Nurses and nursing students i have a important question?

dudette10, MSN, RN · Mar 21, 2012

I don't think so. The reason I say that is because so many nursing students are not traditional, i.e. they did not enter nursing school immediately after high school, so it would be odd for nursing programs to use high school achievement test scores as part of the admissions process.

To ease your mind, you could go to the websites of the schools you think you might attend and look up the nursing program admission criteria.

Good luck!

futurenurse1248 · Mar 21, 2012

yea i was just wondering because they said that what you get on the pssa will go on your transcript. so i was worried that colleges look at your state test score

sarah16493 · Mar 22, 2012

I've never heard of any nursing school using high school testing scores as part of their admissions process. Actually, I've never heard of any college using them for anything. Colleges are going to look at college placement tests, SATs, and most nursing schools have a pre-entrance exam like the HESI or the NLN-PAX (depending where you go, there are several types of entrance exams and a lot of nursing schools use them, but some do not). Good luck with your future endeavors.

PghRN30 · Mar 22, 2012

no.... pssa is state standardised testing. it is to determine that schools are doing their job at teaching you. i have never heard of that going on transcript. pretty much if it says you are testing at or above your grade level, they are doing their job. if it says you are testing below your grade level they are not....and they need to address that. its not like act/sat......it is straight forward to determine what level you are functioning at now, not your aptitude to do well in college (what act/sat and such test). if you are in ap classes and getting good grades you will test above your grade level on pssa or else your schools curriculum and ap classes are a joke. they may be telling you it shows up on transcripts so the whole 11th grade class doesn't blow it off, just fill in random bubbles and drag down scores which comes back badly on the school (happened at my school one year)

from pas website.

"in 1999, pennsylvania adopted academic standards for reading, writing, speaking and listening and for mathematics. these standards identify what a student should know and be able to do at varying grade levels. school districts possess the freedom to design curriculum and instruction to ensure that students meet or exceed the standards' expectations.

the annual pennsylvania system of school assessment (pssa) is a standards-based, criterion-referenced assessment used to measure a student's attainment of the academic standards while also determining the degree to which school programs enable students to attain proficiency of the standards. every pennsylvania student in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 is assessed in reading and math. every pennsylvania student in grades 5, 8 and 11 is assessed in writing. every pennsylvania student in grades 4, 8 and 11 is assessed in science.

individual student scores, provided only to their respective schools, can be used to assist teachers in identifying students who may be in need of additional educational opportunities, and school scores provide information to schools and districts for curriculum and instruction improvement discussions and planning. "

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Mar 22, 2012

Doubt it will prevent getting into ALL nursing schools. Remember, too, there are 50 states and not all regard that test.

maddiem · Mar 23, 2012

I don't even know what test that is...some nursing schools may look at your act or sat score. Your take an entrance exam before nursing school and that is the test that really matters. Getting into a college in general, yes they look at test scores. But yet again I only know of the act and sat. I think the test you are taking is just a state test that the state uses to evaluate the school. Don't worry about this test. Focus on the act or sat (which ever you take). That one will help you get into a good college so you can start working on nursing stuff. I wouldn't worry about a state test at all. Just keep doing lots of science classes, ap if you can. AP Bio and Chem will help you the most because both are prerequisites to nursing school and if you already have college credit for them that will help you speed up finishing your prerequisites.

sailornurse · Mar 24, 2012

At the school I taught at, it was the GPA in pre-reqs that determined getting accepted, you need a 3.0. However there were many years that the lowest GPA in the class (48 are accepted each semester) the lowest anyone had was a 3.4/3.5. meaning all 48 students had a 3.4/3.5 or higher in their pre-req courses. We did not look at SAT/ACT scores.

We also had a HESI entrance exam.

You need to look at the schools you are considering to see what the requirements for admission are. Your high school grades are probably not going to factor in.