Help with readmission letter(Long Read)

[Love&Light]

Good evening everyone!

I have browsed through this website many times for numerous things and have finally decided to make an account here. Today I am asking you all for some help. I want the truth, good and bad. But please be gentle.

I failed my nursing fundamentals class this fall by 3 pts on my final exam. I had been struggling all semester and was taking A&P II in addition to fundamentals and dosage. It definitely proved to be more challenging than I had thought. When I registered for classes, I thought I could handle it all. I passed A&P II and dosage with B's but could not keep up with fundamentals. I strongly believe had I gone at a slower pace and did not take A&P II with nursing classes, I would have been able to complete the semester successfully. (I was rushing because my home life is unstable, as demonstrated this semester) I had some home issues that contributed to my failure as well. I am on my own for the most part. I live with a boyfriend of 3 years who has shown some sort of "power struggle" in me continuing my education. He became jealous and we argued more than anything this past fall. A lot of it he blamed on me "studying all the time" and him not getting enough attention. Our biggest argument came before my two last exams in fundamentals. It was the night before my exam and he picked a fight with me and made me feel bad about wanting to go to sleep to be rested in time for my exam and to study. In short, I never went to bed as we fought all night long. When I took my test, I scored terribly and I knew because I did I would need to get a 76% or better on my final to pass the class. I was so depressed and was juggling my other classes and trying to study everything. I passed dosage and anatomy with flying colors, but when I took the fundamentals final, it was the most difficult out of any exam I had taken! It was those darn NCLEX style questions throughout the test.

While I did my best to study and review the material, my focus should have been on practicing questions. Thus I failed and I spoke with my adviser, who was also my professor for the class. I basically told her everything I've stated here, except with a little more detail. Now I can expect what most people are going to say about my boyfriend. I know. But my adviser is honestly so kind and sweet and gave me some words of encouragement. She said that she believes I could make it through the program and told me to write a letter to the chair of the nursing dept. about what had gone on. She also advised me to work on getting on my own two feet so that I am not dependent on the boyfriend. Which I have. I work in home care and make just barely enough to get by on my own now. I feel like I can do it. But my adviser said that it would be best that I get a job in a hospital (I have my CNA) but it is proving to be a little challenging at finding a higher paying job in such a setting right now. And if I am offered a job at a hospital or nursing home, I cannot accept anything lower than what I make which is what a lot of places are offering to pay ($10 or less). I have been applying left and right. But the gig I have right now is honestly wonderful, I am working as a home health aid. I simply adore the people I take care of right now and it's close to my apt so I save money on gas!

As far as getting help, I don't really have any. I will be the first in my family to graduate college and I am the first to complete high school. My father is deceased and my mother is a drug addict whom I have not spoken to in the last 8 years. As far as their families, I do not associate with them for a very good reason. I did make two wonderful friends in the program who are continuing on to the next semester and have been very supportive and kind.

So I am really just looking for help writing this letter. I don't know what the chances are of me getting back into the program as I feel that there's always someone out there who has it worse and may be put ahead of me. I will be finishing the last of my pre-reqs this spring so I would only have nursing classes to worry about in the fall. The great thing is that since I passed nursing dosage, I will only have to repeat fundamentals. I did pass clinical but I am required to repeat it as it's apart of fundamentals (not sure how) but that is okay. To say that I have not been depressed is not true. I found a therapist to work with and help me with depression and some other things. I have some of the letter written up and I don't want it to seem like I am making excuses and sound like so. I want the letter to be as professional as possible. But I feel like a lot of what I added may be unnecessary. It is not due until March, but I have always turned my course work in early and on time. Never late. Lastly, I do have a learning disability. I spent my entire summer last year practicing dosage questions and memorizing the conversion system. It helped me so much. I definitely do learn at a slower pace but I believe had I practiced NCLEX questions I would have been successful too, but had no idea what to expect for fundamentals. So I have all of my power points from the semester and access to an online NCLEX question practice quiz/test program. I have been reviewing the material and doing NCLEX questions as much as I can and I plan to do so until I start in the nursing program again this fall (trying to stay hopeful).

