Needing guidiance for nursing education

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Hello,

I'm hoping that someone will be able to lend me knowledge about what my next step should be.

I graduated with a B.S. in Life Science from Penn State in 2011. My GPA wasn't the best (~2.6) and I really regret changing my major from Kinesiology to Life Science, my grades suffered from that switch. Anyway, since I graduated I've been exploring different career options and I've decided that nursing is the profession I want to get into.

I'm taking general science classes at a community college that are pre-requisites for some nursing programs. So I hope those help with raising my GPA.

I've started to apply to Accel BSN programs this past year but I unfortunately haven't heard anything positive yet. So I've been thinking about going to my local community college to earn an Associates in Nursing. Currently, I don't have a "career" job which the the reason I want to try to speeding things up with the ASN from a community college.

I'm located in LA, California but looking to relocate back to the northeast. I'm willing to go to wherever a school accepts me.

I just wanted to know if anyone has been in a similar situation and what your insight is. Any help or feedback is greatly appreciated!

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Your GPA is going to hurt you. Nursing is VERY competitive and many prograns require a minimal of 3.0-3.5. with the field being so competitive many applicants are 3.5 and above. I live on the east coast and many programs that I know of are 3.3 and above. You can go the ADN route however the field is competitive right now and IN CA specifically there is a 47% unemployment rate of new grads with an average job search of 18 mounts....BSN grads are being hired at acute care facilities and even fewer facilities are hiring new grads.

You are probably going to have to take/re-take some of yur sciences and increase your GPA.

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

I totally agree with Esme. You might be better off applying to ADN programs, as most in CA run on a lottery system, so as long as you qualify, you're in the pot with everyone else. Apply to as many as you'd consider attending. BSN programs are extremely competitive, and most CSUs have at least a 3.7 minimum accepted GPA, even if they list a lower required GPA.

You can try to repeat courses for grade improvements, but be cautious about repeat policies. I know the community college here will only let you have one repeat, and they average the two grades together. Each school will vary, so you would benefit from taking some time and doing a lot of research on programs in CA. I did a ton of research when I was applying, because I do have repeated courses and my GPA wasn't super competitive. There were several schools I couldn't even apply to because of repeats and time limits on prereqs.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

Since you are willing to relocate back to the east coast, cast that net wide; however, know there is a surplus of nurses on the east coast as well.

Since you are taking pre-req's, you may get a GPA boost, however, you can research schools requirements in the areas of the country that you are interested in; you may have additional admission requirements besides the GPA.

In addition, do you plan on establishing in state residency? That will determine tuition cost as well.

Best wishes.

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