Looking for a school! Help!

slou! · Oct 31, 2006

Okay, there are TONS and tons of nursing schools across the US, so you have plenty to choose from! So I just did a search on collegeboard.com, with the requirements of the search being Nursing majors (ADN or BSN) and 50% of the students in the school have a GPA of 2.0-3.0, not saying yours is but since your current GPA is between there, I did that in the search :)

Here is the link to that search:

http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/servlet/advsearchservlet?buttonPressed=viewResults&navigateTo=9&viewpage=1

It has 58 results, and most colleges in the US (if not all!) are registered with college board. I would check the websites of the colleges to make sure that the nursing programs are ones that fit you personally! If you can't see the results if it didn't work, then you should do a College Matchmaker search. Put in any other requirements you want in a college, they have tons of options from whether or not the college is wireless to the GPA requirements! This should give you a better idea of the nursing schools out there that fit your needs :)

Good luck!

raiinstorm · Oct 31, 2006

Thank you Slou!! I didn't know of that site. I had been using Petersons for a long time, but they just didn't have the type of filters I was looking for.

You've been very helpful. Hopefully this will help me find the college that will accept me!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 31, 2006

Your best bet is a private, expensive RN program. The private colleges and universities tend to look less at your grades and more at other factors, such as ability to pay and solid test scores. Maric College in San Diego will accept you into their RN program with your grades, and their only prerequisite is that you have your CNA certification.

It is tremendously difficult to gain acceptance into a public college's nursing program with a 3.0 grade point average. My local community college says they'll accept applicants with a minimum 2.5, but the number of applicants is so overwhelming that their real cut-off is a 3.8 grade point average. People who had 3.6 and 3.7 gpa's did not make the cut and were rejected.

WDWpixieRN, RN · Oct 31, 2006

The St. Louis Community Colleges requirements are listed here:

http://www.stlcc.edu/nursing/

The wait is between 1 & 2 years, depending on how many people drop off of the list, can't pass the dosage calculations test, etc....

I know years ago that Chaffey Community College in Alta Loma, CA ( http://www.chaffey.edu/welcome.shtml )used to be on a semester system, but I am not sure anymore. Don't know anything about their acceptance criteria either, but I have read numerous times over on this site of impacted schools in CA....good luck!!

BeccaznRN, RN · Nov 1, 2006

The best advice I can give you is to start applying to every school you would be willing to attend. I realize this can get quite expensive if you are willing to go anywhere in the Unites States, though.....start doing research on schools. Go to each state's board of nursing website (a link to each state's website can be found at https://www.ncsbn.org/515.htm) and start researching schools. If you are willing to go to any US school, your chances of finding a school that will accept you are pretty high, no matter what your GPA.

Best of luck!

catzy5 · Nov 1, 2006

Hi,
I'm looking for a school to get my RN. This can be either the ASN or BSN I don't care which I start with, but I don't want an LPN.
I don't care if I have to wait a year either, but two years is kinda pushing it.
Is there ANY school out there without a waiting list? Do you know of it?
I don't have the hottest academic record. I stupidly tried to pull off college while still dealing with an abusive family, and trying to balance the two just never worked. So now I have a 2.84 GPA (which will improve when I finish off Anatomy, Chemistry, and Medical Terminology.. hopefully to a 3.0).
But the biggest issue, is that I have a lot of withdrawals on my record.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me on where I can find a school that would give me a second chance?
I am really ready for school now that I've got my CNA, I've worked in a hospital, I can get hired with a decent enough wage to make it on my own and I finally KNOW I want to go into nursing. I'm needing a second chance.
I will go to any school in the United States.
Oh and BONUS if you know of any school that is on the QUARTERS system instead of the SEMESTERS system. I prefer quarters, but none of our schools here in Minnesota have them.
Thanks guys!
~Rain

I don't know of any schools at all without a wait, most of us here will tell you the schools we attend either have long waits or are based on very high GPAs and Points systems.

