Need advice on what to do about getting into Nursing School

[Koshei]

Im new to this forum so hello.

This is my problem. I am currently an engineering student and would like to go into nursing and am in need of some advice or ideas on what to do. I started out as a petroleum engineering major and spent three semesters doing that. A spring, fall and summer semester to be exact. I finished the summer semester with a GPA of somewhere around a 1.42 and decided I wanted to change my major to nursing because I had no enthusiasm studing engineering, and that was being reflected in how well I did in my classes. I went to a Nursing info session at the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester and began taking prerequisite courses in order to be able to get into pre-nursing. I claimed credit for 12 extra hours from my IB exams thereby eliminating several classes from the list of those I needed to take in order to catch up to the current level of pre-nursing sophomore students. The GPA needed to get into pre-nursing is a 2.5 and I now realize that I wont be able to make even pre-nursing at the current rate that my GPA is increasing. Even if I was to get all As for 15 hrs of classes next semester. Currently my GPA is a 1.73, and if I get all Bs this semester I will have a 2.03 GPA. If I get all As next semester I will have a 2.41 which is still not enough to get into pre-nursing. This semester (spring 2011) I am taking an EMTB course with and have finalized my decision that I really do want to go into the health care field, but am at the moment not sure as to how I can get into nursing school anywhere.

The only thing I can think of doing now is transferring to another University where the GPA requirements for nursing school are lower. So lets take Sam Houston State University for example.

Here is an IB policy statement from SHSU:

http://www.shsu.edu/~vaf_www/documents/IBPolicyStatement.pdf

This is a link to the Sam Houston State University curriculum plan for a BSN in nursing:

http://www.shsu.edu/~nursing/curriculum.html

This is a link to the transfer course equivalency guide:

https://ww2.shsu.edu/regr27wp/index.php

If you select UT Austin you can see which of the above courses count for credit there.

Of all the courses I have listed above the following are elegible for transfering credit:

A NTR 306 FUNDMENTALS OF NUTR FCS 167 BASIC NUTRITION

A SSC 304 STAT IN HLTH CARE ENB 100 NA ENBLOC CREDIT

A PSY 304 INTRO TO CHILD PSY PSY 100 NA PSYCHOLOGY

A AST 301 DESCRP INTRO ASTRON PHY 133 INTRODUCTORY ASTRONOMY PHYS 1311

A GOV 310L AMERICAN GOVERNMENT POL 261 PRIN OF AMER GOVM NATL & STATE GOVT 2301

A HIS 315L U.S. HIST SN 1865 HIS 164 UNITED STATES HISTORY SN 1876 HIST 1302

A HIS 315K U.S. HIST,1492-1865 HIS 163 UNITED STATES HISTORY TO 1876 HIST 1301

A PSY 301 INTRO TO PSYCHOLOGY PSY 131 INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY PSYC 2301

A PHY 303K ENGR PHYSICS I PHY 138 GENERAL PHY-MECHANICS & HEAT PHYS 1301

A PHY 103M LAB FOR PHY 303K PHY 118 GENERAL PHYSICS LABORATORY I PHYS 1101

A CH 301 PRIN OF CHEM I CHM 138 GENERAL CHEMISTRY I:LECTURE CHEM 1311

A ANT 318L MEXICAN-AMERICAN CUL SOC 100 NA SOCIOLOGY

A M 408C DIFFER & INTEGR CALC MTH 142 CALCULUS I MATH 2413

IB:

Biology SL: BIO 134, 114

Spanish SL: Spanish 141, 142

English HL: English 164, 265

Language (Russian) self taught: FL 141, 142

History Americas HL: HIS 163, 164

Physics HL: PHY 138, 118, 139, 119

Math SL: MTH 164

Of those the following will count for the nursing curriculum at SHSU:

1) Political Science 261 Principles of American Government

2) History 163 United States History to 1876

3) Psychology 131 Introduction to Psychology

4) English 164

5) Maybe others as they are very similar

Overall it doesnt seem like it would be very efficient to transfer there just because ive already taken so many courses, and when I get to SHSU ill again be on freshman level. Though I guess that is better than not getting a degree.

Is there any way to find out which universities will accept the classes that I have already taken at UT in a more efficient manner than having to compare by hand the transfer courses and what which courses count for?

May I have any other options other than going to a university? Online maybe?

My parents are also telling me how its important to go to a big and well known university. I have the impression that for nursing this isnt much of an issue as for other professions. Should I fight tooth and nail to stay here but still suffer the chance that I may not in the end get into nursing school, or should I transfer somewhere else where it will be both easier on me and my GPA and then chances for getting to the end will be much greater?

Thanks for everybody's input. Hopefully I didnt lose anyone and especially myself.

[iPink, BSN, RN]

I would suggest either transferring to a school who does accept a 2.0, but I will forewarn you that even though they may have a minimum, doesn't mean a guarantee they will accept you due to the increasing number of people applying to nursing school with high GPAs.

With that said, if you don't get in, keep trying. If Nursing is what you want to do, then I encourage you to take additional "easy" courses just to increase your GPA in the meantime.

When doing my first undergrad, I changed my major from Computer Science to Computer Engineer to Information System to Business to Information Technology, which I eventually settled on because I didn't want to spend 10 years in college to get this one degree. I graduated and now back completing an Accelerated BSN for Nursing. So, I do understand, but stick with nursing and do everything you can to get that GPA up.

Wish you the best in your journey.

[MrSpock]

Here is the Plan, most schools only look at your Sicence Grades and TEAS scores for ranking. I would suggest going to a local Community College and take all you pre-req there. The reason is they all transfer, and they are super easy! No reason for you to get anything below an A. Just make sure you keep a 4.0 in the pre-req courses and you should be ok. And having all A's should bring you up to at least a 2.5 overall GPA

[Koshei]

Thanks for the advice. I talked to a few counselors and one of them had a solution for me. Basically I am going to Austin CC for a year to get my Associate's degree, and then there's a program where I can go back to UT to get my BSN.

[NCRNMDM, ASN, RN]

You should definitely transfer to another school which accepts the lower GPA. As far as nursing goes, graduating from a prestigious school has nothing to do with how well you do your job, and most employers aren't going to care that you have a fancy degree if you have no idea how to be an effective nurse. That being said, it is very competitive in the world of nursing school admissions, and just because you meet the minmum GPA does not guarantee you entrance into a program. The only advice I can offer is apply to other schools, take the EMTB course, and see if you get into a nursing program. If not, keep trying. Good luck!