How important is a 4.0 once you are in nursing school?

DarkLotus · May 17, 2012

I'm not trying to memorize everything, I'm trying to understand the material. My patho professors says that all the information for the tests is on the lecture notes that we get from her so if the tests were open notes we could all get 100's. However all the lectures do is make me wonder more about the subject so I read unassigned parts of the text or do the online resource activities. These things help me 'get' it but do not help me with the quizzes at all. So it seems like the more time I spend trying to understand the material the less likely I am to memorize what she will put on the tests. This is my first class at the university where I am starting the RN program this fall. I just hope the other professors do not have her mentality of 'if it's not in my notes you don't need to know it'...

A 4.0 does not result from 'memorizing' everything. You're trying this approach and getting Bs.
I graduated with a 4.0 for my BSN last weekend and can attest that the grades are reflective of how I did on tests, papers, case studies, presentations, ATIs, quizzes, care plans and clinical skills but *not* memorizing.
That said, a 4.0 is (IMO) unnecessary for any career and certainly nursing. Now, my grades helped me get merit based scholarships. And I got great responses to my job applications thus far, but beyond that, the gpa was unimportant.
I strove for doing the best I could do and trying to understand info as best I could so as to try to avoid hurting people-that was my motivation.
Good luck and just aim for the best understanding of the material you can muster, not a number. :)

CPhT2RNstudent · May 17, 2012

You don't need a 4.0 to go to Grad School. You just need to get as close as you can to that number without going crazy.

I agree. I am not even close to a 4.0, it just makes your chances better.

CPhT2RNstudent · May 17, 2012

And most grad schools want a 3.0.

Good luck getting in with just the minimums. You have to shine somewhere else if you have the minimum GPA.

Patti_RN · May 17, 2012

There are no guarantees that a high GPA will be the ticket to admission. I was recently accepted in Georgetown's NP program. In conversations with my admission counselor, I learned that G-town has rejected applicants with 4.0 GPAs--and they tell prospective applicants to take the GRE if their GPA is less than a 3.30 (getting a high score on the GRE might help overcome a low GPA). From my understanding, they won't consider an applicant who has less than a 3.20. So, even when schools look at an applicant's entire application from essay to interview to GPA to references, etc., some schools are so selective they want students who excel in everything and falter at nothing.

thomasphan · May 17, 2012

4.0 will look awesome on your record. But B's are great too if you are in nursing school.

MN-Nurse, ASN, RN · May 17, 2012

So yeah, is it more important to keep my 4.0 or is it okay to slack off and learn something useful for a change?

If you are going to a half decent school, you can acquire useful knowledge AND get a 4.0.

ToughingItOut · May 17, 2012

Honestly, I don't even remember my nursing school gpa. I do remember realizing that no one kept that perfect 4.0 and that I got mostly A's but that's all - I must have blocked the rest from my memory I think a couple girls were stressing who wanted to go to CRNA school...but the most important things are to graduate and pass the NCLEX. Good luck!!

allnurses Guide · May 17, 2012

Memorizing won't get you far in nursing school. You have to do more than that. You have to comprehend the ins and outs of what you memorized, understand how certain things affect what you memorized and then be able to answer a question that seems only vaguely related to what you memorized. In other words.....that lovely buzz-kill called critical thinking.

sauconyrunner · May 17, 2012

WHile you do not need a 4.0 to go to either Graduate school or to become a RN, you will want to do the best that you can. It may end up being a 4.0 or a 3.5 or a 3.0 or a 2.9. Whatever it is, you will still be able to become a RN.

You need to also be somewhat careful of online resources...some of them are not that accurate.

I would not worry at all about Grad School. Frankly these days, programs abound and their requirements are, as far as I can see, fairly light for admission. Most places also seem only to care that you have the degree, not that it is a quality degree....

IndyElmer · May 17, 2012

A 4.0 does not result from 'memorizing' everything. You're trying this approach and getting Bs.

While nursing school tests are completely different and not about regurgitating facts, it's possible for a pre-req class to still be based on memorizing. My pathophys class certainly was that way. (Yes,I needed to understand processes, but even that was still just remembering/understanding facts rather than the crazy application questions where you're choosing the BEST answer out of multiple good/reasonable answers.)

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · May 17, 2012

Good grades matter for graduate schools and nurse residency programs. As of late thanks to the poor job market and glut of new grads, they matter more during the new grad job hunt. Will a 4.0 guarantee you a job? Not at all...but it may help you get more interviews. It's not 2006 anymore: now jobs are fewer, competition is greater, and employers have the upper hand right now and can be as selective as they like.

Once you have a couple of years under your experience, grades will not matter as much, if at all, while you are looking for work.

And it is possible to get a 4.0 or near it while at the same time understanding the material you learned. In fact, it's necessary to do just that.

allnurses Guide · May 17, 2012

I think you are right to understand as opposed to straight forward memorization.

Sure, one can memorize signs and symptoms, but if you understand the patho, well, then the signs and symptoms fall into place.

I cannot speak to whether or not you need a 4.0 for further education, as I have never researched that.