Have been reading up on this forum. I can retire from my NYC civil service job in 7 years. While brainstorming what to do next (I will be 46 when I can retire) I came up with becoming a nurse. I think I have what it takes although quite nervous of the idea of putting an iv on someone since I'm not crazy about needles for myself lol. Figure you get used to it?
I intend on taking anatomy and physiology at NCC in the fall as I know that is a prerequisite for all programs so I can get a feel for if I like it and how I will do.
My real issue or concern is that I just got back my transcript from Suny Albany and my cumulative GPA is a low 2.61 and using a gpa calculator online it seems even if I received a 4.0 in all prerequisite classes I can't move up my GPA too much. Maybe 2.8 or so.
Is there any hope for me? Sad thing is I think I really want to do this but when I was in college 20 years ago I had no idea what I wanted to do and was just focused on my friends and having a good time.
Are there any programs that will accept a low gpa if I ace the prereqs now? Stonybrooks requirement was 2.8 but admissions office said that is just to look at your application but in reality most students had between 3.5-3.7 GPA. :-( any and all advice is appreciated. I still intend on taking A & P to see if this is something for me but I am a little concerned that I may be wasting my money.
Thanks! That is good to know! Was looking to do bsn program for sure from what I understand that it the way to go. I wonder who they have linkage agreements with? I assume that means if u do well in the associated program you can get in easier to a bsn program?
I believe it's on the site, definitely go through it. Yes, basically if you do well you will have an easier chance to get into the associated BSN program.
BSN is definitely the way to go (I ended up going to a BSN program over NCC and 2 others I had gotten into), however in your situation I would maximize all opportunities. I would still try for a BSN program, in addition to NCC. Do well in all the prerequisite courses you're taking, try to get all As. You also have a lot of distance between when you went to college initially and now, and programs many times understand that (private programs are often more forgiving). Good luck!
Thanks KrstnWilson! May I ask what program you are applying for? I have emailed a ton of programs so far and explained this problem and so far most say that is a hardline GPA. Fingers crossed though! When you retake a class is your grade replaced on your transcript or is the average of the two? One problem I see with that is if it was a random class that is or was only available at Suny Albany? Then what?
Another issue is one of my nurse friends suggested that A and P 1 is kind of a make or break class prerequisite wise and would be a good way to figure out quickly if this is something I would be good at or if I could handle the workload class wise. A lot of the programs seem to say science classes within 5 years and no retakes. Wondering if that includes outdated classes? Or would I just have to take it again within time frame? Kind of want to figure out if this is definitely a good track for me asap. If it isn't want to figure out another second career.
From NCC's website:
IMPORTANT NOTE: TO EARN NCC's NURSING DEGREE, AT LEAST 33 CREDITS THAT APPLY TO THE PROGRAM MUST BE COMPLETED AT NCC.
This section applies to all students who have ever attended college, whether at Nassau Community College or elsewhere. Whether you have completed just one course or an entire program, your previous college transcript(s) is/are evaluated to determine which courses apply to NCC's Nursing Program.
Beginning with the class entering in January, 2016, there are technically no prerequisite courses for admission to Nassau Community College's nursing program. INSTEAD, applicants are evaluated for admissionbased on:
Their results on theTEAS exam (see page 8)
Your scores must be at least in the Proficient†range (score of 58.7 or higher) in reading, math and English in order for you to remain eligible for consideration for admission to NCC's Nursing Program.
Their performance in the general education/liberal arts courses that are part of the Nursing Program curriculum (see page 10)
Only courses that were completed with a grade of C†(2.0) or higher are considered. The average of your grades for these courses must be at least a B†(3.0).
Courses that are not a part of NCC's Nursing Program are disregarded.
The more courses you have completed from the 33 general education/liberal arts courses in the Nursing Program, and the higher your grades in these courses, the greater your chance of admission to the Nursing Program.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
Applicable science courses completed ten or more years prior to admission to nursing will not be accepted.
Applicants will not be considered for admission to the Nursing Program if they have attempted AHS 131 more than twice (including grades below C†and grades of Wâ€), at NCC or elsewhere, in the 10 years preceding admission to the Nursing Program.
end quote.
