In my program, you need a 77% to get a C. Anything below that is a D and if you fail 1 class, you cant move on to the next semester until you pass. BUT, you can only fail 2 times during the whole program.
Its really heart breaking when I study really hard, give all my time and dedication to studying for the classes, going that extra mile to get the highest grade I could get, even have sleepless nights of studying, only to find out that my final grade is even below mediocrity! All of that, I did, and my final grade turns out to be a C. I am just melancholic, and disappointed and majorly sad. My GPA went from an A to B- since starting the nursing program. I dont think C describes the things I went through. I hate this letter grade system.
Our system is the exact same as yours as far as how many times you can fail before being kicked out of the program. Our passing score for a course is a 77 and it is also a C, but if you have a final score of XX.5 it gets rounded. So whether you have an A- or a C- you get bumped to the next grade up. Oh and C- and below is recorded as a F on the transcript.
We also have HESIs for every clinical course, halfway through the program and at the end of the program. The mid and exit HESIs are gatekeeper HESIs. You can fail the course ones as long as it doesn't bring your class grade below a 76.5. You cannot fail the mid-program or end HESI. You can retake both of them, but you could end up being removed from the program if you continue to fail the mid-program and you cannot graduate without passing the exit.
It's a really tough program, but I feel like the grading is fair majority of the time because they look at the statistics on all the written exams with the exception of the HESIs. If there is a split/question was poorly written sometimes they give back points.
I didn't take the comment about ease of programs and LTC to be snide; I took it to mean that the poster wasn't attending a well respected program and since LTC is often unpopular, that was where most of the graduates of his/her school were ending up. As in, those were the only positions available. Seemed more sad than ignorant, to me at least.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I didn't take the comment about ease of programs and LTC to be snide; I took it to mean that the poster wasn't attending a well respected program and since LTC is often unpopular, that was where most of the graduates of his/her school were ending up. As in, those were the only positions available. Seemed more sad than ignorant, to me at least.
But in this economy sometimes LTC is the only place that will hire new grads, regardless of what school one attended. I doubt the poster will come back to explain his/her comment.
Instead of feeling "sad" you need to adapt and overcome. Obviously the way you are studying is not working. If you are studying 20 hours a week then try 30. Try studying differently...different times...different methods. If you keep doing the same thing what do you expect to happen? It is a hard world and when you are in a hospital you have to figure out solutions. "I tried my best" isn't going to cut it. You need results. Wipe away the tears and hit it hard.
But I'm sure our tests and assignments are written to a scaled level. Your 75% might be our 50%. We never just have multi choice question exams all of ours have a short answer and long answer section to go with them too.
My program requires a 75 to pass, but once you fail a class your done, there is no taking the class over next semester. We do not have plus or minuses and our semester is lumped into one giant class of 10 units, so depending on your grade it can really kill your GPA. I just wish some weight was given to clinical and class assignments, but those are not graded just required. So, your entire grade is based on your 4 exams throughout the semester. We only start in the fall with 32 students in a cohort.
We had to make a B- to pass a class (80%). We were only allowed to fail one class, and take it again. When we took it again we had to pass with a B+. Anything below that or if you fail a second class and you're kicked out. We had to take a dosage test every clinical and were only allowed to miss ONE question. If you missed more than one question we had to take it again without missing any. If you failed the math test on the second time you failed the semester and it counted as failing a class.
LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN
8,429 Posts
Not to continue to be in wonder of this post; but shouldn't you be worried about passing the NCLEX if your school is "not hard at all"???
But then again, you think nursing home is "not hard at all"??