4.0 in PreReqs? How RU Doing in NS??

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hi all,

I have read on several threads about students who had a 4.0 on pre-reqs, but then had to lower their expectations once they entered NS... So, I was wondering, for those of you who had a 4.0 heading into NS, how are you doing now?

  • If you're maintaining your 4.0, are you finding it much harder to do? Have you had to change your study strategies or increase the amount of time spent studying?

  • For those of you who no longer have a 4.0, what is making it harder for you? Is it the sheer amount of material you need to know, are the concepts much more challenging to understand, is life outside of school more complicated, or ???

I don't want to give the impression that I am completely grade-obsessed. I'm not, honestly! I know that a 4.0 in school does not equal a good nurse!! :nurse: However, I would like to eventually apply to masters programs down the road, so I'm hoping to keep my GPA up to keep that option open.

thanks!!

Specializes in Med/Surg, Hospice.

I had a 4.0 when I entered my nursing program.

I maintained my GPA throughout the first two semesters, but most of my classmates did not. As someone else already pointed out, the grading scale is higher in nursing school. Anything less than a 92 in my school is a B. In addition, getting all A's in your prereqs is no guarantee that you will continue to do so once you are in the program. Unlike my prereqs, which mainly required comprehension and memorization, nursing requires critical thinking. You have to be able to understand the material and memorize it, but then apply it to a given situation and choose the best of several answers that are correct.

Students who did not have good critical thinking skills coming into the program struggled to pass even the first semester exams. We have lost students-formerly straight A students-every semester because they couldn't pass the tests.

By our third semester, I finally had to say goodbye to my 4.0. I am a perfectionist, very type A, and very self-motivated, so I won't lie and say it wasn't hard on my self esteem to lose my perfect record (my GPA dropped to 3.93). But I was still in the program and I was still passing, which is more than I could say for many of my friends, so I chose to just be glad that I was still in "the game".

After I got over the fact that I was no longer a "perfect" student, I found myself relaxing. I can honestly say that my last semester has been the least stressful for me. It has been my busiest semester, with more tests and double the clinical hours of the previous one, but I've been able to enjoy myself more than I had before. The stress related illness I had been battling since I started nursing school dramatically improved as well. I am healthier now than I was when I started the program and, to me, that is of more value than my formerly pristine GPA.

So, I guess I'm just trying to encourage you to NOT beat yourself up over perfect grades once you start your program. Do your very best, but don't take it to such an extreme that you are stressed and unhappy all the time.

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Thanks to everyone who has responded (and will respond) in this thread. You've added so much more to the discussion and the reality above and beyond "maintaining the 4.0." None of us are automatons. We all have very different and full lives regardless of age or circumstances. And thanks again for all your study tips and how to pull everything together with all that life throws at each and every one of us each day.

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Specializes in Mursing.

3.2ish GPA after 3 years. I am from Canada though, so our scale is a tad different. Works out to roughly a B- or B average.

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Specializes in DOU.

I started with a 4.0. Pharmacology was my downfall. (B+) We had three different instructors that semester, and the final exam was written by someone else entirely. GRRRR!!!

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Specializes in hospice, ortho,clinical review.

I totally agree about the preparing yourself that you "may" not just b/c you are in the pre-reqs.

I also juggled quite a bit during my pre reqs. At the time I was a single parent raising a teenage son and worked full time...I managed a 4.0. I had also met and married my wonderul husband during that time, so took one semester off and still worked, new marriage...parenting and still maintained the 4.0.

Enter real nursing school...not so much. I've dropped to somewhere between a 3.4 to a 3.8 and may even be lower this term b/c I'm still taking some co-reqs with nursing. I still have a 4.0 in those, but nursing suffered. Partially b/c needing to devote time to micro and nutrition and another part is b/c I still maintain some family time on the weekend...not the entire weekends but still.

I also totally agree with the skewed grading scale :D it's a rude awakening when you miss 2 on a drug exam, get an 80 and that's a C!!! You need a 92 in our school for an A and I gotta tell you very few get that and those that do, it's not usually consistent test to test it's a hit or miss.

