94 or higher is an A?

Purple_roses · May 10, 2016

Actually I just rechecked the pass rates to make sure and that was the year before that passing rate when 111 students passed. In 2015, 147 students were admitted and only 107 passed. Which is really bad.

Don't let that intimidate you. Not everyone who joins nursing school will end up finishing, and there are several factors that come into play:

First of all, sometimes people figure out that they don't want to be a nurse, and they drop. Their idea of what nursing is was flawed, and they decide to pursue something else. There's one person out of the 40 I started with that dropped for this reason.

Some people don't spend enough time studying. 3/40 failed or dropped because they didn't study enough. They were constantly inviting others to go out partying. They were constantly checking into fun places on facebook or getting drunk the night before a test. (Which leads me to my next point.)

If you discover that nursing school induces a crippling amount of anxiety, do not start smoking or drinking to remedy this: talk to your doctor.

Some people fail a class, which puts them behind. This doesn't mean they don't ever end up graduating and passing NCLEX. It just means their schedule was thrown off.

Some people have outside responsibilities, such as family or work, that interfere. 2/40 in my cohort are behind because of this. They did not fail out of the program: they are simply behind right now.

So if you have the time to study, and you take that time, I truly believe you will be just fine. My school admits 40 students at a time, and they have never graduated 40. But my school also has never had below 98% NCLEX pass rate. So I feel relieved knowing that if I put in the time and do well in my program, I will most likely pass NCLEX on the first try. Nursing schools don't prepare you for graduation--they prepare you for NCLEX and your first job.

elkpark · May 10, 2016

Hey everybody - my newest soapbox is Grade Inflation.... it's a thing now.

It's been "a thing" for quite a while now. The last time I taught nursing, in 2006-7, a surprising number of students expected an A simply for showing up for clinical (and grade inflation was a much-discussed phenomenon then). I had students cry in their clinical evaluations because they got a B in clinical, and that was the first time they had gotten anything less than an A in any class or clinical in the entire program (this was their last semester of school), and I assure you they were not "A students" in any rational sense.

Extra Pickles · May 10, 2016

this thread reminds me of another one running in which a student is wondering whose fault it is if 25% of them failed the HESI. She believes it is the school's fault in not preparing them well enough even though 75% of the students passed the same test. When it comes to grades, many of those who failed the HESI were getting good or excellent grades. Maybe the problem isn't the school not preparing students to take the test but the fact that too many A's are awarded?!? It's at least something to consider, even if it doesn't answer it completely.

summerly · May 10, 2016

Welcome to nursing school! Wait until you get to graduate school!!

Zooey72 · May 10, 2016

My nephew (who was in middle school at the time) said that the grading system was 93 or higher was an A. When I was a kid 90 or higher was so I took that as schools being tougher. Than I saw his homework and they literally gave him points for putting his name on his paper.

Point being you can make a passing grade 50 or higher and have it be more difficult than 99 or higher if your anatomy questions are no more than **singing** "The leg bone is connected to the hip bone, hip bone connected to the back bone" etc etc.

Content and quality of the Prof are more important factors outside of your abilities and commitment.

direw0lf, BSN · May 10, 2016

95 or up is an A for us! Imagine how frustrated students who have a 94.9 are when the school doesn't round up?

That grass always greener on da other side..

Net, RN · May 10, 2016

I consider your school's grading system quite generous. The ADN program I am currently attending grading system is much harder...

96-100=A

94-95=A-

92-93=B+

89-91=B

87-89=B-

84-87=C+

80-83=C

Anything less is failing.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · May 10, 2016

Mine was 93-100A

84-92 B

75-83 C

Less than 74= fail

I graduated with a 95.2% average. The next two were 91.8% and 92.5%. It can be done.

Nurse Leigh · May 10, 2016

I consider your school's grading system quite generous. The ADN program I am currently attending grading system is much harder...
96-100=A
94-95=A-
92-93=B+
89-91=B
87-89=B-
84-87=C+
80-83=C
Anything less is failing.

Looks like the upper range of your system matches OP's, but their cutoff for passing is 82 which actually gives you more wiggle room.

All of these grading systems look pretty standard to me, including no rounding up. I don't recall our exact range as it was several years ago. I, for one, am glad vigorous nursing programs exist. We need a good education base.

WellThatsOod · May 10, 2016

My program is 93 for A, 84 for B, and 75 for pass.

We get extra credit but we have to be at 74.6 or more for it to apply. If you have a 73 and there's 20 points extra credit it doesn't matter, you fail.

LJR89 · May 11, 2016

Yup that's pretty standard. Another, more blunt, view point our instructors shared with us was, "would you want a nurse responsible for you're life who couldn't get atleast a 80% in all their classes?"

i couldn't come up with any good arguments against that one, lol

Our program requires 78%, so that was a low blow for some of us were only barely passed.

CTtoRN, ADN, BSN, RN · May 11, 2016

My school is 92% A, 82% B, 74 C (no rounding) is the lowest you can get.