However I will say with your experience perhaps the LVN route isn't a bad idea, as you could use it as a stepping stone and bridge over to the RN program. At my school we have a few steps regular ADN class to get the RN however that is based strictly on the highest GPA and your looking at about a 3.8 right now. The next way is LVN its a 3 month course you only need a couple easy pre reqs and from there you could bridge over to RN one extra year of school theoreticly its an extra semester, you start the RN program in the second year as a bridge student. There are not as many applicants so its a little easier to get in, also there seems to be a lot of bridge programs out there.

One other thing at my school they have a part time LVN program focused on the student who is currently working as a CNA if you are a cna you can take this course and from what they said at our last orientation there is usually no wait for this course.

Also I wanted to add one more thought many schools do not look at your whole GPA mine looks only at the pre requisets so I have some C's in other classes however I have a 4.0 in all my core courses.

I hope that helps some.

catzy5 · Nov 1, 2006

Okay, there are TONS and tons of nursing schools across the US, so you have plenty to choose from! So I just did a search on collegeboard.com, with the requirements of the search being Nursing majors (ADN or BSN) and 50% of the students in the school have a GPA of 2.0-3.0, not saying yours is but since your current GPA is between there, I did that in the search :)
Here is the link to that search:
http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/servlet/advsearchservlet?buttonPressed=viewResults&navigateTo=9&viewpage=1
It has 58 results, and most colleges in the US (if not all!) are registered with college board. I would check the websites of the colleges to make sure that the nursing programs are ones that fit you personally! If you can't see the results if it didn't work, then you should do a College Matchmaker search. Put in any other requirements you want in a college, they have tons of options from whether or not the college is wireless to the GPA requirements! This should give you a better idea of the nursing schools out there that fit your needs :)
Good luck!

I am not sure how accurate that GPA search would be if you look at my college requirements you would see a 2.5 is all you need also the other college close to me says the same thing, I actually started at this school thinking it would be a breeze to get in just maintain a 3.5 however in reality 4.0 is what they are looking at right now because of the amount of applicants vs the amount of spots available.

catzy5 · Nov 1, 2006

I don't know of any schools at all without a wait, most of us here will tell you the schools we attend either have long waits or are based on very high GPAs and Points systems.
However I will say with your experience perhaps the LVN route isn't a bad idea, as you could use it as a stepping stone and bridge over to the RN program. At my school we have a few steps regular ADN class to get the RN however that is based strictly on the highest GPA and your looking at about a 3.8 right now. The next way is LVN its a 3 month course you only need a couple easy pre reqs and from there you could bridge over to RN one extra year of school theoreticly its an extra semester, you start the RN program in the second year as a bridge student. There are not as many applicants so its a little easier to get in, also there seems to be a lot of bridge programs out there.
One other thing at my school they have a part time LVN program focused on the student who is currently working as a CNA if you are a cna you can take this course and from what they said at our last orientation there is usually no wait for this course.
Also I wanted to add one more thought many schools do not look at your whole GPA mine looks only at the pre requisets so I have some C's in other classes however I have a 4.0 in all my core courses.
I hope that helps some.

The next way is LVN its a 3 month course

I am sorry I didn't re read my post I am editing my post its not 3 MOTH rather 3 Semester!

BSNtobe2009 · Nov 1, 2006

Hey, I just want to throw this out there, and I absolutely do not want to offend anyone at all.

For those that applied to nursing school programs where you had to have a "near 4.0" to get accepted, I do not think it is fair to make a generalization that all nursing schools are like that, because if they were, I wouldn't even be applying at all.

Some schools look at overall GPA, some look at only your science GPA, some will take a lower GPA if you have a high entrance exam score, some have a lottery, some have an interview that can count as much as 50% toward being accepted, and the list goes on.

