Not eligible for any programs in my area.

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I decided years ago I wanted to be a nurse, and I became a pre-nursing student my freshman year of college, not knowing that my school offered a "direct admit" program for high school students who met the requirements - they would automatically go into the nursing program once completing their prereqs, rather than having to apply to it sophomore year.

Well, undiagnosed/untreated bipolar disorder got the best of me that year and I ended on a 2.67 gpa. My school requires at least a 3.0. It's whatever. I then went to a community college for a semester and landed myself a whopping 1.2 gpa. Then I had a breakdown and left school for a semester, went to therapy, found the right meds, etc. Now I'm back and I have a 3.6 gpa. The problem is that my school and all the other BSN programs in the state only accept 2 prereq retakes, and obviously you're a better candidate if you have 0. I have 3 pre-req retakes (a&p twice, micro once). On top of that, I have an entire transcript from a school showing I had a 1.2 gpa, and that looks really bad.

All the ADN programs I've applied to rejected me, and I don't even wanna waste my time with the BSN ones. Not to mention almost all of them require you to get admitted to the university, complete a bunch of other classes that have to be taken on their campus, and then you can APPLY for the nursing program with absolutely no guarantee of being accepted.

I just don't know what to do. I don't want to believe that because of one bad year I'm screwed out of getting into any programs, because I only want to be a nurse. I've tried to talk myself out of it, I've started to pursue other majors, other healthcare paths, and tried to convince myself that I don't want to be a nurse, but at the end of the day, it's all I want.

I'm currently a psych major because I figured it makes more sense to get some sort of degree since I'm already two years into college, and worse comes to worst I could shoot for ABSN programs later on. But every single day I spend at school I feel like I'm wasting my time because I'm not pursuing what I actually want to be.

I just wanted to make a post and see if anyone knows something I don't and/or can make any recommendations.

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Hi!

So I am almost in the same position you are in. I have been in the prerequisite mode for almost three years and every year it feels like the system changes for anyone trying to get into the ADN program. I actually have a 3.7 though, but still not good enough for the ADN program standards. And because my college has gone to the point system and added even more prerequisites, I am now looking at another year before even getting in. It's frustrating that I could have had an actual degree by now if I had gone into something else lol. But my heart has always been in the medical field.

The criteria is getting really fierce for ADN entry and this is what I mean. At least in my area. And the points are generally :

1: Bilingual ( 5 points) ; which I dont have?

2: Military Vet ( 5 points); Again I don't have: ?

3: Licensing in another part of the medical field: 10 points; I don't have ?

4: GPA 4.0 ( 30 points) 3.5-3.0 (25 points)

5: Medical volunteer work(10 points) ( a year experience): I actually do have this

6: Must not repeat any science core classes ( I already repeated one)

7: Every W counts against your GPA ( I have four!)

luckily the schools I looked into, don't count the normal prerequisite retries, just the science.

So unless I am a bilingual, ex-military genius with a 4.0 that has never repeated a science course and have current medical field experience, there's no way to compete against the competition I have seen. Plus I am looking at another 3 years of school until I am completely done. One more for the added prerequisites and two for the actual program. Boo. At the end of all this, I should have just said screw it and been a DR. lol.

I have been looking into other alternatives that can help me with faster, without paying an arm and leg for a private college, and I decided to go into the LVN program. From there I can bridge while already working in the medical industry. My poor husband has been brunting all the bills since I started school, and I cant do this to him for another 3 years without contributing. It's not fair to him either. The LVN program does have it's own stipulations, but for me, the pros are outweighing the cons at this point and there isn't a competition in the LVN program as there is for the RN programs and its a shorted program. Around 12-18 months. I was also told that some VN-RN bridge programs will just consider your LVN program GPA and how well you did to get in. I know this route isn't for everyone, but it's at least something for you to consider? Especially if you love nursing so much, it's at least a stepping stone.

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1 hour ago, Vixyn said:

Hi!

So I am almost in the same position you are in. I have been in the prerequisite mode for almost three years and every year it feels like the system changes for anyone trying to get into the ADN program. I actually have a 3.7 though, but still not good enough for the ADN program standards. And because my college has gone to the point system and added even more prerequisites, I am now looking at another year before even getting in. It's frustrating that I could have had an actual degree by now if I had gone into something else lol. But my heart has always been in the medical field.

The criteria is getting really fierce for ADN entry and this is what I mean. At least in my area. And the points are generally :

1: Bilingual ( 5 points) ; which I dont have?

2: Military Vet ( 5 points); Again I don't have: ?

3: Licensing in another part of the medical field: 10 points; I don't have ?

4: GPA 4.0 ( 30 points) 3.5-3.0 (25 points)

5: Medical volunteer work(10 points) ( a year experience): I actually do have this

6: Must not repeat any science core classes ( I already repeated one)

7: Every W counts against your GPA ( I have four!)

luckily the schools I looked into, don't count the normal prerequisite retries, just the science.

So unless I am a bilingual, ex-military genius with a 4.0 that has never repeated a science course and have current medical field experience, there's no way to compete against the competition I have seen. Plus I am looking at another 3 years of school until I am completely done. One more for the added prerequisites and two for the actual program. Boo. At the end of all this, I should have just said screw it and been a DR. lol.