2 of our instructors that attending the school and both are going for their Masters right now, said they only got C's during nursing school, so it seems that the majority settle in "between" grades of B's and C's...but still darn good students.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard from 4.0 student's "I can't believe this" ...this can't be happening...I'm not used to this...this is destroying me and on and on. The majority of them are also 2nd career changers with families. The younger ones that thought they could party and still "make it" are failing out this term. There are many many good people who struggled with this, esp if they were taking the co-req's. Our school runs a concurrent prog w/a local univ with the co reqs so they're not done outside the school.

Like I said in my other thread, I used to come here years ago and read about gpa dropping and I'd think "nope, not me"....um, yeah well I was humbled, but it was a good thing, b/c I seriously thought I was going to need meds for how stressed I was (I had 5 exams one week...and have 6 this week my final is tomorrow) and I finally said ENOUGH!!! it is what it is...and though my only A in nursing so far was way back in the first semester so I had to become "accustomed" to even getting B's :D and they were around 87 or 89 so they were pretty high, but still...I thought well next term, then the same thing (I was juggling A and P then) and then this 3rd term, wow...what a splash of cold water...C's!!! but like I said it was a good thing overall b/c I'm finally less stressed and trust me, you will meet people that are on anti-anxiety meds...it's seriously FLOORED me how many students go this route to be able to cope and no way did I want to go that way. (and these students are just doing average as well so it's not to maintain an A)

Okay well that turned out waaaay longer than I wanted but I hope the info helps you b/c the "juggling" thing sounded like something I can relate to, infact I got 100 pct on all of my psych exams and b/c it was a CC thing done VCR style I kinda had to teach myself...I was so proud of that thinking I can totally kick nursing school butt...be prepared, you may be humbled...but don't let that freak you, it's perfectly normal.

Good luck to you....it'll be like nothing you even imagine!

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was deans list before I entered school..but with 4 kids, nursing school was whole new ballgame..don't pay attention to statistics and who says what..do the best you can, never give up, never stop studying and never beat yourself up..one of my amazing instructors barely got through NS herself..he mantra????? "A C a nurse I'll be" ..I am what you might call a barely B.......................but a future RN who wont ever have to wear my GPA on my name badge when I graduate.....:heartbeat:nurse:

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Still have my 4.0 and graduating May 2. Fortunately, I have a very strong background in A&P, and I really think that has helped. NS is just so busy, that you just have to keep on top of everything. I have used study groups, making charts of all the information, and studying at least 3-4 days before a test, sometimes even a full week. The best piece of advice I ever received was to "DO WHAT'S NEXT". When things are piling up, just do what's next. It is hard and busy, but definitely not impossible.

Good luck.

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Specializes in Home Health.

Well, I had a 4.0 during Prereqs and have not managed to maintain it. I made a B last semester and it looks like another B this semester. But someone else said: I won't have to wear my GPA on my badge. In fact, I don't really think any future employers will really care what grade I made in Pharmacology(an A btw). I think they will be far more interested in that shiny little white card that says RN on it.

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It can be done but it's much harder!

My class grade average in co-req's were high 90's but in NS it's closer to 92%. Sometimes it dips down into the 80's but I have been able to bring it up so far.

Good Luck in NS and work hard! :)

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I have a previous degree, and I had a 3.6 when I graduated - I made one A- my first semester, so the 4.0 was blown from day 1. I went back to start taking prereqs for nursing, and I've had all As since. I will graduate in August, and am in my 3rd acclerated semester now, and I haven't let myself stop. Unless I bomb the finals, I should maintain it. I do think you should open yourself up to the possiblity of losing it, because a lot of people do. I told myself that 90% is good enough for me, since it would be an A anywhere else (need a 92.5 at my school, and 92.4 is a straight B, no +/-). I think I'm going to be the last one left in my class though, after this semester.

