Nursing school gpa

[Ldm_bethlehem]

Hello, I am pretty new to the forums and the website but I've always snooped around whenever I had a question Nursing related. I never created an account but I thought I'd do so because of my current situation. To cut to the point here is my situation.

I attended a BSN program through a private school. I went into the school knowing I had the risk of my classes not being transferable because it was a private institution but decided to do so. I was in my first year in and 3 terms into my nursing program and I was dropped from the program because of academic reasons. I had a minor mental breakdown which I took care of myself after that. Took a short break, and in that break had a surgery to which complications came about from that. I thought it was "smart" to go back to school shortly after and ended up realizing more than half into my semester I wasn't ready. It was too late to drop the course so the inevitable happened and I got dismissed once again. I couldn't petition to get back in because of my previous petition.

I went to LVN school in hopes I would get back into my RN school. Through hard work from the aftermath of the effects of the surgery I previously had, I made it through the LVN program and got my license. I tried to go back into my previous RN school to do the lvn-rn bridge program but my gpa was not high enough. I am going to try to contact the school and see if there's anything else possible to be done. I am leaning more towards going to my previous RN school because I was 3 classes away from getting my BSN.

My question to all who took their time in reading this is, is there other options aside from my private RN school? Any way to challenge the boards? Any information is welcomed as I know there are a lot of experienced nurses in these forums. Thank you in advanced.

[umbdude, MSN, APRN]

I don't know what you mean by "challenge the boards." Do you mean challenging the boards to become a RN without adequate education? If that's what you meant, the answer is most likely no. To receive your RN, you must go through additional educational training regardless of your experience.

My suggestion is to apply to other schools, including Associate Degree Nursing programs, and progress from there. After you received your associate degree, do a RN-to-BSN bridge program.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

The above advice is good, except that most nonprofit ASN degree programs are even more competitive to get into than BSN programs due to the lower cost and quicker benefit. The OP is unlikely to get into one of those if she can't get into a for-profit BSN program. It is a myth that ASN programs are easier to get into. Most of the time the opposite is true.

I do not know of any way to "challenge" the RN boards without having done the RN education. I suggest you try a different number of schools and while you are doing that, go for a liberal arts degree that will give you the chance to improve your GPA. It is how I recovered mine from my first go-round with college in my partying days.

[chemshark, BSN, LVN, RN]

I've challenged the board. The LVN board. And I was in the military as a Hospital Corpsman. I think that's the main reason why people challenge the boards: so that Veterans can have a meaningful job when they return from war. However, I don't think there is a way to challenge the RN board without a BSN from another state let alone a bachelor's degree in anything nurse related.

I'm sorry you had to go through many things. Your willingness to get through the LVN program shows that you are still passionate, though. I don't know how many more obstacles are still in your path to get good grades but I suggest going through that first. Are you still too injured or do you plan to have any more surgery or recovery that may hamper your studies? Maybe think about what are your physical and mental handicaps then have a plan about how you would go about it. I never proceeded without a backup plan, and now I received my BSN and will start my NP program in two weeks.

My first degree was in biochemistry, and although I passed, it was a very difficult subject for me. I also found that I didn't like working in a lab anymore. So although my GPA wasn't amazing, it wasn't competitive enough. I had to go through community college to take classes related to nursing that raised my GPA. Then I applied.

Good luck with your endeavors.

[umbdude, MSN, APRN]

The above advice is good, except that most nonprofit ASN degree programs are even more competitive to get into than BSN programs due to the lower cost and quicker benefit. The OP is unlikely to get into one of those if she can't get into a for-profit BSN program. It is a myth that ASN programs are easier to get into. Most of the time the opposite is true.

I guess it depends on the area. In my neck of the woods, ASN programs are far easier to get into than BSN programs.