Nursing rejection advice

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Hi there,

So I took a year off to work and then applied for psychiatric nursing at the end of march at grant macewan , Alberta. Sadly I ended up getting rejected with an 82 percent even though the average range from high 70's to mid 80's. It got me really down because I was really looking forward into going to psych nursing.

Now I have no clue what to do. I was thinking to take a year there and get a bunch of easy course to get a high agpa and transfer into psych but the competitive agpa to transfer into the program is 3.5 agpa. I'm not sure if I can achieve that high of a gpa even with gpa booster courses.(if any reading this goes to grant mac can you also tell me how easy it is to get a 3.5 gpa in grant mac)

Also if anyone knows the gpa to get into university of alberta nursing please let me know because if its lower I was considering to do the same thing to get into their nursing program.

I was also thinking of upgrading my marks ,but I really don't want to take another year off to upgrade because I already waste this one just working which I could had upgraded my marks too during that year,but I didn't because i was still trying to find out what to do in life. I just don't want to be stuck redoing high school courses.(plus I really don't want to redo English. I get nightmares from it)

Another option I was considering was going to u of a and becoming a registered dietitian, but then I realize it's really damn competitive to get into their program because they only have 50 seats. And i'm not super smart ,but I consider myself pretty decent.

any advice for me?(maybe you can share some of your stories)

Thanks for taking the time to read this I know I'm still young ,but just don't want to spend another year wasting my life working min. wage or a year where i go into something I don't like and waste 7k for nothing.

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Take courses that can count towards electives and continue to hope that you will get accepted into the nursing program at some point in the future. Consider improving your knowledge and exposure to psychiatric illnesses by taking a Mental Health First Aid course, also consider volunteering with a related organization such as; Canadian Mental Health Association, Jack.org or Teen Mental Health.org

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Honestly? It's a crap shoot.

I applied to both programmes and the Education programme with all of the electives completed as a mature student. Got accepted to the U of As Education course. Both nursing courses are extremely competitive each year.

There is no guaranteed way to acceptance.

You decide if you want to spend another year a working on your GPA and reapply and hope you meet that years GPA. Some years it's been in the 90s.

I went to Norquest. Became an LPN. Finished my BA because it was something I wanted to achieve. I will retire in a couple of years.

But I was probably decades older than you when I decided to return to school

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Upgrade your marks. I would say a 3.5 is achievable if you put your mind to it. Psych nursing is a awesome field to go into with lots of opportunities and great pay.

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The U of A is more competitive this year than GMac. I talked with advisors at both schools and U of A is allowing students to transfer with a 3.5 minimum, to make it more competitive since they have so many applicants. I transfered from Sciences to Nursing this year at the UofA, with a 3.9 GPA. I was in my 3rd year of Sciences. If it's something you want to do then taking another year shouldn't be stopping you. Be decisive with your future.

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Okay so from reading your post, I'm assuming you graduated from high school 2 years ago and haven't started post secondary yet right? If so, I think you should definitely go back and upgrade your high school marks. I know it might suck in the moment but try your best to enjoy what you're studying and you'll get the marks you need.

I recommend upgrading your high school marks over trying to get a ~3.5 GPA because it's much much easier to get an 85% high school average than a 3.5 GPA in post secondary. It's also much riskier to try to get a 3.5 GPA in University just to try to get into a different program. IF you did mess up (if you got like a 2.7 GPA), your GPA is stuck with you for a while and it can close some doors for you, including Nursing.

I heard that it is a 3.5 GPA to transfer into Nursing at the UofA.

If you need any additional advice, please do not hesitate to message me (I'm new to these forums so I'm not sure if you can even do that but I'll keep an eye on this thread). I'll be very happy to help you out!

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Hey girl,I was in a similar situation after I graduated from high school.I had a good enough average to get into nursing school (88) and I applied for nursing schools late.I ended up taking Anotomy and Physiology 1&2, first year English,first and second year psychology and a nursing course at TRU and I did it all while working. I would advise you to either upgrade your 2 or 3 lowest marks which your nursing school is using to calculate your gpa or just do both parts of Anatomy and physiology with the intention of getting a higher mark than you did with your high school biology.

You mentioned above that you dont think you're smart enough or something of that sort.I just to remind you to never despair or give up on your dreams,and NEVER compare yourself to others. You don't know whether people are earning their grades honestly or whether they've gotten past exams papers to study or if they've done a course 2 or 3 times to pass it.So never judge or compare yourself to others.I've had a few classmates who took A&P twice before they passed with satisfactory grade.

Another thing is that they are nursing schools easier to get into such as College of New Caledonia in Prince George, North West Community College in Terrace or even the simple TRU. I know you are probably looking for schools inside Alberta but sometimes great rewards require great sacrifices. Currently I am admitted at Okanagan College to do their collaboration with UBC. I'm confident you'll get in somewhere just don't give up on your dreams. If you ever need to talk PM me or email me at [email protected]. Best of luck������������������

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