Lost and confused. Would appreciate any advice!

pmabraham, BSN, RN · Jun 28, 2014

Good day, e1234:

Does your university/college have a nursing program? If yes, then talk to an advisor, and share your story. Do you believe that what you felt while shadowing will translate into motivation to go far above and beyond anything you've done in the past? Then go for it. If the college doesn't have a nursing program, then consider transferring to one that does; it will clean the GPA (you start at 0 with just the credit transfers) allowing you to shoot for a 4.0.

Thank you.

ATBStudent · Jun 28, 2014

I was a lot like you. Top 7% in my high school and then just...tanked in college (as a bio major). Bad grades, depression...all of it. I will admit that the lowest my GPA ever got was 2.8 BUT some of those bad grades were nursing pre-reqs so...it was bad. My advisor told me that there was no way I could get into a nursing program. But I retook all the classes I got Ds and Fs in. Brought my GPA back up above a 3.0. I actually wound up transferring schools and graduating with my B.A in biology. I will say that for the most part (after retaking some) I had a good GPA in my pre-reqs. I think my degree helped me to show the nursing programs I applied to that I was determined (never a bad thing). I got into an ADN program with a bridge option to BSN. So, what I'm saying is it's possible - it just might not be as clean of a path getting there. Maybe you'll have to get an associates first and then bridge...and that's okay. But getting your GPA up and retaking failed classes is a MUST.

Peanut&Buttercup · Jun 28, 2014

I graduated with a 2.67. I had 3 D's and 3 A's -- the rest were B's andC's.

Fast forward 20 years (you are lucky you figured it out much sooner than I did). Obviously, anything I had taken was too old. Schools I talked to were unrelenting in that 3.0 requirement, so I made a spreadsheet to figure out how many credits I needed to get up to a 3.0. In 3 semesters, I took 55 credits while working full time. Those credits include all prerequisites, all non-nursing requirements and a bunch of other classes to get my GPA up.

I'm still a little bit below a 3.0 overall, but I have a 4.0 in those 55 credits. I also rocked the TEAS.

I was accepted to an ADN program that starts in the fall. I was able to find a program only considers your GPA in certain courses and the TEAS.

There are many paths to RN. With my GPA, an accelerated BSN or direct entry MSN was not in the cards. That's ok. I'll be done with my ADN in 3 semesters for super cheap. I can do a RN-BSN program later if I want. I get to the same place. It just may take me a little longer.

You can too. Good luck.

SerenityKris · Jun 28, 2014

My first time in college I completely tanked. When I left at 20 years old my GPA was a 2.4.

Fast forward about 15 years... I wanted to be a nurse. I sat and calculated exactly how many credits worth of As I would need to get my GPA up enough to apply for nursing school. It took some time but eventually I got it where I needed it to be. From the time I went back to the time I started nursing school I got nothing but As.

Colleges should be more forgiving when it comes to someone going back to school 15+ years later. You aren't the same person at 18 that you are at 40.

RunBabyRN · Jun 28, 2014

I also had a poor GPA when I first went to college. It took taking a break and gaining life experience to come back and do a lot of damage control to improve my GPA and to get the necessary grades in my nursing prereqs to pursue my BSN. Thankfully I was able to do so, but it took a lot of work to undo the mess I'd made. It can be done.

Consider getting your CNA cert and taking a break from school while working for a bit. You'd be working with nurses and in the field, and you will grow up a bit and gain some life experience. My GPA is nearly a 4.0 since my return to school (including my nursing program), but averages to just under a 3.4 with all of my grades from before. While I wish I could have figured all this out earlier in life, it just wasn't going to happen. I kept biting off more than I could chew (like taking anatomy, physiology and microbiology all in one semester while working two jobs... can we say REPEAT?), even after finding the motivation to get serious about my studies. It was only once I realized I needed to SLOW DOWN and start with one class, then two and so forth that my grades shot up.

If you do end up having to repeat some courses, you'll need to research which schools allow for repeats, as not all do.

e1234 · Jun 28, 2014

Thanks for you reply.

My university doesn't have an undergraduate nursing program, but a graduate one (BS/BA to BSN, RN to BSN, etc). I am thinking of one that does, and the clean slate would really help me out. Just one question, is this the same with all the nursing schools (the clean slate)?

RunBabyRN · Jun 28, 2014

Thanks for you reply.
My university doesn't have an undergraduate nursing program, but a graduate one (BS/BA to BSN, RN to BSN, etc). I am thinking of one that does, and the clean slate would really help me out. Just one question, is this the same with all the nursing schools (the clean slate)?

BSN is still undergrad- it's when you get to master's level that it's considered post-grad.

Be aware that if you are caught not submitting old transcripts, some schools may dismiss you for academic dishonesty. You may want to research this before omitting transcripts. I kept all of mine in because I didn't want to take this risk after working so hard to get in.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Jun 30, 2014

"Just one question, is this the same with all the nursing schools (the clean slate)?"

Nursing schools are not standardized at all. Each school may handle grade calculations and pre-requisites differently. Some may remove the original course from your GPA calculation if you re-take & get a better grade... but some may simply average the two.

One more thing to consider. The dreaded "Satisfactory Academic Progress" (SAP) guidelines include a limit on the number of hours/time in terms of eligibility for financial aid. Generally, you will max out with your first Bachelor's degree - and have to rely on other sources to finance any additional education. You may want to look into this as part of your ongoing investigation.

llg, PhD, RN · Jun 30, 2014

One more thing to consider. The dreaded "Satisfactory Academic Progress" (SAP) guidelines include a limit on the number of hours/time in terms of eligibility for financial aid. Generally, you will max out with your first Bachelor's degree - and have to rely on other sources to finance any additional education. You may want to look into this as part of your ongoing investigation.

I strongly urge you to research the finances before spending another dime on that biology major -- or any courses -- until you have a firm plan and have done your research on the specific nursing programs that you will be applying to. Far too many people continue to take courses in a major they don't want "just to finish their degree" or wrongly assuming they will help them get into nursing school. They waste enormous amounts of money, use up all the eligibility for undergraduate financial aid, and end up with such large student loan debt that it cripples their financial lives for decades.

You should consider taking some time off from school to get a job in health care to see how you like it ... while you earn some money and explore your educational options. But before you do anything, meet with the financial advisor of your current school to be sure you know what implications dropping out and/or any other actions you may take will have upon your financial life.

Njohnson1292 · Jun 30, 2014

Admirable work.