Low GPA, wish to get into a nursing school in California

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Hi all,

I have been in community college for almost 2 1/2 years. I am trying to apply to a nursing program by Fall 2012 and I feel a bit discourage due to my GPA.

My choices for nursing schools are: Samuel Merritt, University of San Francisco, Chico State University, CSU Bakersfield, SJSU, SFSU, and CSU East Bay.

It's not yet at a competitive level, but I feel by Fall 2012, I can only achieve a 3.0 cumulative GPA and as for my science prereqs; I have gotten a D in Microbio and Anatomy. I plan to retake Anatomy in Fall '12. I'm aware that many of the schools that have nursing programs go by points system. My science pre-reqs GPA may range from 3.25-3.4 depending on the requirements that the school counts towards their calculations.

At the moment I am retaking Microbio and taking probability and statistics for the first time as well as Sociology. Also I am volunteering at a hospital.

I really want to get into USF as my first choice since it seems I might have a better chance at getting accepted in a private university rather than state universities. My pre-req for USF may range from 3.4-3.7 I believe. I still need to to talk to my counselor about what to do because I feel like I'm stuck in a rut.

However I feel that my cumulative GPA will not meet competitive requirements. Also I went to two different community colleges and hence have two different GPAs so I'm not sure how the colleges would calculate a cumulative GPA. My current GPA is 2.73 but it should raise to 2.89 if I get straight A's this semester and possibly raise to 3.01 if I remove the D I got from Anatomy with transcript renewal. I have a 4.0 at the second college I attended.

Any suggestions will help. Thank you.

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First and foremost, welcome to the AllNurses Community. :)

I really don't have any suggestions myself since I am pretty much in the same boat you are. However, I am done with all my per-requisites and currently waiting to hear back from USF.

However, I believe you can find out your GPA between the two schools by taking your GPA from your first school and multiply it by the number of credits you took there. Do the same for the second school. Divide this number by the total number of credits taken at both schools.

Good luck this semester! Microbiology shouldn't be too bad, but Sociology can tend to require a lot of reading and Statistics can be a bit tedious. Have you retaken Anatomy yet? Also, I think it's important to know that if you didn't have a C in your science courses (Introduction to Biology, Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology) that you are required to get a B your second time around. I remember reading that no the website, but I can't seem to find it now.

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Hello!So I am here to assure you that it is completely possible to get into nursing school.I graduated from Berkeley with a 2.7. Since I already had a bachelor degree, it was very difficult for me to find a program since it's mostly second bachelor programs or masters programs whose GPA averaged around 3.8. Anyway, a couple of years ago, I was stuck in a rut too. I constantly got frustrated because I felt like there was nothing I could do about my low grades from Berkeley. However, there is a LOT you can do to cover up your past.1. Get your CNA certificate. I got mine from NCP in South SF because it was cheap and only two to three months in length.2. Get a job as a CNA or a related career. You learn A LOT by doing this kind of work. It tells schools that you are ready for the nursing world.3. Retake your bad classes and get good grades. Take new classes that demonstrate you are a good student.4. After you get a job, make connections for good recommendations, preferably from your boss and/or RNs.5. Get experience in long term care facilities, hospitals and in-home. Make sure you learn from your experiences and include it in your essays and interviews. Really show case that you are dedicated to the profession.6. Brush up on basic education and master the TEAS.I applied to USF, Samuel Merritt's FNP and SFSU for three years straight and was rejected all three years. These are probably the most competitive programs in the Bay.This year, I applied to Dominican in San Rafael for their bachelor program and was accepted! I was beyond elated because it was the first time I was thrown a bone in three years. I also applied for the case management masters program this year at Samuel Merritt and was recently granted an interview. I'm nervous as hell, but I hope I can get into this program.Anyway, I thought I would just throw out that there is a lot to do to make your application outstanding. It's not just all about grades. Good luck, and send me a message of you have any questions.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/DOU/Ortho/Onc/Rehab/ER/.

