Putting my dream on hold

tinyscrafts · Nov 28, 2006

Do it anyway!

they often give academic renewal (what they basically call a do over) and most of that stuff won't count towards nursing anyway. I'm doing one prereq at a time and i'm doing good now! Most of the people in my classes are 30+

and LOTS of us have similar stories :) They don't care about our misspent youth as long as you pull it together now.

Fiona59 · Nov 28, 2006

You'd really have to check with the school your interested into their policies.

One local college told me they didn't care how good my CC marks were, they were interested in my 20 yo high school science marks.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Nov 28, 2006

i'm sorry to hear what has happened. here is the website of lpn2006, the professional journal for lpns. you can get a subscription to it. you do not have to be an lpn to subscribe. http://www.nursingcenter.com/library/journals.asp?yy=2006&journal_id=522928&about=1

you can also get textbooks of classes that you know you will need to take and start reading up. check out the forums, especially the nursing student forums on allnurses (https://allnurses.com/forums/f196/) because there are threads that have "stickys" on them that puts them to the very top of the listings. there are often a lot of weblinks to informational sites to help the students. i know there are specific threads and links for anatomy, physiology, chemistry and math. i have posted links on them myself. i just posted a bunch of anatomy links to a thread this morning.

if you can take an evening class that is part of a community lifetime learning (usually offered through the high schools or your city board of education) or through the local community college to help you bone up on what you think you might be lagging in, then now is the time to do it. if you are bad in math, i have a link for a website that is totally free where you can learn how to work math problems to heart's content. you should also check out your local pbs and net stations on tv for classes they might be showing in subjects. you can also take classes designed to prepare for the ged exam. you don't have to actually take the ged exam! those ged classes are good review courses!

i would also recommend that you find the website of your state department of education and look for any kind of assistance they give to adults who are going back to school to learn a career. this is also where you will find ged information. nursing, in particular, is a profession that is hurting for new replacements. there are a lot of grants and loans out there, unfortunately, mostly for rns, but they are out there. you just have to find them. the state departments of education and state boards of nursing are the places to start looking.

when you feel like you are ready to look at some nursing textbooks, go to the websites of the bookstores of some of the community colleges near you and see what their instructors require the students to purchase. they are expensive (run $100 +). you can purchase any of these textbooks directly from a college bookstore (you don't necessarily have to be a student of the college) or from a site like barnes and noble or amazon.

luv4nursing · Nov 28, 2006

i'm sorry to hear what has happened. here is the website of lpn2006, the professional journal for lpns. you can get a subscription to it. you do not have to be an lpn to subscribe. http://www.nursingcenter.com/library/journals.asp?yy=2006&journal_id=522928&about=1
you can also get textbooks of classes that you know you will need to take and start reading up. check out the forums, especially the nursing student forums on allnurses (https://allnurses.com/forums/f196/) because there are threads that have "stickys" on them that puts them to the very top of the listings. there are often a lot of weblinks to informational sites to help the students. i know there are specific threads and links for anatomy, physiology, chemistry and math. i have posted links on them myself. i just posted a bunch of anatomy links to a thread this morning.
if you can take an evening class that is part of a community lifetime learning (usually offered through the high schools or your city board of education) or through the local community college to help you bone up on what you think you might be lagging in, then now is the time to do it. if you are bad in math, i have a link for a website that is totally free where you can learn how to work math problems to heart's content. you should also check out your local pbs and net stations on tv for classes they might be showing in subjects. you can also take classes designed to prepare for the ged exam. you don't have to actually take the ged exam! those ged classes are good review courses!
i would also recommend that you find the website of your state department of education and look for any kind of assistance they give to adults who are going back to school to learn a career. this is also where you will find ged information. nursing, in particular, is a profession that is hurting for new replacements. there are a lot of grants and loans out there, unfortunately, mostly for rns, but they are out there. you just have to find them. the state departments of education and state boards of nursing are the places to start looking.
when you feel like you are ready to look at some nursing textbooks, go to the websites of the bookstores of some of the community colleges near you and see what their instructors require the students to purchase. they are expensive (run $100 +). you can purchase any of these textbooks directly from a college bookstore (you don't necessarily have to be a student of the college) or from a site like barnes and noble or amazon.

this is great advice. i would also like to add, try sites such as half.com.

ive gotten textbooks a few editions old for only a few dollars and media mail is very cheap. (they usually only change around a few words and some pictures and then charge more when they make new editions)

i wanted to also say that i also didnt do so hot the first time i attended college, but i got into the lpn to asn bridge the first try and i think they really took into consideration that i had an "a" average from lpn school transcripts. my actually college gpa was the minimum to get in. i hear of ppl applying to generic asn and bsns and getting turned down with very high gpa's bc its so competitive. when you are bridging to rn they are more forgiving.

definitely look into grade forgiveness or academic fresh start if your school offers it. then u can start taking nursing pre req s at ur own pace with a clean slate.

definitely check with your school about financial aid as well. i got my program paid for with a financial need based scholarship, as well as my state boards, etc. there were many single moms in my class who also got assistance with daycare, etc. there are many programs out there to help, u just have to research to find them. good luck!

