Nursing School

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Hi all, I need some input please! I have a dilemma!

Out of high school I started attending my local community college. I took the prerequisite courses for the nursing program. Half way through my first semester I met with a family friend who convinced me that going to school for biology then pursuing a nursing career would ultimately open more doors for me. Long story short, I was more focused figuring out that he was incorrect and that that was not what I truly wanted to do than I was on keeping my grades up. I ended up being put on academic suspension after my second semester. I took the fall semester of 2015 off and then enrolled again this spring 2016. My gpa entering this spring started at a 1.7. My GPA for the spring 2016 semester is a 3.5.

My counselor told me that my community college won't accept me into the nursing program in the future because I have repeated 3 courses to receive a higher grade.

My dream is to be a nurse. I am so lost and so scared. I don't know what I should do. I don't want to give up my dream. Any suggestions?

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I think you may need a new dream. Nursing schools today are very competitive and they can afford to be choosy as to who they will accept, it's not unheard of to find a student with a 4.0 GPA for their prerequisites to be waitlisted.

Your first semester sounds like a waste so it's your second semester that you took some prerequisites for nursing, right? You still have many more courses to take to apply to pretty much any nursing program and you already know you can't get in at your current school. Best you can do would be to look at other colleges, see what their requirements are, and see if you can match them.

Have you looked at an LPN program? Anywhere from 10 months to 2 years and it's not a degree it's a certificate but at least you would be eligible to take the NCLEX and become a nurse at all. But you'd have to qualify for those programs too and depending on how desirable they are you might be waitlisted there too.

You'll have to do the legwork to see if there's a school that will accept you with three repeated courses and find out whether you can apply at some point. Good luck.

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You could look into other programs and what their requirements are. You could also look into becoming an LVN, then taking an LVN to RN bridge program.

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The advisor I talked to said it could hurt me because I've had to repeat some as well due to work, and trying to take a difficult class in the summer. I have no idea what I'll do either if I don't get in, maybe still apply and get a letter of recommendation from an instructor? I got three from my last program I went through, hoping that will help.

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Specializes in Critical Care Transport, Cardiac ICU, Rapid.

You know if one place tells you that you won't be able to get into their program you can always check out a different program

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Specializes in Emergency Room, CEN, TCRN.
You know if one place tells you that you won't be able to get into their program you can always check out a different program

yep, if you want it bad, sounds like you might have to readjust your plans to make it work to include seeking admittance elsewhere.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

The only schools of nursing that would be easygoing about an applicant's GPA and course repeat history are the ones at the investor-owned entities: Kaplan College, ITT Tech, Univ of Phoenix, Chamberlain, Rasmussen, Brown Mackie, Platt, Fortis, Concorde Career Institute, West Coast Univ, American Career College, etc.

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Specializes in ER/Tele, Med-Surg, Faculty, Urgent Care.
I ended up being put on academic suspension after my second semester. I took the fall semester of 2015 off and then enrolled again this spring 2016. My gpa entering this spring started at a 1.7. My GPA for the spring 2016 semester is a 3.5.

My counselor told me that my community college won't accept me into the nursing program in the future because I have repeated 3 courses to receive a higher grade.

Let me see if I understand correctly, you started Spring 2016 semester with 1.7 GPA, you repeated 3 courses and now your GPA is a 3.5? Is the semester over for Spring 2016? How is this being calculated? It does not seem to add up, it is very difficult to raise a GPA that much in one semester.

Some schools average both grades for a repeat course, others average all grades including repeat courses. How was the 3.5 calculated?

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Let me see if I understand correctly, you started Spring 2016 semester with 1.7 GPA, you repeated 3 courses and now your GPA is a 3.5? Is the semester over for Spring 2016? How is this being calculated? It does not seem to add up, it is very difficult to raise a GPA that much in one semester.

Some schools average both grades for a repeat course, others average all grades including repeat courses. How was the 3.5 calculated?

I believe OP meant just her spring semester GPA not her overall GPA, I was confused as well

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A lot of nursing programs have a minimum GPA of 2.5. That doesn't mean you will get accepted though just because your GPA is above a 2.5. You will be up against other people with 3.0's and above. Keep working on getting your GPA to a 2.5 or above and work on making your application look good in other ways such as a high TEAS score, or volunteer work.

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