How to get into nurse school with several "w" and 2 "F"

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2016

The investor-owned schools of shady repute (read: ITT Technical Institute, Brown Mackie, Platt College, Fortis College, Kaplan College, West Coast University, Concorde Career Institute) will be the most likely to accept you for admission to their nursing programs in spite of a poor academic record.

amoLucia · Feb 19, 2016

The investor-owned schools of shady repute (read: ITT Technical Institute, Brown Mackie, Platt College, Fortis College, Kaplan College, West Coast University, Concorde Career Institute) will be the most likely to accept you for admission to their nursing programs in spite of a poor academic record.

In other words, also known as just "show them the MONEY"!

mikayyCNA_ · Feb 19, 2016

Have you considered PN school? I'm enrolled in a program currently. While it is still very competitive, it maybe be easier to get accepted for now. There's also bridge programs for LPNs to obtain their ADN or BSN.

cherryelle07 · Feb 19, 2016

I would retake those classes and do better. You can always apply next year when you are on firmer ground with your grades. Nursing school will not be a piece of cake and you will not have the freedom to blow it off. I don't know your situation and for all I know you had a good reason for it, but nursing schools will not take that into account. Retake the classes, work your tail off, and apply when you have As and Bs to submit. They will wanna see commitment and improvement.

Nurse2bKayXO · Feb 19, 2016

Some schools do look at the most recent grade, if you decide to re-take the classes you got an F in. It really just depends. Some schools only allow you to retake classes twice, and they'll take the highest grade. I'd reach out to the counselor of the academic program for a(n) [transcript] appointment to see how you can become a better candidate for their program.

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · Feb 19, 2016

Have you ever seen the movie "Less Than Zero"? It is pretty good movie.

arojumper · Feb 20, 2016

Well... I would keep applying to every school that you can... It will probably take some time to get into a program with a transcript like that, I won't lie. BUT what you can try is maybe a for-profit college? Like here in Colorado we have Concorde College and you can get your RN degree from them and I don't think the requirements to get in there are too hard, but I'm pretty sure that your credits don't transfer to other schools. And I don't believe they are accredited by major accrediting bodies like CCNE or ACEN, which would then make it more difficult for you to get hired. But it is still worth a try if nursing is what you really want to do, I think! I would just focus on your current school work to prove to the schools you are applying to that you are serious and just keep applying! Hopefully you will get in.

jander · Feb 20, 2016

On the side of hope, my transcript looked much like yours. Fresh out of HS I began attending college and wasn't serious so, without officially dropping, I stopped attending classes. This left me with 3 F's and 6 W's on my official transcript; the few classes that I managed to complete were done so with 2 B's and 2 C's (not that great in the grand scheme of pre-nursing competition). Well, many years later I decided to return to school and finish what I had "started". I worked my rear end off and managed straight A's from then on out. I went to the admissions office of my school and filed a petition for academic renewal, which doesn't remove the grades from the transcript, but does remove them from your GPA calculation. By doing all this I managed to apply to two different nursing schools (one ADN and one BSN) with an overall 3.75 GPA and was accepted to both, first try. Despite both schools being well-aware of the F's and W's on my official transcript, I was still considered highly competitive as evidenced their acceptance of me.

My suggestion is: don't give up, give it all that you can from here on out, and go speak with an advisor at your school to see if they offer academic renewal (or something equivalent). If this is what you really want, stay with it; it is very possible, but at the same time, you don't necessarily have a whole lot of slack room left, so give it your all and don't stop till you get there.

AliNajaCat · Feb 21, 2016

The for-profit schools like the ITT Techs of this world love people who have demonstrated they can't succeed in run of the mill academics. They can get you to sign up for your programs, pay their ridiculously high tuitions, take out their ridiculously expensive loans, and then watch you not pass NCLEX or not be able to take it in some places because your education sucks. But your loans will still be due.

Kristenlaurenw · Feb 22, 2016

My first time around in college I would get bored and stop showing up to class and got my fair share of w's and f's. Then a few years later I decided to go to nursing school. All the area BSN programs looked at overall GPA so I didn't even bother. Both of the local tech schools looked at particular classes and entrance exams for admission to their ADN programs. So I took all the classes they looked at and made sure I had an A in every one. I also made sure to ace the entrance exams (TEAS and PAX-RN). I got into both of those schools. The key is to look into admission requirements at different programs and see which ones you can make work for you.

iShaybie, ADN · Feb 22, 2016

Look for community college programs !

honeyforasalteyfish · Feb 22, 2016

Show improvement. That is really all you can do. My transcripts are hardly spectacular, but my recent work is quite good. Granted my recent work is after years of being out of college, but I have been getting some positive feedback despite my questionable academic past.

So it can be done I believe, or I wouldn't be bothering. You may need to be willing to go to less than a top tier school.

Apply to many places explain any extenuating circumstances, and how you corrected them. This will show you are an overcomer. That is about all you can do.

Good luck.