Nursing Program, should I just not even try?

[TryinginTX]

I'm getting a little discouraged lately by me reading the requirements to get accepted into a nursing program. I didn't take college so seriously back in my younger years, almost 5 years ago, so I had a lot of Withdrawals and a lot of F's because I just was too lazy to Withdrawal. A lot of my pre-reqs will be my 3 time taking them, and Psychology will actually be my 4^th. The only college that I'm seeing a three strike rule with is UTA, but is every other program like this also.

I cannot, not be a nurse. It's my passion, my dream, the only thing I want to do with my life. I'm already in the medical field just not as a nurse. But it really is just my whole heart, and I will not give up to be a nurse, but am I being practical, do I even have a chance of being accepted?

All of those classes that I have taken will not affect my GPA once they are retaken, even if I can manage to make all A's and have a 4.0 GPA will my laziness and stupid teenage years haunt me for the rest of my life?

[iamleeann]

I would talk to an advisor at the college/university where you want to attend. When I was looking into nursing programs, I selected the ones that interested me and called/emailed each nursing department to answer my questions. I, then, decided to pursue one program based on my lifestyle and needs. I was all set and ready to apply to only BSN programs but an ADN program is what actually worked better for me.

What I can say, is that most colleges/universities have so many applications that they can afford to be picky if they want to and your past may hold you back. You'll just have to talk to the nursing department of where you want to go and see how your past will affect your application.

Also, TWU (the weekend program) looks at first attempts or at least that is what the coordinator told me last fall.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Some programs only consider and weigh in the classes that actually pertain to the nursing degree. However, the state of Texas has a limit on how many times you can attempt a class for actual credit, so you will want to look into that. If you are taking things 3 and 4 times, I am afraid to say it very likely will hamper your attempts to get into nursing school at this point provided they are classes important to nursing, such as math and science.

I agree with the above poster to get your transcript in front of the nursing advisors at the schools you are interested in.

[sueall]

I recall reading about a Texas program called "Fresh Start" or something like that -- where you had a once-per-lifetime ability to throw out ALL past college grades and start over. Sort of a college-credit bankruptcy, if you would. But you can't cherry-pick which classes to expunge -- it's all of them or nothing. I don't know if this would help you in your situation, but if it's still available, I'd leave it as a last resort. Sorry I can't give you more details, I just remember seeing it a couple years ago. And check to make sure the colleges or programs you are looking into won't still look at your prior grades even with Fresh Start grades.

[Bellarara]

Some schools have academic bankruptcy, where, if you have had at least a 3 year break from college, you can get a clean slate with your GPA/Transcript. Don't lose hope!

[root.user]

I recall reading about a Texas program called "Fresh Start" or something like that -- where you had a once-per-lifetime ability to throw out ALL past college grades and start over. Sort of a college-credit bankruptcy, if you would. But you can't cherry-pick which classes to expunge -- it's all of them or nothing. I don't know if this would help you in your situation, but if it's still available, I'd leave it as a last resort. Sorry I can't give you more details, I just remember seeing it a couple years ago. And check to make sure the colleges or programs you are looking into won't still look at your prior grades even with Fresh Start grades.

I looked into this program as I qualified for it and was in a similar situation the original poster was - here is the best information I can recall.

It is called "Academic Fresh Start". You are able to claim this for classes that are 10+ years old, and yes they are basically erased. You can only claim the fresh start at the time of application and only as a new applicant to a new school; guess you kind of burn the bridge with the original school. I believe this would allow for you to retake classes, earn better grades and ignore grades that meet the 10+ year mark. Until then you carry that with you.

My recommendation - look into LVN (LPN) and ADN programs. The BSN programs have the luxury of have a 3:1 application to seat ratio (or higher). Some ADN programs are more forgiving and look at completion of coursework (not grades) and entrance exam scores. Then again there are plenty of programs that allow for LVN -> RN.

I would agree that your best option would be to meet with a health program/nursing school advisor and then complete all of your future studies with your best effort. Most of the transition programs (LVN - RN, ADN - BSN) look at the grades from your last achievement/license/degree. This may mean a longer road, but kicking butt in a program may lead you on to your eventual goal.