jmw1

Ah.... I think it really depends on what each school wants. Most of them will put you into something like pre-nursing which isn't really the nursing program. They want to see grades in college courses before they'll give you a real seat. One advantage you may have is that you could get admitted into the nursing program directly from high school. One example I can think of is UCLA School of Nursing. But you needed to apply back in November for UCLA as a high school senior.

The blunt answer to this question is yes. You can't graduate from nursing school without the four required science courses. The vast majority of nursing schools won't even look at your admission application without grades from the four science courses (anatomy, physiology, chemistry, microbiology). Because of the competition, you will want to try very hard to avoid too many grades below A- on those four courses. Many places calculate GPA based upon just the prerequisite courses alone and couldn't care less if you have straight As everywhere else.

Maybe the low grades are a sign that this is not the right field for her. UC and CSU are only for students with outstanding grades, not just above average. Community college nursing programs are lottery based in California once you meet the minimum GPA and test scores required to apply. If her numbers aren't good enough to go into a lottery based admissions selection rather than merit based admissions, then I think this may not be the right field for her. She might be less depressed doing something else instead. The other thing about California is that there is a huge number of unemployed nurses looking for a job due to the very bad economy here. I work at a government agency in CA where we are laying off another 30 nurses. When we were hiring for RNs last summer, there were over 530 applicants who passed the initial screening which involves checking for possession of the RN license. With the layoffs, those 30 will have preferential rehire over the 530. How is she going to payoff those loans from private school nursing programs when there are no jobs?

What happened in that semester? I don't want to try to diagnose learning disabilities or psychological disorders over the internet but I know someone who did something like what you did (doing very good work until mid semester and then losing it) and she got diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which can be controlled by medications and psychological counseling. Some of stuff you're doing like giving up when you get stuck, not showing up for exams, and not dropping classes by the deadline suggests something else is going on. I understand family stuff happens but when that happens to me, I drop classes. How many weeks into the semester is the last drop deadline with W? If it's past the midpoint of the semester, I think that's usually plenty of time to concede defeat and go to the college's website to drop the class online. You lose big money by dropping but it's the same thing but worse with an F. I hate to be a party pooper but I think something else is going on.

I'm quite aware of how difficult it is to enter nursing school and how difficult it is to get the RN. The demand on nursing school admissions is also a sign of how appealing this career. Right now, it looks like it will take me 2-3 years to do prereqs and I can definitely do that part-time. I'm not in any rush and I want straight As so I'm going to do only one lab science at a time. I took the allied health chemistry class 18 years ago and got an A easily. Perhaps when I'm done a few years from now, I can take a short sabattical to do an accelerated BSN program, since I already have a BA. Maybe a part time program will open up when I finish. If none of this works, perhaps there are other allied health fields those classes are still good for. Anyway, I'm still doing research and have not decided on any action yet. Thanks.

I currently have a full time job that I'm not willing to quit due to its outstanding salary and benefits. However, I would like to pickup nursing just in case I get laid off. I have a liberal arts BA in case it makes a difference. The problem is that there are no part time nursing programs I'm aware of in the SF Bay or Monterey Bay area. If anyone is aware of any program, I'd appreciate it. If there are no part time nursing programs, are there any part time programs in the SF bay area for other high-demand health careers? I don't really know how much in-demand other fields such as radiology are compared to nursing. I would prefer a field that is nearly guaranteed to find a job almost anywhere in the country.