Masters and GPA in Canada

[Sipe]

Hello everyone,

It is lovely to meet you all. I am currently a BScN RN working as a Mental Health and Addictions School Nurse also a Policy and Political Action Officer with RNAO. I have been nursing for about 5 years with a variety of experiences mainly in mental health. I also acquired several certificates during my career.

My inquiry is about my undergraduate GPA and a possible attendance to a local University. My GPA from the 2 final years of nursing is 2.998. It becomes lower when I combine all 4 years, sadly. It is a sad blow when I calculated it, but I am resilient and can move forward. I had several problematic factors that happened during my nursing studies, but it is something that I grew from professionally and personally.

I am wondering if others here have had a lower GPA, but were successfully accepted for graduate studies in a Masters of Science in Nursing or Masters in Nursing within Canada (I'm applying in Ontario). I also want to do distance education since I have to work full-time to meet ends meet.

All comments and tips would be greatly appreciated. I plan to apply January 2015 for a program in September.

Thank you for reading!

[eeenfermera]

Most programs that I have seen have a GPA requirement of 3.0 or 3.3, with competitive averages being somewhat higher. This means that based on grades alone, you are probably not be a competitive candidate. However, don't lose hope! There are things you can do to improve your GPA that some schools find acceptable. Would you consider taking a few university classes part-time? For example, if a program based admissions on the last 60 university credits taken, then you could take university courses as an adult student with an undeclared major; if these grades are better than your other ones, than that will improve your GPA. Depending on your circumstances, some schools also have an application category for applicants with "diverse qualifications", who do not meet the application requirement but can explain the reasons why they don't, the professional and personal growth they have experienced, and the reasons why they believe they are still an excellent candidate for the program.

It is not impossible to find a master's program that will admit you with a low-ish GPA. It is also not difficult to find a master's program that is distance education. However, finding a program that is part time AND distance education AND accepts students with a GPA

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

All Masters programs are extremely competitive. It's unlikely that anyone would be accepted with a 3.0, even though that's the posted GPA. Most people applying to Masters programs are above 3.4 these days.