I have never really wanted to do anything else, and last semester was wonderful with fabulous instructors and great lectures.
This semester though, I have instructors who don't care, refuse to have office hours, make you teach things to yourself, and it is honestly making me question whether or not this is a field I want to get into if these are the attitudes of the people teaching me.
I have worked as a scribe for an ophthalmic surgeon for 6 years, so I know that nursing is what I want to do. I have entertained the thought of other degrees, but nothing pulls at me as much as nursing.
However, I am thrown off by the stiff competition. I currently have a 3.8, but with space so limited at my school (20 spots) people with 4.0s aren't getting in. My school doesn't do interviews or essays, GPA and HESI only.
I am a non-traditional student (I'm 25 and just started pre-reqs last semester), newly married, and wanting a career with stability, benefits, and challenges. Plus, my husband will not start a family until I have a degree, so I can't wait to get into a program for any number of years, as I'm already 25. However I am feeling very stressed by the need to be absolutely perfect in every area in order to just get into the program.
I guess my questions are this: If you are already a nurse, was the stress of school worth it? How did you cope with the need for a 4.0? Or, was you less-than 4.0 enough to get into a program?
And if you are currently a student, did you need to move to a place with more spaces in their program to get in?
I don't have straight A's either. I certainly don't have a 4.0 GPA and it boggles my mind to see how people with that high of a GPA get through the RN program without it getting beaten down and trashed to a 3-point-something.
I had a 4.0 all during pre-nursing and into nursing school, and graduated with that GPA and Summa Cum Laude designation. For that honor, my hair began falling out in handfuls, I felt like I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown, my relationships suffered, and I felt I was missing out on some of the great stuff that comes with being the mother of a toddler and infant.
If I had it to do over, I'd chill the freak out, be happy with less than perfect, and enjoy those years a bit more.
As for getting into nursing school, it depends on how competitive the school is. 2.8, as someone else mentioned, might not be even close to cutting it in today's competitive environment.
All you can do, OP, is your best. If you truly want to be a nurse, don't let a few cranky instructors stand in your way.
Horseshoe, BSN, RN
5,879 Posts
I had a 4.0 all during pre-nursing and into nursing school, and graduated with that GPA and Summa Cum Laude designation. For that honor, my hair began falling out in handfuls, I felt like I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown, my relationships suffered, and I felt I was missing out on some of the great stuff that comes with being the mother of a toddler and infant.
If I had it to do over, I'd chill the freak out, be happy with less than perfect, and enjoy those years a bit more.
As for getting into nursing school, it depends on how competitive the school is. 2.8, as someone else mentioned, might not be even close to cutting it in today's competitive environment.
All you can do, OP, is your best. If you truly want to be a nurse, don't let a few cranky instructors stand in your way.