Jules A, MSN · Nov 28, 2006

Hi,

I'm not sure how it is where you are but at the CC I went to there were plenty of pre-reqs for the LPN program that you could be working on now. They all transfer over to the RN bridge if you go on also.

As for your old grades I would talk with an advisor and my guess is that most schools are pretty laid back about it because it isn't that unusual. Good luck, Jules

Trauma Columnist · Nov 28, 2006

When I went back to nursing school (when I was 32), my college GPA was 0.7 - yep, you read right 0.7! However, that was when I was 18-19 and they didn't consider it since I didn't want to transfer any credits (and couldn't have anyway).

I would start the RN pre-reqs because an RN will give you more options.

prrprrmew · Nov 29, 2006

I hope everything works out for you. I thought I would not be able to pay for childcare either, but when they told me I could use my financial aid to help offset childcare costs I was able to do it. I also agree with the others, take pre-reqs especially if you can take some online classes like English, etc. and get them out of the way. Save the sciences for later as their is a time limit on transfers of sciences courses alot of times. GOOD LUCK!!

scallywags · Nov 29, 2006

No one is going to look at your high school grades and judge you by the type of a person you are today. I went to college after high school and got a degree in partying. My grades were horrible. I returned to college when I was 31 (community college). By the end of my second semester, I was on the Dean's list. I still think to myself that I am such a better student now than I could have ever been in my early 20s.

I think it would be great for you to take classes now. Start working on your pre-reqs in the evening hours. You may find, as I did, that your college offers online classes. This is a great way to bulk up on classes and earn credits. I am taking Statistics online this semester and next semester I will take developmental psychology. If you feel like you want to test the waters out first, don't step into a schedule that is overwhelming. My first semester back in college, I took General Psych and Sociology. The following semester, I took a heavier class load, but I know I could never have got through that in the first semester.

Each small step we take brings us closer to our goals. Good luck :)

maddiesmommy · Nov 29, 2006

Thanks everyone for all of your wonderful thoughts! I appreciate them so much.

Scallywags~ Thank you so much for sharing that with me. That makes me feel better, since especially my last semester that I attended college (back when I was 20) I barely went. I was more interested in spending time with my friends and meeting my (now) husband. I regret not taking it seriously back then, but now, that I'm older, I'm kind of glad, because going to school to become a teacher, really isn't what I wanted to do... in fact, I really didn't know what I wanted to do until recently. It's funny how things kind of come into perspective at different points in our lives.

Are you going for your RN or your LPN? Good luck to you! :)

maddiesmommy · Nov 29, 2006

Today I got the LPN program information from the technical school. It will cost a little over $2000 for the entire program ($1050/per semester-there are two... not including books) ...which sounds pretty good to me. You have to take a pre-admission exam (which consists of reading, math & science) then take an LPN official NLN test (which it says I have to score at least in the 60 percentile. (Is this the same as the NET test?)

I am not going to be able to go for about 3 yrs, but this gives me a look at what to expect. They even sent the curriculum, and what classes will be given in each semester. I must admit, I'm kind of intimidated! The LPN program is only offered full-time.

Here's the first sememster:

-Basic Nursing Skills

-Human Growth & Development

-Anatomy & Physiology

-Nutrition & Diet Therapy

-Personal Vocational Relationships (PVR)

-Medical-Surgical Nursing

-Pharmacology

The classes run from 8am-3:45pm. And begin in July. By the time I'm ready to start school (in 3+ yrs) my oldest will be almost 13, and my other two, will be 10 & 5. Hopefully the school tuition fees won't be too much higher in 3.5 years from what they are now. LOL.

scallywags · Nov 30, 2006

HI Maddiesmom,

I am in LVN school right now and I graduate in April. My goal is to be a RN. While I was taking my prereqs for the RN program, I became disheartened by the application process at my school. It was a "lottery" based system and my counselor told me that I had a 1:50 chance, as they get over 600 applications each term. I went through two lotteries and obviously didn't win.

I am preparing myself for my next round of applications by taking more classes so that I can meet requirements for different schools in the area. I would like to work for about a year before bridging over to the RN program.

I have a young girl in my class who is such a great student, but she is not sure that she is making the right decision to become a nurse. I would rather be older and certain of what I want than in this girl's position. Overall, how can you care for a patient properly when your heart is not in what you are doing?

:)