Do I need A's?

[NYCNative21]

Hello everyone,

It has been quite a while since I posted due too circumstances in my life and studying. I wanted to post this in regards to the pressure I am feeling and my nerves getting ready for nursing school.

I am currently planning on applying for the nursing ADN program and after completing the ADN program I was hoping to get a job and while working finish off my bachelors. The reason why I am feeling a bit of pressure is because this semester just finished for me after completing all my pre-reqs and I only really have a year to complete my nursing program because my parents are putting up the house for sale soon and planning on moving to PA. Anyways this is not why I am posting this article.

I ended off my semester with a B in anatomy and physiology part two. With my school there is no such thing are C+, C-, B-, B+, A-, A+, etc. You either get a D, C, B, or A. 70-79.4 is a C, 79.5-89.4 is a B and 89.5-100 is an A. For both A&P one and two I ended up achieving both a B. More specifically I achieved a 87 in A&P 1 and a 88.3 in A&P 2. I am a bit upset for not getting an A in either one of these because I understand how important these classes are for getting into the nursing program along side the GPA. For the Lab portion I achieved a B in A&P 1 and then I achieved a A in lab for A&P2.

My overall GPA for all my Pre-reqs out together ended up getting a 3.3. Personally this is not what I was hoping and I feel like I am already failing honestly because from what I heard and understand the Pre-reqs are extremely easy compared to the nursing programs.

The only requirement left that I am missing before I can officially apply for the nursing program is to take the TEAS exam. Im signed up for this exam on 8/02/2018.

The reason for me posting this thread is due to my question regarding my grades. Do you believe a B in both science courses will be enough to get into the Nursing program or do you believe I should just take these classes over? I also do understand that no one here can predict that and it mainly comes down to luck of the draw. I am just nervous and a bit paranoid that if I can only achieve a B in the pre-req science courses than I will do horrible in nursing school.

Some of you may be wondering too why I have not mentioned microbiology. My school actually does not require this course until we get accepted into the program.

I think the reason why I am also a bit nervous and paranoid is because my friend who got into nursing school before me and got high A's in all his pre-reqs messages me all the time telling me how he is barley passing nursing school with high 70's.

I am sorry for the long post and I appreciate anyone who has read this and will take the time to reply to my post.

[NYCNative21]

Thank you so much for the kind words! I completely agree that in this profession you have to be a life long learner. Its key to being successful in this job because it is constantly changing and new criteria is always coming forth. I really enjoy learning about the human body and how it works and functions. Its just I can't learn from just reading a textbook. I am a hands on learner and I need to look at everything, touch everything and see how it works. It sounds weird but thats how I learn. Thats why I feel like I only got the high B's in anatomy and physiology instead of the A's but that will change in nursing school if I get accepted or if I had to take on class over again.

[NYCNative21]

I really wish I lived in your area that have schools only requiring a minimum 2.5gpa to get in. I would feel a bit more confident but again unfortunately I have done my research on school and my current school is the only school I can find that offers the ADN program. All other schools either offer the BSN or the ASN. Thankfully I don't have any C's and its all mainly B's expect for a couple A's. One advisor told me to go ahead and apply and we will see and another advisor recommended me taking another class over again but still said to apply. So my confidence is not the highest right now. I am looking to just score really damn well on this TEAS exam.

[NYCNative21]

Thank you so much for the kind words. Im just really hard on myself because I feel like if I can't achieve these A's then I will be a bad nurse. My goal is to be the best nurse possible for my patients because I believe we need more caring in the field. I just want to be apart of that so bad. Again thank you so much for your kind words!

[Nursing24/7, LVN]

@NYCNative21 it's hard not to be tough on yourself when nursing schools are so hard to get into nowadays due too lack of enough seats to accomodate all qualified applicants.

I feel the same as you do...scared, nervous and doubtful...you are not alone. I had my sights set on one BSN program for the last 2 years & now I don't think I'll even apply now because I highly doubt that I will get in now because the program has become so hard to get into as opposed to 2 years ago. So, now I am looking into private ADN programs & will just do a bridge ADN-MSN program as soon as I finish my ADN.

[NYCNative21]

I'm grateful that you understand how hard it can be "mentally" just trying to get into nursing school because you feel like your doing your best and your achieving and retaining good information and then once we get denied it feels like wow am I stupid? What could I have done better, etc. At the beginning I felt like a superstar truly learning and grasping everything but then when a test came around and I got a high or low 80 I would feel so depleted. Studying 4-7 hours a day and only getting that grade while others studying less and getting higher grades. Really brings me down at times and makes me feel stupid but I try not to dwell on it because I know I have severe test anxiety. Back in elementary school I use to be in a resource class for this due to my horrible test taking skills. Ill never forget this one day an employer said Matt I'm not going to lie to you when I say your a bad test taker but out in the field your amazing. Ive always been like that for some reason. Im more street smart rather than book smart if that makes sense. The only school that offers here in Georgia a ADN program is West Georgia Tech which I am attending so my options are very slim unless I choose ASN which I don't want too.

[galpalval]

I hope this can offer you some words of encouragement or something because i was in a similar situation when i was doing my prerequistes where i didn't think i had a good enough GPA to apply to any programs. I applied to a highly competitive BSN program where I live (California) I had a 3.40 GPA, which isn't great and i also had 3 B's in my science courses which sounds horrible i know lol but i got accepted! I also had healthcare experience, as I believe you also do and that helps tremendously. I had some coworkers who were shocked that i got in because my GPA didn't seem high enough & even some friends of mine with higher GPAs hadn't applied because they didn't think they'd get accepted.

My point is you should apply with what you have and see what happens. It can't hurt to just give it a shot. Before you start to retake any classes, you never know if what you have is good enough unless you try!

Although I'm aware that ADN/BSN programs ARE very competitive, I feel like some people may exaggerate on exactly how competitive they actually are. You don't have to be a 4.0 student or even have A's in all of your science courses in order to get accepted. I know plenty of people who got accepted to nursing programs with one or two B's in their science courses. Hell i had 3 B's. Other factors can affect your admission as well, including healthcare experience, being bilingual, and your TEAS! Just make sure you study hard for that and if you do well i think you have a fair shot. I recommend you use the mometrix book if you haven't heard of it already, its inexpensive and on amazon. it has 4 practice tests that you can use to see your weak areas that you need to study more, and also helps to pace yourself on each section since it's a timed exam. It helped me a lot. Dont let stories about a friend of a friend of a friend who didn't get accepted scare you away! Try it out for yourself. :)

[Piplup]

There are ways to get into nursing school besides your GPA. Honestly if your score higher than an 85 on your TEAS that like an automatic admission. I had a 3.7 GPA but my TEAS was a 77. I didn't get accepted into the state school but I know a girl who scored an 83 on her TEAS and has a lower GPA than me and she got accepted.

Private school is different which is where I attended. I know a girl with a 3.0 whose TEAS score was a 70. They accept lower GPAs because it's sooo expensive.

[Nyja]

You need to get As if you plan on applying to a public community college or university. It is highly competitive.