I really need help

[mike2014]

Dear nurses, students, and prospective nursing students,

Please bear with me. It is a long paragraph, but I would appreciate it if you read all of it.

I'm a recent graduate (2013) with biology major from american university. I have been thinking days and nights before posting in this forum because I didn't think earlier that I may receive useful help through this forum. I apologize in advance for my negative opinion. I was trying to reach out to people for help and advice in real life but I couldn't reach out someone. The latter was due to many reasons. Some of them are :

1_because I'm not American( moved to the states 4 years ago).

2-most of my friends are not american. They are my fellow citizens who are most of them not interested in education. So, they know a bit about education, colleges,etc.

3- Even though, my English has improved a lot during college, I still don't know the meaning of many formal and slang English words. This reduced my chances of meeting and reaching out to American students who can help.

4- It is hard to meet really passionate people in real life who are willing to offer advice and help to people who have the same background of mine.

I firmly decided this year to complete nursing prerequisites to hopefully be admitted into nursing programs later.

However, I have concerns about GPA and pre-requisites fulfillment.

I have 3.1 cumulative GPA, 2.85 science GPA.

I know this issue has been raised by many on this forum, but I feel my case is different.

I need more help because of my special background. I have read many questions on this forum on how to resolve a low GPA requirement, but I still feel I need to start a topic for myself because of the reasons that I mentioned above.

I have been looking lately for private nursing school that accept students with lower GPA requirement as Denver school of nursing and Remington college of nursing. The cost is very high, but I was thinking this my might be my only solution to be accepted into a nursing school. But, could I enhance my application by any means to be competitive for public schools?. I'm asking this question because I'm not comfortable going for my degree in a private school. I always think that they are scam.

I also would like to mention why I didn't do better in my academic study in school. It was mostly because of two reasons. They are:

1- My English language quality: When I moved to the states, my English was very limited. I only knew few words. however, I didn't wait to learn English well before I apply for University. I was learning English as I was learning college material at a time. Can you imagine learning a totally different language than your home language and learning science materials written and spoken in this language at the same time?. Yes, it was very hard. It wasn't the best wise decision to apply for college before learning the language well. But, my ambition for college and science couldn't stop me from learning both at a time.

2- the second reason is that I was home sick. I was thinking of my friends and family that I left back home specially when it is unsafe country.

3- It took me sometime to adapt to the American culture because I entered college right after I moved to the states.

4- These three reason have also affected my studying habit. I didn't study hard for two or three courses.

Thus, I don't feel my GPA reflects my academic ability and critical thinking. Someone can imagine that he may know the material well, but he doesn't understand the question on the exam. If he didn't receive a good grade, does it mean that he didn't know the material well?. He might didn't even understand the question because of his limited English.

now, most of the reasons have been removed because My English has improved. Also, I feel united states is my home country now.

any advice on how to enhance my application to apply for public nursing schools?. If I volunteer in a hospital and do well in my prerequisite science courses, will it improve my admission competitiveness?

Any help, advice is welcomed. Can I write a personal letter to nursing schools that I apply for mentioning the reasons that I did above? will that help?

I'm mostly looking for a second traditional bsn or Accelerated BSN.

I also need advice on how to apply to multiple nursing schools.

Since every school has its own pre-requisites and requirements, how do you fulfill all of these requirements to apply to multiple schools. I want to apply to multiple schools because that will increase my chances of being accepted somewhere in the states.

I'm really desperate for help. Feel free to give any help you can afford. Also, if someone has the same GPA concern, feel free to write and become friend with me.

Also guys feel free to even correct my writing if you notice any mistakes, haha. I'm a very friendly guy.

I just really need help!

My regards to all potential readers.

[mike2014]

Yes, I live in California. It is very competitive.But , I still don't want to give up my dream.

[mike2014]

I just don't want to give up my dream regardless of my reasons. I know I'm passionate about helping and interacting with patients.

