I've made a difficult decision

[Peeps Mcarthur]

Fellow 101 sufferers,

I was going to post on the thread about everybody's grades,but this turned into more than that.

Over the past two years I've been working and going to school. I have been a 4.0 up until a 1 credit class that I missed an "A" in by 4 frigging points:devil: Part of that was my job schedule interferring with study time and a 1 credit class getting pushed until the end to get time. That cut me down to a 3.94 and I ignored how hard I had worked for the "A" and the heartache of trading it for work time when I knew all along that I could have done it.

This semester I'm taking 10 credits and I've seen the quality of my work sliding. I'm constantly exhausted and leaning over pages of words that are not making any connection. There is no sense of organization in the way I plan my work. I'm constantly changing focus to try to absorb the largest portion of the studyguides,and I have no time to complete all the exercises,let alone master them.

I had been completing the LPN program so I could work as an LPN while I finished prereqs for RN. My test grades were.......94,88.then the bottom fell out.............I got a 76:confused: that is just 2 points(one question) from failing and having to take the exam again concurrent with the cumulative final:eek:

What sense would it make to get an LPN so I could continue to work and get these crappy grades? Besides the fact I would still be working,it would take another year to complete the prereqs instead of going into 201 in the fall of 2004.

I gave notice at work(a job I've had for three years) and will be going full-time to school. Since the program is concurrent with the RN it won't be a problem to get a spot in 2004.....................enrollment is competitive and I never would have made it at this speed.

I wondered how many people work 20 hrs or more and maintain a 4.0,or work at all for that matter...so here is a poll.

Please comment about how your workload effects your grades.

[renerian, BSN, RN]

I got a 3.0 in my ADN program, a 3.84 in my BS program and a 3.5 in my MS so far. I am in between jobs now but am starting one next monday, 40 hours plus I have five kids and volunteer for hospice. I am whipped literally all the time. I know I will be while I am in school. Wow I think you put way to much pressure on yourself as far as grades. Can you cut your hours back or something? I have never had a friend who got a 4.0 average either. No one looks at your grades when you graduate except another school looking at your transcripts. I think you need to decide what needs to give in your life and what has the most priority. Only you can do that...Good luck and I know it is not easy at all.

Hugs,

renerian

[Rena RN 2003, RN]

ooooh.....the pressure of the 4.0.

i used to have that. until i entered nursing school and decided there was no way i could possible remember absolutely everything. i'm currently working prn (maybe 15 hours every 4 weeks :chuckle ) and carry 11 credit hours, and round that out with 3 kids (2, 11, and 42 ).

i have to agree with susan, ease up on the 4.0. you'll make yourself crazy.

[epg_pei]

4.0? Um, why?

[OBNURSEHEATHER]

Originally posted by epg_pei

4.0? Um, why?

I was wondering the same. I've never been asked my GPA at a job interview! Good thing, because I don't even remember!

Heather

[BioRN]

I can relate. I am interested in combining work and school for the spring of 2003. I have been accepted to the clinical portion of the ADN program and I am very nervous about being able to do it all. I need to work(20 hours/week) for the money because financial aid is non-existant for students with a B.S. in another subject. My sample schedule for spring only allows for studying on the weekends and on the train to work (3 hours/day). My children (ages 8 and 12 years) are bound to suffer. Do I tell them to drop out of scouts and church. Also what about the monthly orthodontist appointments? There is not going to be any way to get them to where they need to be and work and study and get to clinicals and classes. I am just hoping to lower my standards for grades and pass. I am a 3.7 GPA student overall but for the next two years my goal is just to make it through!!

Bio RN (to be)

[adrienurse, LPN]

Let me express my amazement with anyone who is working and holding down a 4.0 GPA. You have impressed me. I worked weekends and went to school full-time and pulled a (barely) 3.0 average. Once you have got that nursing job, your marks are not significant, how well you can BS the profs in your papers means nothing in the real world. It is your understanding of the knowledge that you have retained from the courses, and the skills that you have learned that matter. It is not worth killing yourself to get a 4.0 GPA if you need to work to pay for school (and live).

That being said, my marks are coming back to haunt me now as I am trying to get into Graduate school. Oh well, live and learn.

[Peeps Mcarthur]

Posted by Adriennenurse

That being said, my marks are coming back to haunt me now as I am trying to get into Graduate school. Oh well, live and learn.

That's what I'm talking about!

The 4.0 is OVER. My grades are starting to slide(94,88........76, my other class doesn't get any attention, but the real problem is the NP programs, that I have looked at anyway, have a 3.2 GPA requirement just to make an application. That requirement speaks nothing of the actual competition in getting a seat ahead of someone else.

I know that C=RN, but B definitely doesn't equal NP student.

So there I will be after my BS is completed, without being able to reach my goal. Maybe the ol' GPA would be so far in the crapper that I wouldn't be able to even get into BSN.

True, in the job interview they won't ask me what the chick's name was that impacted nursing during the crimean war(they actually had that on the last test:rolleyes: what a steaming load), but my opportunities for academic advancement in the future become more narrow with each "C", and a prospective employer will certainly want to know that.

[Peeps Mcarthur]

I see a flaw in my poll. I didn't consider the people that don't care if they do anything but pass, and work because of that.

However in my course a 75 is a fail. Above 75 is required to continue. My program recommends 60 hours a week for study and participation. There are programs that you can only access on campus during lab hours. There is information given in theory class that isn't in the text books,numerous movies,computer programs, or practice lab.

Maybe some programs don't require such dedication, but if you had a 40 hour a week job in my program you would have 100 hrs of your week spoken for before you tally preparation time for those activities.

There are 168 hrs in a week. If you get 7 hours for rest a day your down to 119. Maybe if you put off bathing and have an aide to keep your TPN running, and avoid any contact with significant others in your life, then it's doable:chuckle

[Rena RN 2003, RN]

if NP is your ultimate goal and you know that you need the grades to get in, then it seems to me the decision is already made for you. drop the job and hit the books.

you know that NP will be well worth it in the end even if you have to sacrafice eating noodles 5 days a week now.

good luck peeps. :)

[peaceful2100, BSN, RN]

I agree with what RENA says. If you want to eventually go to school for NP then drop the job if you feel it is interefering with your ability to get the grades you are trying to get.

I am working towards graduate school one day as well and once I dropped my job the grades significantly improved. I am now eligible for graduate school GPA wise. Now, I just have to keep the GPA up and once I gain a few years experience after graduation, take the admission tests, get a good score and hopefully get accepted. I can understand trying to maintain a 4.0 but many Graduate schools do not LOOK for a 4.0 GPA. It is an added plus though when you are applying for scholarships.

[Mkue]

I don't work right now and I get mostly "B"s once in a while an "A", I'm content.

I think I have a 3.8, maybe I should start worrying about it, would eventually like to do a RN to MSN program.