I have been looking into other alternatives that can help me with faster, without paying an arm and leg for a private college, and I decided to go into the LVN program. From there I can bridge while already working in the medical industry. My poor husband has been brunting all the bills since I started school, and I cant do this to him for another 3 years without contributing. It's not fair to him either. The LVN program does have it's own stipulations, but for me, the pros are outweighing the cons at this point and there isn't a competition in the LVN program as there is for the RN programs and its a shorted program. Around 12-18 months. I was also told that some VN-RN bridge programs will just consider your LVN program GPA and how well you did to get in. I know this route isn't for everyone, but it's at least something for you to consider? Especially if you love nursing so much, it's at least a stepping stone.

Thanks for the response! Wow. I can’t believe an ADN program would require that much. Around here the requirements are simple: just passing grades in math, chem, a&p1, and english, and a decent TEAS score. They’re just really, really competitive. The one I really want to get into is owned by a big university so it’s basically a pay-your-way-in admissions process, which at this point, I’m fine with because I’m paying the same now for a degree I don’t necessarily want as I would for an ADN. All the other ones are community college programs with 2 year long waitlists. I gave up on even attempting to get into a BSN program because they’ve all caught on and made it impossible for a transfer student.

I considered LPN/LVN, but the programs in my state all cost 30k, and I can’t bring myself to owe all that money when I could be getting my RN for the same or less.

Best of luck on your path! I’m happy you’ve found what will work the best for you. Although it’s not what you had planned on, it is still a big achievement. LVNs are still nurses, despite the stigma. I work as a CNA and all the LVNs and RNs I work with have almost the exact same duties, and their pay is only a $3 difference.

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First, I am glad to hear that you have your health squared away ~~ this is top priority

I agree with Vixyn above. I believe your best route to take is to look into an LVN/LPN program (different names depending on which state you reside in.) From there you should have an easier time transferring into an RN program, if that is what you want to do.

Unfortunately, both ADN and BSN are very impacted and competitive to get into, especially on the west coast. However, you may find a private college/univ that is able to review your grades & resume holistically and appreciate the upward trend.

Do not get discouraged!

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7 minutes ago, sam619 said:

First, I am glad to hear that you have your health squared away ~~ this is top priority

I agree with Vixyn above. I believe your best route to take is to look into an LVN/LPN program (different names depending on which state you reside in.) From there you should have an easier time transferring into an RN program, if that is what you want to do.

Unfortunately, both ADN and BSN are very impacted and competitive to get into, especially on the west coast. However, you may find a private college/univ that is able to review your grades & resume holistically and appreciate the upward trend.

Do not get discouraged!

Yeah, I considered the LPN route, but the programs in my state cost 30k. Which is more than what I’d be paying for an RN or BSN, so I can’t bring myself to do it. The LPN-RN programs in my state are also competitive; they make you start from scratch and apply with all the other people who don’t have a background in nursing already. Pretty messed up.
There is one exception. One private school that honestly saw an opportunity and ran with it. They offer an ADN program and an LPN-RN program with very low level requirements, like a 2.75 gpa and only 4 or so prereqs. None of that getting accepted for pre-nursing and applying into the nursing program BS either; you begin your nursing classes as soon as you finish the prereqs. The only thing is it’s pretty expensive. However, I don’t mind. It costs the same amount as the school I’m attending now and if I got in I’d be spending that money on a degree that I WANT. I got rejected for spring, but hopefully I can get in for fall 2020 after adding a few more A’s to my transcript this year.

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9 hours ago, sam619 said:

First, I am glad to hear that you have your health squared away ~~ this is top priority

I agree with Vixyn above. I believe your best route to take is to look into an LVN/LPN program (different names depending on which state you reside in.) From there you should have an easier time transferring into an RN program, if that is what you want to do.

Unfortunately, both ADN and BSN are very impacted and competitive to get into, especially on the west coast. However, you may find a private college/univ that is able to review your grades & resume holistically and appreciate the upward trend.

Do not get discouraged!

I'm in the west coast area too, and that's why it's so hard to get into the RN programs. The college where I am at is prestigious for its RN program. The influx of pre-RN nursing is so compacted right now, that admissions are basically begging their students to consider LVN. Which is fine with me! Pre-nurses at my college are bitten with the RN bug. Also, the good thing is that I have the bog and pell grants which will allow me to get my degree without really costing me an arm and leg. I just don't have another 3 years to get into the RN program.

OP have you considered financial aid and grants in your area? This might help you with costs. What matters is in the end, we will be nurses and it shouldn't matter what path we took to get to it. Not all paths will fit everyone's circumstances. I really wish you the best and please update us.

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You may want to talk to a college counselor and someone in the campus disability office. If your grades suffered because of a health problem, you may be able to have those bad grades purged from your transcript and re-take them. I'm not an expert, but know someone that did that this year by showing proof of hospitalization & petitioning the dean to remove the low grades.

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My worst grades were from a community college and they don’t do that, unfortunately.

The disability center at my university has been really rude, as well. I have documentation of illnesses, but I don’t have *enough* for them.

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3 minutes ago, Lizardqueen13 said:

My worst grades were from a community college and they don’t do that, unfortunately.

The disability center at my university has been really rude, as well. I have documentation of illnesses, but I don’t have *enough* for them.

Ugh. I'm so sorry. Most importantly, I'm so glad you got help and are feeling better.

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Thank you!

It’s okay. I just got into my school’s psychology program and I’m enjoying it thus far & looking forward to what’s to come. I’m completing and/or retaking all my nursing pre-reqs as my electives, and I plan to apply to ABSN programs afterward. It’ll only be 2 extra years to wait, and in the end I’ll walk out with 2 bachelor’s degrees ??‍♀️

I live about 15 minutes from Yale New Haven Hospital and I had the pleasure of interviewing a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (my dream job) and she followed almost exactly the same path I am, so that was really encouraging for me.

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