Hi nursing students! I don't want to take you away from your studies for too long but I was hoping you can answer some questions for me.
Are there any of you out there that were mostly "B" students that got into nursing school. If so, how long did it take? Were there other factors you think set you apart from other applicants?
To all students: What was your acceptance GPA? How many schools did you apply to? Anything special set you apart?
Every school is different. At mine, there are a certain number of spots held for male applicants, and other preferred populations. These students may enter with lower scores than others in the class. They don't always survive though.
We have a saying in our program, "C=RN" because you just need to survive and pass all your classes. The A's get checked at the door!
mjmoon, you are not alone. My very first semester of pre reqs was a disaster. I wanted to be a nurse more than anything in the world and was scared my hradws would keep me from it. I got 2 C's and 2 B's that semester. After that I got all A's and B's. GPA continued to get better and then applied with a 3.0. I was 25 on the waiting list and the next semester I applied to another really good school with a 3.43. I got in!!! 280 applied, 40 got in. If you get an interview be very prepared. I have a list of questions they might ask if you're interested. I had experience in the field being a CNA for 2 years. Surprisingly many applicants aren't CNA's ao its a plus. I volunteered at a local hospital and the hospital they do their clinicals at...that was me sucking up (see how badly I wanted it!) They want you to be well-rounded. Let the admissions ppl get to know you..meet with them...check in. Don't annoy or harass them but make sure they know how interested you are. And a GPA isn't anything. A good nurse takes A LOT more than booksmarts. It takes compassionm understanding, street smarts. Good luck!
PS if you don't get in the first time, change something but keep pushing forward. Brick walls are there to stop the people from getting through who don't truly want it.
You have clearly explained exactly why so many nurses take The College Network route. Almost risk free, depending on student. Self-paced studies, so you can work without having to turn your life upside down to attend college. We bring college to you.
Little stress, little pressure. No classes. No class schedules. Guaranteed passing grades for ALL prerequisites & general studies (Algebra, Stats, History, World Religion, A&P 1&2, Microbiology, Chemistry, etc. And, in the end, students are invited to walk with campus-based students and receive identical, real college diplomas, complete with cap & gown and shaking hands with the college president.
Can't fail and we provide guaranteed financing for all working nurses (LPNs, RNs) and CNAs who want to earn real college degrees from mainstream universities (Indiana State, Regis University). All distance learning, no classes. Your pace, your place.
Can't fail as long... as long as you keep paying exhorbinant prices for materials and retests!
I suggest anyone curious about this read some threads on this board about TCN. They are a ripoff. If you type "the college network" into google, the second completion result is "SCAM."
I don't remember what my GPA was to get into my program because every school has different pre-reqs that they use to calculate GPA.. I can tell you that I in no way, shape, or form had anything close to straight A's.
I had 2 C's in Anatomy and Physiology I and II, a B in Gen Chem I and a C in Gen Chem II, a B in Microbiology...lovely, huh? But those in no way resemble my nursing school grades which are much higher. There's no true predictor of who gets in to nursing school and who's going to make it out. Only you are the master of your fate.
3.5 GPA. 90% on the HESI. I only applied to an AD program and I have to admit after reading posts on here with everyone saying they had a 4.0 GPA and 99% on the HESI I was really nervous that I wouldn't get accepted, but I did! :)
I had a 2.9 overall GPA due to messing up my transcript by failing classes I took when I was 18 (I'm 26 now)... If you looked at my nursing pre-reqs only, it's a 3.5 heheh Big difference! I got only an 80% on my TEAS but my acceptance into this program is contingent upon getting a score higher than 67% so I'm still good, not sure if this holds true in other states. I also had an A in Anatomy, a B in Micro and a C in physio, an A in English 1A and no repeats. So I guess I would be a B-C student on paper and FINALLY got in BUT I had to wait almost four years. Stupid lottery! I think they looked at my app and was like, "Hrmmm, we've turned this girl down seven times, I think it's her time, let her in." lol
I'm in the Los Angeles area attempting to get into several nursing schools having just finished my pre-reqs. In school, one of our instructors gave us a spreadsheet that was made available on one schools website. It's what's known as the Chancellor's formula. You have to punch in your overall GPA, core sciences GPA (Anatomy, Physo, Chemistry only), and your English 101 GPA. It also ask you for how many repetitions you may have of any of the core sciences.
