · Jun 17, 2009

Grace, I'm replying to your post since I think you may have been inspired, at least in part, by my mine earlier today re my GPA. I think you're equating poor study habits and a low GPA. You make some valid points; for many people, one is the result of the other. But for others, such as myself, it's a bit more complicated. In my freshman year, when I was not working and going to school full time, I had a 3.75 GPA and was on the Dean's List. If I were ever going to be distracted by watching movies or going out to dinner or with my partying friends, it would have been then. Later on, things got more complicated. In my junior and senior years, I was taking a full load, serving as managing editor of my college newspaper and working 30-40 hours a week at one of the state's top newspapers. It was too much and something had to give; since I wanted to be a journalist and was already working at the newspaper, I put my main effort there. I think it was the right decision at the time. It was 1991 and smack in the middle of the recession - only 20% of the journalism majors in my class got jobs their first year, and I was one of them. I don't mean this to sound ultra defensive or to pat myself on the back, just to point out that everyone who had a low undergrad GPA isn't necessarily study-habit deficient or unable to perform academically. They may have had just too much going on at the time. And, even if they did have poor study habits, maturity is a great cure for that too. Several of the posters who responded to mine are also cases in point.

bluechick112, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 17, 2009

I'd have to disagree with the original poster as well.

I'm one of those who had terrible grades before I chose nursing. In early high school, I had Bs, Cs and Ds practically across the board. The reason being that I had absolutely no motivation. None. My parents didn't REALLY care if I got bad grades (they did, but there were no harsh punishments) and I was wayyyy more concerned with my extensive social life than school. I had already accepted that I was going to a community college and was OK with that. I just made sure I didn't get any F's so that I could still graduate (which I did). Then, my junior year, my Mom said I couldn't date my boyfriend (who I'm still happily dating--5 years later!) unless I brought up my grades. So I did! Motivation. I got straight As every semester after that. It wasn't that I couldn't, it was that I didn't care.

So then I went to a local community college, as planned. I had no idea what I wanted to do my first year. I thought I'd take some general ed classes and look around and see what interested me. In classes I found interesting, I'd study hard and get As on everything. I'm very organized and have excellent study skills, but I need the motivation there or I won't even try.

My mom, being a nurse, pushed nursing on me for that whole year. Finally, I looked into it. I realized how rewarding of a career it would be and decided to take prerequisites for it. I got high As in ALL the rest of the prerequisites (Chem and Stats were part of our general ed curriculum and I got C's in those during my first year when I still had no motivation, so my prereq GPA was still on the low side) and applied to nursing school and got in on the first try.

So in all, I think it's unfair to say that everyone who did poorly grade-wise before deciding on nursing has poor study habits and little self confidence. For most of us it's more complicated than that.

CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Jun 17, 2009

Motivation worked for me, too. In my first undergrad degree, I was just looking to pass. With age came maturity and a personal drive to excel.

tfleuter, BSN, RN · Jun 17, 2009

Another motivation-lacking student here as well! If I remember correctly, I think I graduated highschool with a 2.7something. When I finally decided to apply for the nursing program at my university, I put a lot more effort into my studies b/c I knew I had to get A's in my pre-reqs or I wouldn't have a chance.

I will say confidence did play a small role in my story. I remember talking to a coworker right before I started pre-reqs and telling her I didn't think I was going to be able to be the A average student necessary to get into the program, since I had never performed that well academically. After my first semester I was very excited to have a 3.83 gpa, but wasn't sure if I could keep it up for my next set of classes. After the second semester, I maintained that gpa and was starting to grow more confident in my abilities. This past semester (3rd) I had my most difficult science pre-req to date and was pleased to find out I was on of the very few who recieved an A- or higher in the class. I am finishing up my last 3 pre-reqs this summer and now I am very confident in my ability to get good grades. So, I can see where a history of bad or mediocre grades could lead to confidence issues in some students, but this can be overcome with determination and success.

MotivatedOne · Jun 17, 2009

I too am one of those so called not so good students who chose nursing as a career.

First, it has nothing to do with my self confidence. I'm very confident that if I would apply myself I could be a straight A student but I don't apply myself. I settle for the bare minimum...I absolutely despise studying but I know it has to done as I am not a naturally born genius.

My first semester in school, my undergraduate GPA was 1.37. I lacked motivation, was homesick and honestly I may have even been a bit depressed.

After about 4 semesters of having an under 2.0 GPA, I switched my major from Biochem pre-med to pre-nursing and then again to IT.

I have my "I don't care" moments as does everyone. I get frustrated at times because I'm a procrastinator and I think I have ADD that hasn't been diagnosed yet. But that by no means makes me a bad student!

I don't watch tv, don't go out to eat all that often or even party. What I do is sit around not wanting to study but I know all of that is going to have to change especially once I start school.

I'm not really sure your reasons for typing this post but I'm guessing it was because someone who wasn't a good student was accepted into a program that you weren't accepted to.

If that is the case then I encourage you to just hang in there. Honestly I was in the same predicament because I did bring my undergrad gpa up to a 2.88 overall and my nursing pre req GPA was a 3.2 but could not get accepted into a nursing program to save my life! I was finally accepted from an alternate list about 2 months ago.

I graduated 120 something out of 439 students in high school. My high school GPA was a 3.1 and I took the SAT's only once back in 2000 and got a 1000 (w/o studying). So I know that I am a good student!

MotivatedOne · Jun 17, 2009

I tried to edit my initial reply but I waited too long...To the OP, if I offended you in anyway, I'm terribly sorry.

