pursuing CRNA school acceptance- help

kmchugh · Mar 29, 2005

OK, but you won't like what I'm going to say. I'm not trying to be hard on you, but sometimes it's best to know the unvarnished facts.

The 2.9 GPA is probably going to put a stop to your plans. Every program I know of requires a minimum 3.0 GPA. When they receive applications from folks with a GPA less than 3.0, that application is placed in the circular file without further consideration. That may not seem fair, but bear in mind that all graduate level programs require you to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA throughout school. Many will only allow you one class with a grade less than B. So, the programs will see a GPA of less than 3.0 indicative of your ability to complete the program.

Contact program directors at places you might be interested in to see whether they have recommendations on how you might improve your GPA.

Kevin McHugh, CRNA

sway · Mar 29, 2005

I know that as of a month or so ago, several of the schools listed on the AANA web site had GPA requirements in the 2.8 range. I seem to recall the school in Arizona and perhaps Ft. Myers, Florida were two of them. Perhaps there are more. Remember, the GPA requirement listed may not reflect the average GPA of those getting accepted.

You could always also try taking some science classes, like O-chem, and hope to boost your GPA and show that you can handle difficult science classes.

Good luck...

TLC RN · Mar 29, 2005

What GPA are you talking about? Is it your BSN degree, overall of both degrees?

I have a previous degree that was well below a 3.0 and am currently in a BSN program. I saw this as a potential problem when I decided to pursue nursing because I knew I would most likely go to grad school. Lets just say the previous GPA was a bit of a hindrance in getting accepted into an accelerated BSN program. During the process I began to think if I am not even able to apply to certain programs because of my previous GPA how will it affect me when I try for a grad program? Although, I was & am still undecided as to what I will pursue at a graduate level, I decided to get it straight from the horses mouth. I contacted 3 CRNA program directors and explained my situation. One program said they would compute my GPA from my last 120 credits taken. Another said they would only look at the BSN degree GPA and the first degree GPA did not matter. The last program director said it was a case by case basis and that obviously they look favorably on someone who had improving grade trends. So, I would advise contacting schools you are interested in and discussing your situation with them. I was pretty impressed that the directors I contacted took the time answer my questions especially since I was not even a nursing student yet. They all encouraged me to do well in my BSN program and contact them in the future if I decided to apply to their programs.

Sleepy 7 · Mar 29, 2005

I know that as of a month or so ago, several of the schools listed on the AANA web site had GPA requirements in the 2.8 range. I seem to recall the school in Arizona and perhaps Ft. Myers, Florida were two of them. Perhaps there are more. Remember, the GPA requirement listed may not reflect the average GPA of those getting accepted.
You could always also try taking some science classes, like O-chem, and hope to boost your GPA and show that you can handle difficult science classes.
Good luck...

Thanks for the info .

I also found 6 more that said 2.75 in various states.

Sleepy 7 · Mar 29, 2005

What GPA are you talking about? Is it your BSN degree, overall of both degrees?
I have a previous degree that was well below a 3.0 and am currently in a BSN program. I saw this as a potential problem when I decided to pursue nursing because I knew I would most likely go to grad school. Lets just say the previous GPA was a bit of a hindrance in getting accepted into an accelerated BSN program. During the process I began to think if I am not even able to apply to certain programs because of my previous GPA how will it affect me when I try for a grad program? Although, I was & am still undecided as to what I will pursue at a graduate level, I decided to get it straight from the horses mouth. I contacted 3 CRNA program directors and explained my situation. One program said they would compute my GPA from my last 120 credits taken. Another said they would only look at the BSN degree GPA and the first degree GPA did not matter. The last program director said it was a case by case basis and that obviously they look favorably on someone who had improving grade trends. So, I would advise contacting schools you are interested in and discussing your situation with them. I was pretty impressed that the directors I contacted took the time answer my questions especially since I was not even a nursing student yet. They all encouraged me to do well in my BSN program and contact them in the future if I decided to apply to their programs.

BSN = 2.9

I also worked 2604 hours as a paramedic and commuted 1.5 hrs each way.

Sleepy 7 · Mar 29, 2005

OK, but you won't like what I'm going to say. I'm not trying to be hard on you, but sometimes it's best to know the unvarnished facts.
The 2.9 GPA is probably going to put a stop to your plans. Every program I know of requires a minimum 3.0 GPA. When they receive applications from folks with a GPA less than 3.0, that application is placed in the circular file without further consideration. That may not seem fair, but bear in mind that all graduate level programs require you to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA throughout school. Many will only allow you one class with a grade less than B. So, the programs will see a GPA of less than 3.0 indicative of your ability to complete the program.
Contact program directors at places you might be interested in to see whether they have recommendations on how you might improve your GPA.
Kevin McHugh, CRNA

Thanks for the information.

