GPA from school 19 years ago

allnurses Guide · Jan 4, 2009

Sounds like a good idea to ask your new school what they will do about GPA.

caliotter3 · Jan 4, 2009

Most schools I applied to combined everything to come up with a GPA. One school gave credit for the classes that transferred in but did not count the grades in the GPA. You have to contact the schools you are considering to see what their policy is, to see where you stand.

kalley · Jan 4, 2009

Every school is different. My school figures the GPA for the school of most recent attendance as long as you have taken more than 12 credits there. I had a 2.5 at my previous school from 10 years ago because of 2 incompletes. I took 13 credits this past semester and achieved a 4.0 that is all they are supposed look at when considering my application.

I would contact the admissions office of the school that you are interested in. That is how I found out about my program.

benegesserit · Jan 5, 2009

I had a similar experience my first go at college... at UC Davis, too :) I got into a good program despite my poor GPA from that experience. I know several others from this board who had similar experiences and got accepted to nursing programs this semester, too.

As others have said, it depends on the school. Many only take prerequisite GPA into account. Some only consider the most recent X number of units. Some do consider total GPA as part of the qualification, but prerequisite GPA is usually given greater weight. Some may look at all your grades, but disregard the older ones if you show improvement since. Some don't look at grades at all as long as you meet minimum requirements.

Do your best in your remaining prerequisites, consider re-taking any prerequisites in which you got less than an A or B, and don't stress the past. If you do well now, you'll be competitive.

You should submit the transcript anyways, however (and yes, I know how idiotically expensive that gets when applying to multiple schools. Order them early to avoid the rush fees!). Most schools require that you submit all transcripts regardless of whether the work applies to the nursing degree. (I have no clue if they have any way of actually verifying this, especially with nearly 20 year old records.)

Are you still in the Sacramento area? If so, I can possibly answer questions if you're interested in specific schools.

retread71 · Jan 5, 2009

I am in Ripon/Manteca area. I grew up in the foothills though....

CardioNRS~DAWN · Jan 5, 2009

I had a similar problem when I applied to nursing school. I had attended a University 17 yrs ago right out of High School and wasn't really focused. I had only taken some courese and one prerequisite course that was worth transfering. To make a long story short they didn't use the gpa from the other college, because I had taken all of my prerequisites at my new college. I had to talk to the Director of Nursing to get it approved. She just used my current gpa plus the one that was transferable. And I got in!! :yeah:

In my case I had spoken to a counselor that advised me to speak to the DON or the Dean. So talk to the nursing counselor to see if they can help.

Good Luck!!

SDMamma · Jan 5, 2009

I can completely relate to your situation of not taking college seriously the first time around. But fear not, there is hope. Most colleges have whats called an "academic renewal" policy where you may completely wipe 2 semesters from being counted in your GPA without making you retake the classes. They will do this for you if you complete 30 units with a 2.0 (C average) or 20 units with a 3.0 (B average). I know this because I was where you are once and had a bad year. My combined GPA when I graduated with my AA was 3.3, and I never had to make up a single class that I did not need. There were classes I chose to repeat to boost my GPA, us govt, and child development. Got A's in both :)

P.S.

I forgot to mention that the classes I used for the 20 units of B grades were from 3 separate colleges. So you don't need to worry about making up those classes at the original UC you attended. Just inquire about their academic renewal policy and send them your transcripts.