Navy Nurse Candidate Program; help w/ my bad situation

Published

Hello,

I'm new to this board. If I'm posting regarding an issue that has already been settled, or posting in the wrong board, please kindly point me in the right direction.

I qualified at MEPS and I am ready to send in my application; however, I've just run into a giant problem. I was accessing transcripts from my old colleges for the first time in a very long time, and this is when I realized I might just be "SOL". The passage below is from the "Applicant's Remarks" section of my application and explains my situation:

" In the fall of 2009, I applied to and was accepted by D'Youville College in Buffalo, New York. At the same time, I was enrolled in two courses at another institution, New York City College of Technology (located in New York City).

Prior to Fall of 2009, my grades were near perfect while I attended NYC College of Technology. My GPA was 3.59, and all but one of my grades were either "A" or "A-"; the outlier being one "B-". In the fall of 2009, however, I was instructed by my new college (D'Youville College) to visit Buffalo in order to take a placement examination. This placement examination was scheduled for the same week that final exams were scheduled at NYC College of Technology. I made a decision that a test being administered by my new institution and it's School of Nursing should take priority over final exams at my old institution. Thus, I could not remain in NYC long enough to take my final exams, and this resulted in a semester GPA of 0.00 for Fall of 2009. This incident dropped my GPA from 3.59 to 2.55. If I had the chance to remain in NYC long enough to take my final exams, I'm confident that I could have raised my GPA to well above a 3.60. Unfortunately, the circumstances didn't allow me to remain there and it was far too late to withdraw without financial and academic penalty.

That unfortunate semester now threatens my Navy NCP application. When using all three of my college transcripts (including the semester GPA of 0.00), my GPA is calculated to be 2.93. However, if calculated without the 0.00 GPA from Fall 2009, my GPA is a 3.14.

I very respectfully request that the board take this unfortunate situation into consideration when making their decision regarding my application. At D'Youville College, I completed the two courses responsible for that undeserved 0.00 GPA in NYC and earned a "B"(in Chemistry) and an "A" (in Statistics). I am not now, nor have I ever been, a person capable of genuinely receiving even one "F"; much less two."

I believe the minimum required GPA is 3.00. Are they even going to look inside my application to read my explanation? Would they care even if they did? Has anyone here ever been accepted (or know of someone who has) with a slightly less than 3.0 GPA when all previous college transcripts were used to calculate it? For those currently in NCP, what do you think my odds are at this point?

I've always aspired to be an officer of the US Navy, and I thought that nursing is what I can contribute. With the recent cutbacks to the military, I doubt the Navy would take any new-grads, other than NCP. I'm panicking; I think my dream job and dream life has just been shattered because of the smallest event that took place 3.5 years ago...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

You skipped your final exams. How is that an "undeserved" failure?

You didn't follow through on a prior commitment; I don't have experience with the Navy but I imagine you'd do better to acknowledge your poor decision and talk about what you learned and what you'd do differently.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yea i realized that upon rereading it. I've since changed that; general idea I'm pushing is that it's a very atypical semester =/ one is all it takes when it's this big of a screwup...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Trauma-Surgical, Case Management, Clinic.

Is there anyway you can leave the 0.00 transcript off? I think including your letter is fine but it comes of as you placing blame on others for your decision. We all make mistakes, good luck.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yea I've been getting that feeling as well; Changing the entire thing for a third time.

I think I have to include every transcript in the application; not doing so would be deception and I don't think that can end well when you're dealing with the Navy ;)

I'll just tell the blunt truth and hope it's good enough; thanks for the suggestions!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

edited:

"In the fall of 2009, I applied to and was accepted by D'Youville College in Buffalo, New York. At the same time, I was enrolled in two courses at another institution, New York City College of.

Prior to Fall of 2009, my grades were near perfect while I attended NYC College of Technology. My GPA was 3.59, and all but one of my grades were either "A" or "A-"; the outlier being one "B-". In the fall of 2009, however, I was instructed by my new college (D'Youville College) to visit Buffalo in order to take a placement examination. This placement examination was scheduled for the same week that final exams were scheduled at NYC College of Technology. I made a decision that a test being administered by my new institution and its School of Nursing should take priority over final exams at my old institution. I now realize that this was a mistake. I could not remain in NYC long enough to take my final exams, and this resulted in a semester GPA of 0.00 for Fall of 2009. This incident dropped my GPA from 3.59 to 2.55. If I could have remained in NYC long enough to take my final exams, I'm confident that I could have raised my GPA to well above a 3.60. Unfortunately, the circumstances didn't allow for that, and it was far too late to withdraw without financial and academic penalty.

That semester and the decisions I made during at the time now threaten my Navy NCP application. When using all three of my college transcripts (including the semester GPA of 0.00), my GPA is calculated to be 2.93. However, if calculated without the 0.00 GPA from Fall 2009, my GPA is a 3.14.

I very respectfully request that the board take this unfortunate situation into consideration when making their decision regarding my application. At D'Youville College, I completed the two courses responsible for the 0.00 GPA in NYC and earned a "B"(in Chemistry) and an "A" (in Statistics). This has been an experience that I’ve learned from and will never allow to happen again."

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER/ICU/STICU.

It's anyone's guess, but 3.5 years ago in military terms is not that long ago. They go over every application with a fine tooth comb, and with the competitiveness of the programs increasing this will definitely be a set back. They may look at your reasoning and be understanding or, as others have pointed out, they could see it as a lack of responsibility and hold it against you.

If you don't make it this time around, I would look into rectifying the situation. Contact the other school and see what can be done. You may have to re-take the classes to get rid of that 0.00 GPA. Good luck.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yeah, it all makes sense.

It was a bit optimistic with a 3.14 GPA; but with a 2.93 and this entire issue, I'm not expecting good news. Regardless, I'll send in my package tomorrow and await judgement. Hopefully I have a better shot at being direct-commissioned some time after graduation; that will give me enough time to rectify the situation.

For anyone else who might be interested (2014 graduates); here's what I've gathered from my recruiter so far:

76 NCP applications will be accepted

25 seats have already been offered

16 more kits headed to the professional board

average GPA of the successful applications so far is 3.20

My recruiter also mentioned that only 5 NCP applications will be accepted for the 2015 graduating class.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Yeah, it all makes sense.

It was a bit optimistic with a 3.14 GPA; but with a 2.93 and this entire issue, I'm not expecting good news. Regardless, I'll send in my package tomorrow and await judgement. Hopefully I have a better shot at being direct-commissioned some time after graduation; that will give me enough time to rectify the situation.

For anyone else who might be interested (2014 graduates); here's what I've gathered from my recruiter so far:

76 NCP applications will be accepted

25 seats have already been offered

16 more kits headed to the professional board

average GPA of the successful applications so far is 3.20

My recruiter also mentioned that only 5 NCP applications will be accepted for the 2015 graduating class.

Have you heard anything from the board?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

only 5??? My recruiter told me 70... :/ Oh MAN!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Sorry about the late response but here's what I did and the results that I have:

Did a little growing up.

I increased my course load last semester to 21 credits; and I went back to NYC to retake one of my old courses (3 credit; F to A) over the winter semester.

I got straight A's, and raised my cumulative GPA to 3.11. Still not that great but better than what it use to be.

I finalized my NCP application in February with my new grades and a very well written essay that was proof-read by two professors.

Today I received a call from my recruiter, she notified me that I've been "pre-selected" for fiscal year '14 and that I can swear in this October when the Navy receives a new budget.

Thanks for the honest responses, they really did put things into perspective for me :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion