Hi I am a 24 year old male college grad living in westchester, ny, in need of advice and perspective. I graduated 3 years ago from Boston College with a business management degree. I have been working for the past 3 years in the operations department of a large finance firm in New York and am looking to make a career switch to nursing but I am face several significant hurdles that I cant seem to find a way around.
By far the biggest obstacle is my college transcript. I am a person who went through a really bad adjustment to college. After going through high school with an average of 97 on a scale of 100 and was in the 90th percentile on my SATs I went away to college and really screwed up. I wont get into all the detail or try to make excuses for my performance, but I ended up graduating with a 2.1 GPA and alot of Cs in math and science courses.
Now as I seek a career transition to nursing I feel that that I will never be able to overcome my poor college transcript. Everywhere I look I see GPA minimums of 3.0 or at minimum 2.5. I know that inside I am the person who spent the first 18 years of my life excelling in school not the person who lost his way in college.
After spending a few years working for a large finance corporation, despite the pay, I do not find it rewarding and want to spend my life helping people (I currently volunteer 1-2 weekends a month to charity). I want to work in the heathcare industry but specifically I want to work with and help people and feel that nursing would be a good fit.
If anyone please help provide some perspective on how I can overcome my poor college performance I would be greatly indebted to you. What schools/programs should I inquire about in the NYC/westchester. Can exceptional grades in pre-req's and entrance exams overcome my college shortcomings. Any other advice is greatly appreciated.
Lately I have been feeling like my college transcript is an albatross hanging around my neck that I dont know how to overcome. I could really use some advice, perspective, and frankly a little hope.
You are not doomed, although you may have to start over. I graduated with an engineering degree in 1990 with a stellar 2.6 GPA. Not enough to get me into beauty school.
So I went to a community college and started completely over - I petitioned to exclude my previous transcript. It meant I had to take Psych 101, English 101, and Intro to Chem over, but when I finished those and the other prerequisites I applied to Nursing School with a 4.0.
dannyc12
228 Posts
You are not doomed, although you may have to start over. I graduated with an engineering degree in 1990 with a stellar 2.6 GPA. Not enough to get me into beauty school.
So I went to a community college and started completely over - I petitioned to exclude my previous transcript. It meant I had to take Psych 101, English 101, and Intro to Chem over, but when I finished those and the other prerequisites I applied to Nursing School with a 4.0.
Got in easy.