Repeats???!!!!! Help!!!

Saysfaa · Jan 17, 2012

I'm taking prereqs at two schools. At one, it would be irrelevent because they look at only the last time you take the class. At the other, it would be relevent because they average all classes ever attempted.

Nurse2b7337 · Jan 17, 2012

Thanks for your response saysfaa.

mamaxmaria · Jan 17, 2012

It shouldn't matter too much, even if they look at all the classes you have attempted, Nursing schools are more focused on how you do in the science classes, so if your grades are good in those you should be good :-)

Griffin123 · Jan 17, 2012

Repeating one class certainly isn't the end of the world. I've seen nurse graduate schools recommend this to folks who want to gain admission and need to increase their gpa. I would offer several recommendations:

1) Talk to your schools counselor in person. You'll want to become very familiar with the requirements to gain admission. To my surprise, at my school you only have to have a 2.5 gpa (beyond that they don't consider gpa at all). My program awards points based on the grades we make in our science classes and on the TEAS test and whether or not we have finished all the prerequisite classes.

2) Retake the class, get an A. Before signing up for any class (math or otherwise), do your research. Check websites such as ratemyprofessor.com and see what other people have to say about an instructor you plan to take. You'll thank me for this later.

3) Think long term. What are your ultimate goals in nursing? If you think that you may some day want to do some type of advanced nursing practice it becomes even more important to guard your gpa so that doors will be open to you in the future.

4) Understand and protect your gpa. I once had a counselor tell me, "A GPA is like a batting average. The more classes you take the harder it is to raise or lower your GPA". Protect your GPA. In many cases a GPA can be harder to raise than a frickin' credit score! If protecting your gpa means you have to take fewer classes and by extension, delaying your entry into a nursing program then so be it!

The bottom line: No, retaking a class is definitely nothing to lose sleep over. Just make sure that when you do retake the class you have the time necessary to make an A in it. I'm a big believer that no subject is too hard for anyone to master. It's just a matter of varying degrees of time consumption. An instructor once gave me the following advice: "For every credit hour you take in college you should be studying no less than 3 hours." Meaning if you're enrolled in 12 credit hours you should be studying ~36 hrs a week (or more). Don't be discouraged!! Knowing how the admissions process works, knowing how gpa works, having long term goals and knowing how to be a good student (this is a skill in itself) will empower you and make you feel like you're more in control of your life. I'd say good luck but if you follow these recommendations you won't need it. Hope this helps!

Nurse2b7337 · Jan 17, 2012

Griffin123 you are awesome thanks for taking the time to explain this more in depth for me. have a wonderful day. :)

Many thanks to everyone who responded!!

Griffin123 · Jan 18, 2012

No problem! Glad I could help.

jlopez96 · Jan 18, 2012

This happened to me in Chemistry, which is worse because it's a science but I retook the same course with the same school and read over the policy which says the last class GPA is what counted but that both would show up in the transcripts. Also I have since learned to take a few hrs to check every professor on ratemyprofessor and myedu which shows grade stats on teachers. The first professor I had was absolutely HORRIBLE coupled with my not liking chemistry and also a death in the family, my grade was bad.

Nurse2b7337 · Jan 19, 2012

I totally rely on Ratemyprof in choosing my professors. Amazingly enough the professor who I received a D with I had her in learning support. She was great!!! However, things didn't work out in my favor. Jlopez96 I think my school is the same way. They take both grades into consideration but weigh more on the most current grade. Thanks for your post!!