We were told by this instructor that most schools in the area require a cut score of 75%. If you pass that benchmark, then you are allowed to take the TEAS test. If you pass that with a 67% or higher score, then you are placed into the lottery pool and students are chosen at random from the lottery.
For at least two schools in the area, Glendale Community College and Pasadena City College, they get about 550-600 applicants. Both schools report that about 250-350 applicants will actually be accepted into the lottery pool. Out of those only 50-60 students are then chosen.
In every class they have a considerable amount of students who never make it to completion. I've looked at the Nursing school graduation photos at PCC and there are never more than 25 students in the photo. That says to me that there is high rate of students not graduating outright, or falling behind and graduating late. Or maybe they just didn't show up for the photo :)
This is baffling to me considering that it takes a good year to complete all of the pre-reqs. You would think students that make it through the pre-reqs would be prepared to survive Nursing school, but clearly this is not the case.
So the odds in the Los Angeles area are pretty nuts. I have a 3.1 overall GPA, a 3.4 GPA in core science, and I had a B in English from undergrad years ago. I retook English 101 to get an A just this fall to improve my cutscore. I can tell you with a B in English 101 (I'm still awaiting my grade for retaking it....hoping to get an A but as of right now I have a B in English 101)...the Chancelors formula returned a 73% on the cutscore. It would have been a 78% but I had to withdraw from Micro the first time. I of course found out I was taking Micro with one of the hardest instructors (******** ****** at GCC...avoid her class it will kill your GPA. She gave out 11 Fs and 7 Ds on the first exam). I retook again that summer and got a B in Chemistry with Dr. ******.
So everyone should note, that if you withdraw from any core science course, you will be deducted a whole 5% points in the Chancellors formula (State of California). For me it was critical. I dropped from a 78% to a 73% which was just shy of the 75% cutscore needed. If I had gotten an A in Micro the second time...it would have negated retaking the course. In terms of the cut score, it appears that you get knocked less if you get a C the first time, than having to withdraw and then getting a B.
In any case, most school only allow you to retake only 1 core science. Since I already retook Micro, my only options to raise my cutscore above 75% are to retake English 101 and get an A. Or to take enough classes to raise my overal GPA from a 3.1 to a 3.35. This is no small feat when I have over 100 credit hours. Raising GPA is slow going when you have so many classes. So of course I'm doing the English 101 retake route.
It is nuts, but when I played with the Chancelors formula...it is clear that English 101 GPA is weighed equally with the Core Science GPA. That seems nuts to me. I would think it would be way more important that someone did well in Core sciences than if they got an A in English 101. But don't underestimate it's impact on your chances of getting accepted in the State of California.
It is certainly a stressful, mind numbing experience to get accepted somewhere in the Los Angeles area. I only hope that the fact that I am a Hispanic male will help me tremendously. I'm quite certain a female with the same grades would have a uphill battle to wage in Los Angeles.
BeachBedhead, here is the link to a local college around here in Northern California. I know it may not be the program you're applying to but it's ok, it'll still calculate your score. This particular college requires you to have at least an 84%. Northern California schools are a bit steep as far as what you need to have in order to even apply.
>Scroll all the way to the bottom and the last bullet will say, "Chancellor's Predictor of Success Formula," and click on the link, "Excel spreadsheet formula." Fill in the fields with your Overall GPA, Core Bio GPA (anatomy, micro and physio GPA) and any repeats. It will populate your percentage score to the right. And someone mentioned that they weigh your English grade as much as anything else, that would be true, at least for Sierra College. When I went to one of their nursing info sessions, they definitely stressed getting a high grade in English 1A.
TNLisa
17 Posts
Every school is different. At mine, there are a certain number of spots held for male applicants, and other preferred populations. These students may enter with lower scores than others in the class. They don't always survive though.
We have a saying in our program, "C=RN" because you just need to survive and pass all your classes. The A's get checked at the door!