First off, I'm sorry you going through this. I had the same problem. I did engineering at Cal poly and failed out. So I went back to a CC to do pre reqs, they were cheaper. Got all As and raised my GPA. Went from like starting at CC, 3.2, university was like 1.75 (eeck) and then went back to my CC and did pre reqs and now my overall is like 3.26! It can be done! However, I got straight As, starting WITH my pre reqs. So for now, like the poster above me said, redo your classes, take a CNA or EMT class and get a job. Some schools give extra points for having healthcare experience, plus you will be way ahead of your classmates! I am wondering how you have above a 3.0 in science pre req GPA if you have two Ds in the major sciences. Remake those asap. BTW as long as both schools are on the same system, semester vs quarter. Then your GPA would be relatively easy to compute. Google 'CSU fullerton GPA calculator' and its a good tool. I used it to calculate my semester and quart units. If you can't find it, just multiple each classes units with the grade, (A-4, B-3, C-2 etc..) those are your points. Add them all together and divide by units. That gives you GPA. Example: A in physiology-4 units, D in anatomy 4-units, D in micro 5-units, let's say B in gen chem 5-units and A in English 3-units. So GPA=4(4)+1(4)+1(5)+3(5)+4(3)/21 units total. Pre req GPA= 2.48

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@ Giant Panda

Oh really? Well I hope all goes well with your acceptance!

I talked to my counselor and she also explained what you have explained earlier about how to calculate the total cumulative GPA for both colleges.

I only have a C in Chem 32: Medical Chemistry which USF doesn't count in their Nursing program from what I read. I had a C in Psychology, but I retook it at another college and got an A. I think USF looks at recent grades, but guess I'll have to ask them.

Microbiology has been going well so far. It's been getting interesting and so far I am getting an overall B, haha just need to work harder to get that A.

Sociology did require a lot of reading, but I'm breezing through it since my instructor is quite lenient in terms of grading.

Thanks again for explaining the concept of how to get the total GPA. :]

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

It also depends on how your school calculates your GPA for admission to the nursing program. Some take just your cummulative GPA, some take only the grades from your pre-reqs as your "GPA". Check each program and see how they determine your GPA.

If you work hard and get good grades in your pre-reqs, you might have a better GPA than you think. Do your research, you might find a place where you can get in.

Best of luck and don't give up! :D

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Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

Moved to CA Nursing Programs for more response.

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@xzalense

I was thinking of leaning towards getting a EMT certificate from SFPA during the summer or fall 2012 because I have been reading forums regarding getting a CNA/EMT certification can give an edge. I'm not sure if I would find work since I am already a full time student and the possibility of finding work as an EMT would vary plus they have odd hours and I'm not sure how long I would have to work to get enough experience since I want to apply and graduate from a nursing program soon like everyone else haha. The time conflict becomes a problem though.

However, I have been volunteering at a hospital for a couple months now. I do plan on taking the TEAS in the summer too if I can. I'm a worried about the science portion since it varies from physical science to a ton of other fields. Any good way to brush that skill up haha?

Good luck with your interview. I wish you well and hope you get it in. Thank you for your words of wisdom, I take appreciate it and all the suggestions give me a new perspective to look at.

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@DarkBluePhoenix

I disregarded the D's since I am retaking the classes and am acing them; hence the >3.0 GPA for prereqs and also since course satisfaction varies in each school, there are different GPAS to count for the different prerequisites so its quite tedious unless you keep track which I am doing based on how each school grades the prereqs.

I have been reading each college's nursing admission pages carefully just to be sure I didn't miss anything as well as e-mailing the schools back and forth to clarify on some requirements.

Again, I'm not sure if I would be able to find work as an EMT if I plan to get an EMT certification since I have classes and also a current job I attend. I might just volunteer as an EMT if there are any opportunities out there since I am not planning to work in that field. I'm not sure if its wise, but my main goals are to get into a nursing school first and obtain my Nursing B.S.

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get A's in those classes you're retaking.

My undergrad GPA was 2.94. I did my prereqs at a JC and got straight A's. Just got into Samuel Merritt ABSN! so it is possible.. just work your butt off.

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Samuel merritt is definitely an option, just an expensive one

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Hi I saw that you applied to USF and SMU for the FNP program. I am currently in the process of applying and i noticed that they have different requirements for the public speaking portion. USF won't take a class in interpersonal communications and SMU says they won't accept a public speaking class. I only have one semester to complete the course and I don't know what to do. Any recommendations?

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