I have never gotten great grades, CRNA out of the Q?

[raindrop]

During my BSN program, I always nailed A&P, pathophys and pharm. But I stink at research projects, papers, presentations, math and statistics. I only got C's in those courses and then immedietely forgot everything about them the second after turning in my final exam. Do you think I am going to have a very difficult time with CRNA school should I apply?

I am worried about my very basics math skills. I know I will probably pass another math class with a C, but as a CRNA, shouldn't math be one subject that I *get*? How much math do you use in your actual practice?

[Class2011]

People's idea of "stink" is often subjective, so it's hard to say. I think A's in the hard science classes can make up for all kinds of poor grades in nursing theory type classes (as long as you are not trying for CRNA with MSN). But the poor math and statistics grades might give people pause. Could you retake a basic statistics or a biostatistics course? You might also really prepare and get a great grade on the math portion of the GRE. The math on that exam is truly basic high school math (easier than SAT math). Of course, there are surely people in the same boat who were accepted due to other outstanding aspects of their application.

[PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN]

That would be a yes.

You will be competing with some extremely smart people. So go get the good grades. The GRE itself could be a problem for you.

Get on the ball. Now.

[ICU.traveler, CRNA]

i'd say you need to think about why you didn't get good grades in some of the courses. i'm a strong believer that getting c in some of the courses is perfectly acceptable. such as bulls**t courses. i went to 2 year community college for my rn and felt like 50% of material thought to us was relevant to nursing. when i went for my bsn at it was closer to 20/80 with 80% of material being irrelevant. there were only two classes out of two years worth of bsn studying that made me a better nurse. they were assessment and advanced physiology. the rest of them such as leadership, anthropology, nursing theory, world religions (had to take it as an elective requirement) were just waste of time and money. i don't know about other people, but how can you get yourself motivated to study something that is useless for you. i remember sitting in class listening to a guest speaker about the occupational hazards of a farmer. i was like 'come on', all of the students in the class were acute care nurses working in tertiary care facilities. can you bring a guest speaker that would teach us, advanced ekg or ventilators, or explain how does insulin work, why do you need to watch potassium levels when you have a patient on insulin drip. how about a lecture on the chest xray, which would be useful working nights in the icu. nope, nothing like that. instead i was learning that increased exposure to sun may predispose a farmer population to increased rates of skin cancer. well, good for me, i guess.

i got lucky. the admission committee went easy on me. i was granted acceptance to a crna program. i love learning here. it is all anesthesia related. even when we learning about four layers of a stomach wall, it's all taught in close relationship to anesthesia. i'm now very interested in studying, and motivated to learn. thank god, (yes, prayers help too) my gpa has never been this high.

so, the point i'm trying to make here is so what if you had some c's. i got a c in statistics (not a bs course, the instructor got killed by a drunk driver few weeks before a final, i just took it too personal). i even had an f in leadership (complete bs course, and yes, i had to retake it). if you want to be a crna don't let some c's hold you back. you need to retake statistics, tho. get some good icu exp. take advanced physiology, organic chem. get a's in them and apply to schools. don't worry about the overall gpa. i think you will be pleasantly surprised.

just my 2 cent

traveler

[Luckygirl3]

I agree with ICU.traveler. Letting a small weakness like that hold you back would be a big mistake. I was always weak in math till one semester when I decided that I would overcome my weakness. I started tutoring math in the lower level classes and within a few weeks, everything finally clicked! I got an A in Statistics that quarter (I had been getting Cs in math). It doesn't have to come naturally, especially when you're so strong in the more important classes for anesthesia.

As for research papers and projects, I understand that dilemma very well. It's somewhat harder to overcome, but if you can just bare through it, the rewards are worth it. Writing a thesis is quite a project. It won't be fun, but again, so worth it in the end.