just a few questions....why 5 yrs? & only concider gpa?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I have completed one year of my pre reqs. and start my second year of pre reqs. in the fall. I have to take 2 years of these classes before being able to apply to the nursing program. Okay, why is it that several other students that I've talked to only have one year of pre reqs? Is it because they started college right after high school and I did'nt start until I was 37? I just can't figure out why so many say that they will graduate after 4 years, when I won't graduate until 5 years? My second question...when I finally do get able to apply for the nursing program next spring, is gpa all that is concidered in their choice making? I've been able to keep a 4.0 thus far, and hopefully I'm able to continue with that gpa, or something close :) So, if I still have a 4.0 when I apply would that mean I'd for sure be accepted? Are there other factors they concider besides gpa? Such as past medical experience or age? Students are not required at my school to have a cna before admittance, but would they more than likely choose those students with past experience before the one's who have no experience? Sorry if these questions have been asked by other posters. I'm new to this site and I always try to look over past post for answers so I don't bore everyone with repeat questions :) Thanks in advance to all that reply! :)

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Different programs have different requirements. An ADN program tends to have fewer pre-reqs than BSN programs. Also, if you are going for a BSN, generally the first 2 years of school are lower division and pre-reqs and the last 2 years would be nursing classes. If you have questions about requirements and timeline, it is probably best to sit down with a counselor at the college you are going to. And in terms of what schools look at, it depends. You may need to supply letters of recommendation, a resume, take an entrance exam, etc and all those would weigh in on your acceptance.

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thank you...yes, there are many questions that I still have that I need to ask my nursing advisor...and I plan on making an appointment with him at the start of the next semester.

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Oh, I almost forgot....I have to take 3 yrs. of the nursing program after my 2 yrs. of pre-reqs. giving me a total of 5 yrs. Is this the norm? It is for BSN.

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What school is it? I haven't seen a 3 year BSN program if you are done with pre-reqs.

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In order to do pre-reqs in a year most people will do a full load of classes for the fall and spring semesters and take additional classes through the summer. At my school we can take up to four classes in the summer. As for applying and getting accepted, that depends on the particular school that you are applying to. Age and experience doesn't count when applying. Some schools will look at only the gpa of the pre-reqs pertaining to their program and others will take into account the gpa of ALL the classes that you haven taken so far. Where I live there are several schools to apply to but each one has it's own requirements. If I were you I would look into all of the available schools then compare the requirements and see which one you can do the fastest. In some cases the pre-reqs will overlap which will let you be able to apply to more than one school at a time. And also be sure to check the applicationn periods. It's very important to know how many application periods each school has and see what classes you will need in order to get into the very next group of applicants....it could mean the difference between a 6-12 month wait. Good Luck!

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I am not sure about the prereqs, but most schools usually finish in 2 yrs, wonder why yours is 3? As far as what colleges look for, it's different everywhere. The school I am going to does points. So many points for GPA, for past medical experience, for Teas test and for certain prereqs done (micro, AP2, communications, history). The more points you have the better your shot at getting in.

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I don't know why our nursing program is 3 years...I'll add that to the questions I plan on asking my advisor. As far as taking a full class load I do that also. I am full time, my first semester I had 12 credit hours, and my second semester I had 14 credit hours. My future classes are planned as far as what I have to take and those too are full time. I asked about taking some during the summer but they do not offer most of the classes that I need during that time. I had no idea, I just assumed that every college had a 3 year program...hmmm.

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As said before, different programs have different requirements. Yes, people with 4.0 GPAs are rejected at some schools. That is the nature of the nursing school situation in this day and age. You should apply to all the programs available nearby and be prepared to apply to more, before you find one to attend. As for time required for prerequisites, you can take as many classes as possible, that you can handle, to speed up the process. When you reach the limit, say 18 hours, at one school, you can take another class at a different school. But common sense tells you that you will have a very, very hard time maintaining a 4.0 GPA by overloading yourself.

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Totally depends on the program. And yes I have seen 3 Yr BSN tracks, the reason I chose the ADN Program I am in. The local uni closest to me has a 3 yr BSN track. I am in an ADN program and it will take me the same amount of time to get my BSN, but the great thing for me is that I get to break that time up and at least get my ADN first, and be able to work. The ADN program I'm in is a total of 3.5 yrs (pre-reqs included). I have enough classes under my belt that it will only take me another 1.5 yrs to get my BSN. Just made more sense for me to do it this way than to do 5 yrs straight. And talking to some folks that go to the uni that has a 3 yr track, it can take some people up to 6 yrs to complete. Depends on how fast they finish pre-reqs, or if they end up repeating a nursing course.

As others have said, same thing when it comes to being accepted. Varies by school. My school only looks at GPA and TEAS V scores. No points for prior healthcare experience.

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The BSN program that I'm applying to is 3 years too. But our pre-requisites aren't two years long. I have 8 pre-reqs to take in total for the program and I don't have to finish them all before I apply so I'm applying after my 1st semester when I have 5 of them done.

In my program they basically accept anyone with a 4.0 and a 90+ on the TEAS. We have to turn in letters of rec and an essay but they only use those to decide for those that don't have a high GPA or TEAS scores.

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Welcome to Allnurses

Some people get through prereqs faster by taking college credits while they are in college, either through dual enrollment programs or Advanced Placement classes/tests. CLEP is a option at some schools. A few people count from when they decide to switch to nursing and they don't count credits they already had when they decided.

Maybe some of the difference is nursing programs that run through the summer vs taking the summers off. There are also BS programs that are just designed to take five years.

Experience matters at my school, sort of. It is not listed as mattering but it shows (helps) in how people answer questions in the interview. As far as I can tell age neither helps nor hurts. My school looks at gpa (in certain classes only), ACT scores, and the interview... I think it is 30/30/40 if you make it as far as the interview. It will probably be a different mix at your school.

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