This is what one was alluding to previously; transferring to NCC for instance with previous college credits can mean some earlier work will not be accepted/transferred over. The residency requirement of thirty-three credits completed at NCC is about half the number needed for an Associates Degree in New York. Thus it *may* be possible to leave off/behind some of your lower grades and end up with a better overall GPA starting at NCC (or any school with similar undergraduate policies). You then would need to stay on the straight and narrow by earning nothing but A and B grades.
Yes, A&P I is often the do or die course for nursing students. Many a dream has been abruptly ended or delayed due to a failing grade in that class. Some places allow students to retake at least one science or nursing class; others do not accept any classes taken again.
Hunter-Bellevue's ABSN program does not accept repeated pre-requisite courses. What someone does who took the science, math and other required courses five, ten or more years ago and wishes to apply have no idea.
Great info! I think I understand what you are saying about leaving grades behind. You ladies and gents are giving me some hope when it was starting off very discouraging. I'm wondering how long would it take to get bsn if I start at ncc. Wondering can I do a year there and if I do well get into a bsn program or would have to complete there first.
Great info! I think I understand what you are saying about leaving grades behind. You ladies and gents are giving me some hope when it was starting off very discouraging. I'm wondering how long would it take to get bsn if I start at ncc. Wondering can I do a year there and if I do well get into a bsn program or would have to complete there first.
Most if not all college nursing programs have residency requirements. They protect current undergraduates from being pushed aside by recent transfer students for a start.
If you transfer to NCC then want to go to another SUNY whatever college nursing program while still an undergraduate, you'll have to complete the whole transfer process all over again. This and as mentioned having to satisfy any credit residency requirement.
Quite honestly you are putting way to many carts before your horse. Unless or until your GPA dramatically improves much of this discussion is moot.
Again you are talking about doing something nearly ten years from now; that is a very long time and much can change between now and then.
Back to being discouraged lol. Would you suggest to just taking random easier classes to boost my GPA or would that be frowned upon? I know it is 7 years away but I want to figure out if this is the right path for me this way if it's not I can figure out something else. Also if it is the right path for me I obviously have a lot of work to do. I was thinking is there any study books or maybe free online courses or something to judge if I would even be interested in material or if I could hack it going back to school?
Try looking at Concordia College. The program is considered fairly new compared to the other schools in NY, but they're still accredited and they have one of the higher NCLEX pass rates in the state. I just graduated from there last year and they literally accepted everyone and anyone. There were people in my cohort who were accepted into the program literally the day before the start date of the new year. However, about half of those who entered the program ended up either decelerating or failing out. But if you believe you won't have any problems passing the program, but are worried about just getting into the school, I'd say this might be a good option for you. I had a HORRIBLE undergraduate GPA, but they still accepted me. Don't give up!
i actually havent commented on allnurses in >3 years but when I saw this tread I had to comment. lol
I actually graduated from Stony. Wonderful program! I knew someone that got into the program that had a 2.5-2.8 gpa. They wrote a supplemental essay explaining the situation. They been through the same situation as you focused more on friends when they were younger. But honestly don't we all at one point! Lol What's great about stony is that they really look at the essays and your personality during the interview. I had a 3.2 gpa and I got accepted over my counterpart who had a 3.5.
I feel feel like the school really appreciates your experiences leading up to nursing. There was student there that used to be a whale trainer from seaworld.
Dont lose hope! If there's a will there's a way.
My friend had a 2.8 gpa and he got into liu, he told me that they accept most applicants. Might be kind of costly but it's a BSN program.
A note about NCC, I never been there but I have a very good friend that wouldn't recommend it. That school has a big weeding out process, especially once you are in. Starting class was 120 graduating class was 70.
I retook A & P II twice. I wouldn't kill myself over the gpa. Besides that was decades ago, at another age and another mindset. I would really thrive on the essay part. Explain, how your experiences shaped you. And being a civil service worker you must had a very interesting life and had a lots of experiences working with people. When I was at stony, many of the students where in their 40s to 60s the professors seemed to really be interested in their previous work experiences which came up in lectures and talks. Like there was a former respiratory therapist who the professor would occasionally ask for their experiences when we spoke about oxygenation and types of delivery methods. Or a PT who the professor would ask how would you maneuver safely patient from their experiences. We got to know what everyone did which was nice. Everyone brought something to the table.