I study almost every day for several hours (including all my time reading, doing assignments, etc.). I cut my hours at work, then quit entirely before this last semester. I live off loans and my husband. No kids, although because of advancing ages, we're going to try between when I graduate and when I go back for CRNA. I do have a very good work ethic, but I also give myself some free time. We go out about once each weekend, so I take one night completely off. I still cook but don't clean. I watch some TV, but always with a book open. It is possible, just tough. Basically, I just work as hard as I can. I'm not sure exactly how much less I could study and still pass, so I just focus on doing my best on every exam and giving it my all. For me, that's earned As so far. I have classmates who work incredibly hard and get Bs and Cs - they must not have found the right study habits for them yet. There are others who have figured out the least work they can put out to pass, and sit right on the line. Those are the ones I don't have much respect for, but that's my personal opinion and all the school asks of them is that they pass.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
I made one A- my first semester...

At least you get to have minus and plus grades. At my school in the nursing program, 94 is an A; if you get a 93, you're the proud recipient of a B.

This really ticks us off, especially those whose financial aid is dependent on their GPA, for 2 reasons: first, those are big gaps between grades and while a partial point will drop your GPA a bit, going down a whole point in grade does more damage.

Also, the nursing program starts off with 80 as being C, whereas in the rest of the school, an 80 (actually, 81) earns you a B....so if a student is running an 85, they're getting a C but if they weren't a nursing student, they'd have a B.

The problem is that the financial aid powers-that-be don't look at her and say "oh, she's in nursing school--the grading scale is tougher there so let's give her some slack." They don't see the 85; they just see the grade entered on her transcript...the C. So she loses out on her funding due to "poor performance."

Meanwhile, the basket-weaving major (no offense to any of you who were basket-weaving majors) who also has an 85 gets a B on her transcript and picks up the financial aid bucks. That's kind of unfair IMO.

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I have a previous degree, and I had a 3.6 when I graduated - I made one A- my first semester, so the 4.0 was blown from day 1. I went back to start taking prereqs for nursing, and I've had all As since. I will graduate in August, and am in my 3rd acclerated semester now, and I haven't let myself stop. Unless I bomb the finals, I should maintain it. I do think you should open yourself up to the possiblity of losing it, because a lot of people do. I told myself that 90% is good enough for me, since it would be an A anywhere else (need a 92.5 at my school, and 92.4 is a straight B, no +/-). I think I'm going to be the last one left in my class though, after this semester.

I study almost every day for several hours (including all my time reading, doing assignments, etc.). I cut my hours at work, then quit entirely before this last semester. I live off loans and my husband. No kids, although because of advancing ages, we're going to try between when I graduate and when I go back for CRNA. I do have a very good work ethic, but I also give myself some free time. We go out about once each weekend, so I take one night completely off. I still cook but don't clean. I watch some TV, but always with a book open. It is possible, just tough. Basically, I just work as hard as I can. I'm not sure exactly how much less I could study and still pass, so I just focus on doing my best on every exam and giving it my all. For me, that's earned As so far. I have classmates who work incredibly hard and get Bs and Cs - they must not have found the right study habits for them yet. There are others who have figured out the least work they can put out to pass, and sit right on the line. Those are the ones I don't have much respect for, but that's my personal opinion and all the school asks of them is that they pass.

you are right, its incredible hard work, but please dont assume that the Cs and Bs are from students who dont have the right study habits or dont work hard enough..I am a B- student right now..deans least until I reached nursing School..My Cs and Bs are worth an A to me because I have 4 children ages 4 to 15 and they all are involved with soccer, softball, baseball as well as my husband being a full time firefighter who works a 52 hour work week, many nights away from home not to mention the overtime.. I DO clean, cook, transport kids everywhere. I have an exam this Monday but between my husbands regular shifts and overtime he went into work yesterday at 4pm(Friday) and wont be home until Sunday at 9am. I had to cook, do laundry, take kids to park, shop and hopefully get to study later tonight.I cant go straight from school to study, I have to get kids off the bus, make dinner, go to PTA meetings, parent-teacher conferences and baseball/softball games to see my kids play(book in hand, as always)..I am exhausted and burnt out..and that is with my husbands help and the teens helping..so please dont make assumptions about the "less than A students"..I am confident that If I had their time, i would be getting As too....good luck and keep working hard, your grades are something to be proud of, they dont come easy in nursing school...:up::yeah::nurse:

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