When new students post that they are looking at nursing school it really bothers me that some may be incorrectly advising someone that if they don't have a near 4.0 or they can forget about nursing school or have to retake every B and C they ever got. That is just not true for all schools, and with a little digging, you can find ones where you don't need those kinds of grades.

The one aspect I have seen consistent with all nursing schools is that they have a little "catch" in their admissions process...they all list their requirements and it's followed by, "...or as deemed appropriate by the admissions board" or something to that effect.

Translation: That allows them to allow entry for WHOMEVER they wish to grant it to for whatever reason, and they don't owe anyone an explaination of how they made their choice.

Granted, the best policy is to get the highest grades that you possibly can, but speaking from someone who has not been to school in 12 years, schools can and do make some exceptions. The school I am looking to get my BSN at has a policy for former graduates where if it has been more than 10 years since you have been to the school, and have RECENTLY completed more than 12 hours of courework....they ONLY look at the NEW grades and disregard the other GPA.

The nutty policies that colleges have are endless, and the best thing to do is to schedule an appointment with each admissions instructor either in person or by phone, and find out what your chances are.

catzy5 · Nov 1, 2006

Hey, I just want to throw this out there, and I absolutely do not want to offend anyone at all.
For those that applied to nursing school programs where you had to have a "near 4.0" to get accepted, I do not think it is fair to make a generalization that all nursing schools are like that, because if they were, I wouldn't even be applying at all.
Some schools look at overall GPA, some look at only your science GPA, some will take a lower GPA if you have a high entrance exam score, some have a lottery, some have an interview that can count as much as 50% toward being accepted, and the list goes on.
When new students post that they are looking at nursing school it really bothers me that some may be incorrectly advising someone that if they don't have a near 4.0 or they can forget about nursing school or have to retake every B and C they ever got. That is just not true for all schools, and with a little digging, you can find ones where you don't need those kinds of grades.
The one aspect I have seen consistent with all nursing schools is that they have a little "catch" in their admissions process...they all list their requirements and it's followed by, "...or as deemed appropriate by the admissions board" or something to that effect.
Translation: That allows them to allow entry for WHOMEVER they wish to grant it to for whatever reason, and they don't owe anyone an explaination of how they made their choice.
Granted, the best policy is to get the highest grades that you possibly can, but speaking from someone who has not been to school in 12 years, schools can and do make some exceptions. The school I am looking to get my BSN at has a policy for former graduates where if it has been more than 10 years since you have been to the school, and have RECENTLY completed more than 12 hours of courework....they ONLY look at the NEW grades and disregard the other GPA.
The nutty policies that colleges have are endless, and the best thing to do is to schedule an appointment with each admissions instructor either in person or by phone, and find out what your chances are.

I agree with you I don't think I have read on here that people are saying you can only get in with the highest grades, I think I have read everyone has said do some research and call and ask around you can't go by message boards you can't even go by nursing department/school websites you have to physically talk to people. Most of us are posting our experiences thats all. I have only posted what I have been thru at MY school I never said it was like that everywhere, just throwing out some other options for her to look at. I was going to do the LVN Bridge because I was worried about my GPA too but after going to the school and sitting thru orientation I changed my mind.

BSNtobe2009 · Nov 1, 2006

I agree with you I don't think I have read on here that people are saying you can only get in with the highest grades, I think I have read everyone has said do some research and call and ask around you can't go by message boards you can't even go by nursing department/school websites you have to physically talk to people. Most of us are posting our experiences thats all. I have only posted what I have been thru at MY school I never said it was like that everywhere, just throwing out some other options for her to look at. I was going to do the LVN Bridge because I was worried about my GPA too but after going to the school and sitting thru orientation I changed my mind.

I agree with you, but think of it like this...if you posted the same question and it was followed by 10 or 15 posts where people said, "my school didn't take anyone below a 3.9, 3.8, 4.0, etc).

What would be your impression of how a 2.8 would fly? That's all I'm saying.