[mike2014]

My first language is Arabic. I went to university in the states.

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

So you're in CA....so am I. In my area, you can apply to community colleges without regard to your cumulative GPA. Plus your science GPA needs to only be 3.0. 2.5 is the required GPA for non science prereqs.

You will have to wait a while to get in as most community colleges gave a waiting list or random lottery.

By the way....many California State Universities only require a 3.0 cumulative GPA and some only look at the nursing prereqs to calculate GPA.

Also, if you decide to go to a vocational LvN program, the waiting time to get into an LVN to RN bridge program at a community college is a lot shorter and the GPA requirements are the same as for regular RN programs at the community college.

Please do not assume that the other students don't want to be your Friend due to language barriers. Yes, I've seen some students assume that people who speak English as a second language are "inferior", but I have has friends from many walks of life while taking prereqs and in nursing school. You just have to keep reaching out. I have had a couple of friends / study buddies who immigrated here from other countries throughout my education.

[mike2014]

I liked your comments a lot. It left me with hope.

Regarding attending nursing in community colleges, I have heard about this option. I'm also glad to be reminded of this option again. My concerns about this option is that I don't want to wait a long time, maybe years. I'm already getting old. I'm 25. I want to start the career faster but with good education to be a good nurse. The other concern is that I always hear that employers are not really fan of nurses holding only associate degree. I keep hearing that employers want nurses with a bachelor degree in nursing. I'm still not sure if this information is true. That being said, I can go to to private school that offers ASN with no waiting list. Then, I would bridge from RN to BSN. I still think this is a good option, but the cost would be very high to pursue ASN in a private school. So, If I wanted to pursue this route, then why wouldn't I go to a private school for BSN?. What do you think?

I also liked your statement" you just have to keep reaching out". Yes, I will keep reaching out.

By the way, I also live in Northern California.

Thank you,

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Here is a list of NCLEX passing rates in CA. Board of Registered Nursing - NCLEX Pass Rates

Today...there is a trend to only hiring the BSN in acute care (hospitals) so the Accelerated BSN may be your best bet. YOu can graduate with a BSN in about 2 years...after pre-reqs...the same amount of time as an ADN. California has an approximate 47% unemployment rate of nurses in some areas.

25 is NOT old! Follow your dream.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

My oldest nursing student was 63. When you are thirty-five, twenty-five isn't going to look so darned old, trust me. :)

Given the job market and the way things are going, my strong recommendation is to go for the BSN in the most direct route possible. LVN-ADN-BSN, or even LVN-BSN will, as you note, waste time and cost more.

[kiszi, RN]

I agree with GrnTea in going with the direct route. Take your prereq's at community college if you can to save money and get the absolute best grades you can to get that science GPA over 3.0.

You can do this! Best wishes to you.

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

Hey Mike! As the OP said, 25 is not old! (-;

I was 30 when I started my prereqs.

I do understand that you want to finish quick, though.

I guess I'm speaking as a person who just *knew* I'd be getting my BSN. But life happened and I committed not to stop pursuing my BSN. I did, however, end up getting my CNA and LVN along the path to become an RN. I never thought I'd earn those other certificates/licenses.

As far as the BSN being preferred, I agree that it is. You can always do an RN to BSN (community college to State university) after you bridge. That is also an affordable option.

[mike2014]

Thank you for the list. Yes, I also think accelerated programs are the way to go, but I have a low GPA as I stated in my first post.

[mike2014]

Vintagemother, I found a nursing school that is willing to accept me as a transfer student. They said I can apply now and start in the spring.This is the good part. The worst part of the school is they will have me start nursing school almost as a freshmen student. I will have to finish 7 out of 8 semesters to graduate. I'm now wondering if I should wait and take pre-requisites. Then I apply for accelerated programs. But, they are so competitive as many claim.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Either way will take you almost exactly the same amount of time. If it's an accredited BSN program, just do it. You will not be sorry.