I found about 6 or so that say 2.7.

I guess I'll try those first.

Again thank you

royalkeister · Mar 29, 2005

I personally know people who have gotten into CRNA programs with a GPA

Sleepy 7 · Mar 29, 2005

Thanks,

I'm in the AACN online course through my employer.

This is for CCRN.

Do you know which schools in particular?

babynursewannab · Mar 29, 2005

Hey,

First off, totally ignore my screen name...I'm trying to change it.

I work in a CVICU right now and am in the AACN ECCO course. That is strictly a specialty class for critical care. There isn't a CCRN tag-along to it. Are you taking another course on top of ECCO? The last time I checked out the requirements, you needed pretty much 1 year of full-time bedside in critical care in order to have enough hours to be eligible to sit for the CCRN.

Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I also don't want you to short yourself if I'm not.

Good luck in your search.

-Alyssa

Medic14 · Mar 29, 2005

First and formost my impression from a recent interview was your performance during the interview and your clinical experience.

GPA is great but it's not everything, first we must consider that even though all BSN RN programs are accredited, some are more difficult than others. ie a 2.8 at Yale School of Nursing or Case Western is more esteem than a 3.8 at noname podunk U. IMHO.

Secondly, the admissions committee wants to see how mature are you, how long have you wanted to do this, what have you done to research about the profession, and of course what do you know about the program you are applying for.

An Applicant may look great on paper, but lack a real indepth clinical experience, is this person someone who just did one year of ICU care, I don't think I have to remind you that not all ICUs are the same. Secondly, is this person at the level where they are teaching/precepting thier peers. I've met nurses who have years and years to experience in on field but can not for the life of them handle the stress of presenting their subject of expertise to strangers. This shows a valuble trait, can this potential student handle stress, ie. having a difficult time with an intubation, while the clinical instructor, surgeon, or-rn, residents, everybody else impatiently waiting on them to get the job done.

Jay, my recommendations to you is to seek at least 2-3yrs of critical care ICU experience with recovery of cardiothoracic patients, management of neurosurgery patients in trauma, possibly a burn icu. Take a break from pre-hospital and er department, because of the unfair generalization is that er/pre-hospital personnel are great about prioriziting emergencys and deficent on monitoring a critically ill patient and having to ablity to critically think through a problem. Personally, I feel this generalization is unfair, however, i've heard this statement from five different crna educators.

As mentioned before, most programs recommend the CCRN, and some now require it. The exam is not impossible, it simple means that you have met a standard, and to the CRNA admissions comm. it says you are ready.

If you do not take an organic or biochem chemistry course in undergrad, take it the year before you apply. all the programs i've had interest in, have first recommended it and/or required it. I took mine at a community college, an organic/biochem course for nurses or nonscience majors, if your not sure, call the school and ask them what do they recommend/require.

One last thing, your performance during the interview, mine, consisted of a multitude of oral questions, if you see this what is going, what should you do next, why.

basically a lot of things to second guess yourself, without room to BS. It was no give me questions like, "what's going on if you have diminished breath sounds, and the trachea is off midline?" More like, look at this abg, what is it, what is causing it, how would it be corrected, and what's going on at the tissue level. One thing they want to see is how well you do while being prodded or pimped with questions, trying to get you to second guess or doubt yourself, even agitate you a little, all comes down to how well do you handle stress.

Hope this helps, best of luck.

Citadel Sam · Mar 29, 2005

What GPA are you talking about? Is it your BSN degree, overall of both degrees?
I have a previous degree that was well below a 3.0 and am currently in a BSN program. I saw this as a potential problem when I decided to pursue nursing because I knew I would most likely go to grad school. Lets just say the previous GPA was a bit of a hindrance in getting accepted into an accelerated BSN program. During the process I began to think if I am not even able to apply to certain programs because of my previous GPA how will it affect me when I try for a grad program? Although, I was & am still undecided as to what I will pursue at a graduate level, I decided to get it straight from the horses mouth. I contacted 3 CRNA program directors and explained my situation. One program said they would compute my GPA from my last 120 credits taken. Another said they would only look at the BSN degree GPA and the first degree GPA did not matter. The last program director said it was a case by case basis and that obviously they look favorably on someone who had improving grade trends. So, I would advise contacting schools you are interested in and discussing your situation with them. I was pretty impressed that the directors I contacted took the time answer my questions especially since I was not even a nursing student yet. They all encouraged me to do well in my BSN program and contact them in the future if I decided to apply to their programs.

Tooty, since your GPA wasn't great for the accelerated BSN program, did your GRE scores counteract the GPA?