Sorry this was a long read. I just wanted to give as much background as I could. So here is the letter I have so far. Also, thank you for taking the time to read and reply to all of this.

January 7, 2017

Nursing Program Readmission Committee

XXX XXXX County Community College

XXX Road

XXXX XXXX, XX 12345

Dear Nursing Program Readmission Committee:

My name is Xxxx Xxxxxx and I was a first semester nursing student in the fall of 2016. I am writing this letter to explain the circumstances surrounding my poor performance and ask for readmission in hopes that I may be given a second chance at pursuing my dreams to become a nurse.

Unfortunately, I fell short of the grading standards in nursing fundamentals which lead to my dismissal from the program. At the time of registering for classes in the spring of 2016, I thought I could handle the workload of taking an Anatomy and Physiology II course, in addition to the nursing classes. To my dismay, it had posed a challenge for me. Often times, I found myself having to neglect one subject over the other. In addition, I had some difficulty in my ability to answer NCLEX-style questions; I neglected to prepare myself for fundamentals. I have struggled with a learning disability all of my life and despite many setbacks in my education, I continued to persevere. I spent the summer of 2016 preparing myself for the dosage course as I thought that would pose the most difficult for me. Had I spent some time on practicing NCLEX questions the summer prior, I believe I would have been successful in nursing fundamentals.

As for other obstacles that occurred during the fall semester of 2016; I had a few challenges in my personal life and was in the midst of finding a more stable employment situation. I was completely reliant on my significant other for financial and emotional support. There were some domestic issues that had caused me depression and I felt like I had nowhere to go, no outlet. Thus it caused a decline in my ability to stay focused. I have put myself on my own two feet and I have begun to see a therapist who has played a part in helping me deal with my depression and anxiety in healthy ways. I am currently employed as a full time home health aid where I receive a lot of support and time to study and do homework, so that my studies may never be neglected.

After dismissal from the nursing program, I have spent much of my free time reviewing the power-points from fundamentals and practicing NCLEX-style questions. Doing so has helped me improve my knowledge, confidence and understanding of the material better than I had before. I have also become a volunteer first aid responder for the Xxxxx first aid squad. This has also deepened my experience in the healthcare field. After the completion of my spring 2017 semester, I will have completed all of the pre-requisites for the nursing program.

If I am granted the honor of being readmitted to the xxxxx nursing program, I will be returning with a greater understanding, appreciation and a stronger commitment to the program. I will not let what had previously diverted my attention to happen again.

I respectfully ask that the Nursing Program Readmission Committee to allow me to return in the fall of 2017, so that I may continue to pursue my dreams and become the first in my family to achieve a college education. If the committee needs any further information, please let me know.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and consider me.

Sincerely,

Xxxx Xxxx

[e-mail]

(xxx) xxx-xxxx

[EllaBella1, BSN]

First off, good for you for pursuing readmission. If this is truly your dream then I commend you on continuing to pursue it. That said, I don't think your advisor is right in suggesting you write a letter like this. To be honest it sounded like a letter full of excuses. You offer the excuse that you took on too much this semester. While this may be the truth, nursing is a profession that often requires you to work under immense pressure. Stating that you failed to manage the pressure of a heavy course load may not help you win over the support of the school. Your second paragraph about the domestic situation isn't as bad, but I feel like the first sentence is alluding to the fact that you had multiple issues stacked against you which caused you to perform poorly. While this may be true as well, it sounds like you're using it as an excuse for your failure. I do like the paragraph where you state all of the things that you've done since leaving the program to try to change your path. I think that is more of what the school is going to want to read. I would re-write the letter and try to put more of a positive spin on it. In paragraph one you mention your dreams of becoming a nurse- maybe add a few sentences about those dreams. What drives them? How will you make a difference? How will you positively represent the school in your future career if you are allowed another chance? Get rid of all of the excuse-y sounding statements- the "if I had done this or studied harder or tried that I would have passed" sentences. I would limit the negative stuff to a brief paragraph..something like this:

While nursing has long been a dream of mine, I found that, through no fault other than my own, I was unprepared for the heavy course load that the first semester held. I had difficulty with time management while studying, struggled with the NCLEX style test questions, and faced significant adversity in my personal life that impacted my ability to dedicate the time and attention necessary to succeed. In the time since I have left the program I have focused on adapting my study techniques to better suit the challenges that nursing school presents...