So best of everything and believe in prayer! The One above does the impossible for me and my friend from LIU. And I'm not a stellar student either but I survived through the program and got accepted. So I believe it will work out for you too!
Awesome thanks! The only thing is I emailed stonybrook and they said the minimum was 2.8 to look at application but didn't mention anything about supplemental essays or anything of the sort. Basically said there is no wiggle room and while 2.8 is the bare minimum it was highly competitive and most students have 3.5-3.7 GPA :-( I would figure there would be more forgiveness for immaturity during college of course if I had known then what I know now I would have at least done a little better in some of my classes. Another issue for me is I do not want to spend 80k to 100k for a second career and I think with our family income that we would not be eligible for financial aid or grants I wouldn't figure. Was hoping to spend 30-40k tops but prefer under obviously. I appreciate you chiming in! Also, I don't even know if this is something I could even hack would love to take A and P 1 as a good measuring stick but considering the time limit a lot of nursing programs have, I guess that would not be advisable until I am three years out. Can anyone advise on books to read to see if this is of interest of me? Should I buy a textbook and see? Are there free online tutorials or classes maybe where I could judge if I could hack it?
Thanks for any and all advice. I am emailing programs everyday and explaining my situation but so far no one seems to want to help or consider a person with a low GPA from almost 20 yrs ago
Amen to what chichi777 said! I have such a love/hate relationship with allnurses. You can find amazing resources and advice from people on this site, but then again I kept myself up at night worrying about not getting into any nursing programs because of some of the discouraging comments. I mean the people on this site are most likely speaking from personal experiences, but we are not the be all end all here. I think you should try to apply everywhere if this is something that you really want to pursue realizing that you may have to spend more on tuition. Concordia is pricey, but not as expensive as NYU or Columbia. And honestly, I don't know what their tuition is going to be like in seven years, but I'd reach out to their financial department to ask someone. I also know someone who took all of the pre-reqs at Hunter College and eventually got accepted into their program, so perhaps this could be another option if you're looking at budget. And as far as nursing programs go, I believe everyone is going to have something that they either hate or love about their school. I believe it's all about your personal perspective and how you allow yourself to feel about certain things. Regardless, don't give up! If I can do it, anyone certainly can!
Ricky, don't let the cost detour you from choosing a school even though it might be costly. I didn't qualify for grants and federal aid either. I took out loans, and I'll be able to pay off everything in 2 years and this was not my first degree either (so you imagine the debt).
Look at the bigger picture. With the salary you will be making you will definitely be able to pay it off. And I agree with queensgirl, it's a little price to pay for a brighter and more promising future.
I would suggest watching YouTube videos of people experience. Such as a day in a life of a nurse, plenty of those videos. To give insight if you would like the profession. Bunch of resources of there on how to study. What are the pros and cons of the profession. Save your $ and research for free resources.
In regards to emailing stony, it's usually someone in administration that will answer you. I don't think they will blatantly say write a supplemental essay. It was something the my classmate did on her own and took the chance. And her courage got her in. And usually the ones accepting the applicants are the directors of the program and experienced professors conducting the interviews. So it really depends who you email that give you a better answer. Or you can just send an application and give it a chance. The worst that can happen is that they say no. But since you mention you have all these odds against you, so it's actually a benefit to just give it a try. You can only go up from here.
MurseJJ
2 Articles; 466 Posts
I believe it's on the site, definitely go through it. Yes, basically if you do well you will have an easier chance to get into the associated BSN program.
BSN is definitely the way to go (I ended up going to a BSN program over NCC and 2 others I had gotten into), however in your situation I would maximize all opportunities. I would still try for a BSN program, in addition to NCC. Do well in all the prerequisite courses you're taking, try to get all As. You also have a lot of distance between when you went to college initially and now, and programs many times understand that (private programs are often more forgiving). Good luck!