I wanted to take a few things out and add that...Whether or not you're a "good" student shouldn't be measured by the amount of time you set aside to study. I know that studying is important but that doesn't mean you have to devote your life to it. It doesn't take as much studying for one person to grasp the same amount of information as the next. So basically in my opinion, a good student is a student who in the end is happy with their results for whatever reason. They are also team players when forced to do group projects.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Jun 17, 2009

I wonder how some students who were not good at studying before choosing nursing can study well in a nursing or pre-nursing program. This is because most of them have bad study habits, and little confidence.

I had bad study habits and low motivation before picking nursing. I also had a lot of personal stuff going on in my life, and just generally made a lot of bad decisions about school.

They have bad study habits. Most of students who were not good before choosing nursing have bad skills in time management. They do not know exactly when to watch a movie, and when to review their lessons. Before a test, most of them have to cram up because they did not review their lessons on time. Most of them have no clear schedules. When a friend calls them suddenly, saying whether they can attend a party tonight, they will promise to attend because what they think is only that there is no test tomorrow. In addition, most of such students have little self-discipline. When they are happy, they prepare their lessons, and review them after classes. When they are unhappy, most of them do not prepare lessons, and review them. If their families plan to go outside for a dinner, they prefer to come with their families even though they have not yet finished their homework. Hence, because of these bad study habits, how a student who has had them can study well in the program?

Well....you can change study habits. Feeling like you're doing the right thing can be very motivating and can get you over those humps where the material isn't totally interesting, you're tired of school, it's a nice day out, etc. I've also started being treated for ADD, and that has made a huge difference in my ability to focus.

They have little confidence. Most of them often remember their past experiences which were full of low GPA, bad study habits, and ignorance from others. Even when they have got an A in a course, they can not believe that they will get another A in another course. If there are some difficulties they have in study, their first response is not to find solutions actively. In fact, most of them like to delay until they have to solve these problems. How a delay can improve one's confidence? So they become less and less confidential in themselves. Besides, ignorance from others still is a factor to make them less confidential. Most of them think what they say is often ignored by others so that they seldom express themselves. Without expressing themselves actively, their environment is less supportive, and they become less and less confidential.

Actually, when I started nursing prerequisites, my fear that I wouldn't do well made me study that much harder. The more As I got the less surprised I was about it and the more I realized how nice it was to see a steady stream of them. So I kept working harder. After graduating with a 2.795 (due to a mixture of As, Bs and Fs) in my first degree, I finished my nursing prerequisites with a 3.91. I also participated actively in my pre-requisite classes, even early on when I wasn't sure how well I'd do.

Maybe there are students who were bad before, but are good now. However the number of them seem a few. Most students who were bad before are not good at their new choice. A nursing or pre-nursing program is harder for such students because of their bad study habits, and their little confidence.

It's possible that you are surrounded by bad students who are continuing to do poorly in pre-nursing and nursing. When I speak with classmates who did poorly the first time around with school, most are coming to nursing with motivation, maturity, clarity, experience and a drive to succeed that they lacked before. Perhaps we're both just finding what we expect to find.

At any rate, I'm glad the admissions committee at the nursing school I'll be attending in the fall considers my recent grades to be representative of what kind of a student I am now.

redbeans · Jun 17, 2009

when i first got my BS two years ago my GPA was 2.1. I was just ready to get out of school (7 years will do that to you), had been through a lot; losing my home to a hurricane, working full time, trying to find out who i was, ect. Now that I am older and have returned to school I am much more confident and getting better grades, I have a 3.0 and i work full time, granted I take one class at a time and am only in prereqs, but i think it is a lot better than where i was. I also start the nursing program here in the spring.

greeniebean · Jun 17, 2009

I DROPPED OUT of high school! I failed every class my sophmore year. Am I stupid? No, I made straight A's every year until that particular semster, and always scored above average on state exams. I didn't give a crap at that point in my life. I didn't even attempt to study. Fast forward a few years and I realized how wrong I had been. I started my nursing pre-reqs and have had a 4.0 GPA for the past 2 semesters. You shouldn't judge how well a person will do in college based on past mistakes. For one, you have no idea why their GPA's were low to begin with. Maybe it wasn't study habits at all. I had a friend who was making a A in a class and the last month of the semester she had to have emergancy surgery, and missed 3 weeks of class. well the proffessor didn't care and wouldn't give her an incomplete and the withdrawl deadline had passed so she had no choice but to accept the grade she got (minus 3 weeks of grades). She came out with a D. Not really her fault in my opinion!

My sister in law signed up for courses and before the semester started had a family emergancy and realized she would not be a ble to attend. She withdrew from her classes and thought nothing else of it, until 5 years later when she was registering to go back to school. The school had never entered in her dropped classes so she had E's in all 4. Not to mention she had been awarded $500 in financial aid (she never recieved the money) so she had to pay that back before she could register for classes, and despite getting all A's her GPA wasn't the 4.0 she deserved (it was diluted by the 4 E's she had gotten)

My point is, you don't know if poor study habits or other factors in the past will have any signifigance now. My school has a program where they will "bankrupt" the old grades as long as you've taken 12 hours of college credit with them and it's been 2 years since you got the bad grades. I think this is the right attitude to have towards students. Everyone deserves a second (or third!) chance. I don't think my high school grades show a true picture of the student I am or will be, just a picture of a silly 16 year old girl with no self accountability or real life expirience!

Good Luck to everyone in school!