One final thing- did you ever notify the school that you had a learning disability. If so then keep that info in there. If not then I would take that out. I can guarantee you that your course syllabus states that you should notify the teacher if you have a disability or may need additional time, etc for tests. If you fail to notify them then I don't think you really have grounds to use that as a reason that you failed.

Best of luck to you.

[Love&Light]

First off, good for you for pursuing readmission. If this is truly your dream then I commend you on continuing to pursue it. That said, I don't think your advisor is right in suggesting you write a letter like this. To be honest it sounded like a letter full of excuses. You offer the excuse that you took on too much this semester. While this may be the truth, nursing is a profession that often requires you to work under immense pressure. Stating that you failed to manage the pressure of a heavy course load may not help you win over the support of the school. Your second paragraph about the domestic situation isn't as bad, but I feel like the first sentence is alluding to the fact that you had multiple issues stacked against you which caused you to perform poorly. While this may be true as well, it sounds like you're using it as an excuse for your failure. I do like the paragraph where you state all of the things that you've done since leaving the program to try to change your path. I think that is more of what the school is going to want to read. I would re-write the letter and try to put more of a positive spin on it. In paragraph one you mention your dreams of becoming a nurse- maybe add a few sentences about those dreams. What drives them? How will you make a difference? How will you positively represent the school in your future career if you are allowed another chance? Get rid of all of the excuse-y sounding statements- the "if I had done this or studied harder or tried that I would have passed" sentences. I would limit the negative stuff to a brief paragraph..something like this:

While nursing has long been a dream of mine, I found that, through no fault other than my own, I was unprepared for the heavy course load that the first semester held. I had difficulty with time management while studying, struggled with the NCLEX style test questions, and faced significant adversity in my personal life that impacted my ability to dedicate the time and attention necessary to succeed. In the time since I have left the program I have focused on adapting my study techniques to better suit the challenges that nursing school presents...

One final thing- did you ever notify the school that you had a learning disability. If so then keep that info in there. If not then I would take that out. I can guarantee you that your course syllabus states that you should notify the teacher if you have a disability or may need additional time, etc for tests. If you fail to notify them then I don't think you really have grounds to use that as a reason that you failed.

Best of luck to you.

Hi, thank you so much for reading my post and writing me back. I really appreciate it. Yes, the school is aware of my learning disability and I did receive time and a half on my exams. Thank you so much for taking the time to write that example. I felt like I was walking in circles. I didn't know where to start. My adviser said that the readmission letter should cover why I failed out and what I have done to fix it so that I may be more successful next semester. I tried to include the reasoning, but it does come off like a bunch of excuses and it's not what I want. I hold myself accountable for everything that happened and do not blame anyone but myself. I feel very embarrassed and I want nothing more than to be accepted back into the program. Despite my situation, I feel like I can do this. I want nothing more than to be a nurse. I am not doing this because of money. I experienced such wonderful things last semester during clinical. All of my patients gave a little bit of themselves to me to hold. In the 8 hours I was at my clinical site, I was able to make my patients laugh to tears and for those who could not find laughter inside them, I sat with them and chatted. I held their hands, rubbed their backs and gave them the best care I could. I loved it. I love bedside nursing so much. Of course, I know not all patients will be as pleasant as the ones I was lucky to have. But it wasn't about that. It was about the impact I was able to make in their life that day. I am going to try and re-write this tomorrow morning. I just wasn't sure how to go about it without making it sound like a "feel sorry for me, excuse, excuse, excuse". Thank you again, and good night!