I graduated from UCSD with my bachelor's in Sociology 2011 with a 2.4 GPA. I recently went back to school to take Nursing pre reqs. My cumulative is ~2.8 GPA. I have a 4.0GPA in my sciences (chem, microbiology, physiology, anatomy). I've heard that some colleges look at your last 60 units which would put me at a 3.15GPA. (My last 40 units is a 3.8 but I'm including 20 from 2011 which drags my GPA down).
What are my chances at getting into a ABSN program (CSUN, Concordia in Irvine, CSULA)? Perhaps private versus CSU may be the way to go. Would they consider that I am not the same person I was in 2011 and they can clearly see that I am focused and have done nearly perfect since coming back to school and having life experience. I would definitely explain my situation in the essay or interview.
How about my chances at an ADN program at the community college level?
I definitely understand your situation and have been working through similar scenarios and options in my head for the past year. Maybe this will help:
I have a 3.2 cumulative GPA (bachelor's in business), a 3.8 in my science prereqs and have ~120 hours of hospital volunteer work. I don't have any other certificates (EMT, CNA, etc) and no work experience in the medical field beyond the volunteer hours. I got a 92% on my TEAS test. I am also a Ventura County resident.
I applied to CSUN's ABSN program and was denied, applied to Santa Barbara City College's ADN program and was denied, but I did get into Moorpark College ADN, College of the Canyons ADN and LA Pierce ADN with the above stats. I chose Moorpark College and will start this Spring (my overall score was 79.5 for their criteria) and I was told over 390 people applied for this Spring cohort.
Unfortunately CSUN doesn't even accept TEAS scores so that's one less shot to shine over a lower GPA, and their minimum cumulative GPA requirement is a 3.0. CSULA's ABSN program does accept the TEAS so if you do well that could give you an advantage for that one. I think you have a good chance of getting into a local ADN program with your stats, assuming you do well on the TEAS.
If you are stuck on wanting to complete an ABSN or Entry Level MSN program I think your best bet would be to bust out a few hundred hours of volunteer work, earn a certificate of some sort and work in the medical field for a couple years to build your application stats. Or check out the private schools, but holy $$$$$.
Personally, I've chosen to stop trying for the ABSN track and stick with the ADN program for the shorter commute, much cheaper tuition and ability to get in and start now as opposed to spending more time working to boost any future ABSN apps (that I still may not even get into due to my lower GPA). All the local community college programs I applied to offer RN-BSN tracks that can be started while you are working toward your ADN (some online and as low as ~$10k total!). I also have a few RN friends who have only an ADN and haven't had trouble finding work in local and LA hospitals. One works down at Los Robles Hospital out in T.O. So you could always work as an RN while finishing up your BSN.
My end goal is to earn a BSN and eventually an MSN, but for now I'm practicing my patience and have accepted that it's just going to take me a little longer to get there than I had originally hoped and dreamed due to the crazy amount of competition these schools have in our area.
mcnurse08
8 Posts
Hi LTC,
I definitely understand your situation and have been working through similar scenarios and options in my head for the past year. Maybe this will help:
I have a 3.2 cumulative GPA (bachelor's in business), a 3.8 in my science prereqs and have ~120 hours of hospital volunteer work. I don't have any other certificates (EMT, CNA, etc) and no work experience in the medical field beyond the volunteer hours. I got a 92% on my TEAS test. I am also a Ventura County resident.
I applied to CSUN's ABSN program and was denied, applied to Santa Barbara City College's ADN program and was denied, but I did get into Moorpark College ADN, College of the Canyons ADN and LA Pierce ADN with the above stats. I chose Moorpark College and will start this Spring (my overall score was 79.5 for their criteria) and I was told over 390 people applied for this Spring cohort.
Unfortunately CSUN doesn't even accept TEAS scores so that's one less shot to shine over a lower GPA, and their minimum cumulative GPA requirement is a 3.0. CSULA's ABSN program does accept the TEAS so if you do well that could give you an advantage for that one. I think you have a good chance of getting into a local ADN program with your stats, assuming you do well on the TEAS.
If you are stuck on wanting to complete an ABSN or Entry Level MSN program I think your best bet would be to bust out a few hundred hours of volunteer work, earn a certificate of some sort and work in the medical field for a couple years to build your application stats. Or check out the private schools, but holy $$$$$.
Personally, I've chosen to stop trying for the ABSN track and stick with the ADN program for the shorter commute, much cheaper tuition and ability to get in and start now as opposed to spending more time working to boost any future ABSN apps (that I still may not even get into due to my lower GPA). All the local community college programs I applied to offer RN-BSN tracks that can be started while you are working toward your ADN (some online and as low as ~$10k total!). I also have a few RN friends who have only an ADN and haven't had trouble finding work in local and LA hospitals. One works down at Los Robles Hospital out in T.O. So you could always work as an RN while finishing up your BSN.
My end goal is to earn a BSN and eventually an MSN, but for now I'm practicing my patience and have accepted that it's just going to take me a little longer to get there than I had originally hoped and dreamed due to the crazy amount of competition these schools have in our area.
Best of luck to you! ?