Question for those newly accepted to Nursing School and Nursing Grads

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Specializes in Pediatric Home Care, Dr Office/Clinic.

I like a few people on here have a bumpy past school history with a very average graduating GPA. I too am a bit worried about how this will affect my admission into nursing school. I graduated college over 7 years ago and I am in a whole different position and person now than i was back then, so i am hoping that the fact that i am motivated, excited and determined to excel in this profession will be enough to catch the eyes of the admissions boards.

So since most of my grades are past the 5 year mark where they will be excepted for transfer (which may be a blessing in disguise???), I've been trying to think of a good/best way to raise my chances.

My plan was originally to take the CLEP for about 5-6 of my prereqs but then I starting thinking the way to go may be to do straighterline and/or JC and do my damndest to get B and above in all my prereqs to show what a different person I am now and that I CAN do this. Let my new grades speak for me (my hope is to ACE them all, but I struggle with math and science a little, so I'm not going to be completely unrealistic here lol). Of course I am going to work extra hard too to get really high scores on the TEAS V as well.

Do any of you think this is a good tactic to take or a bad one? I just want to try and do every little thing that will improve my odds. Any other ideas to help boost my chances?

Thanks!

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Many science prerequisite courses "expire" and you have to have fresh grades to present to admissions committees in your nursing school applications. You don't mention what your undergrad GPA is and this impacts how you might tackle the situation. As well, we don't know what type(s) of programs you are interested in applying to as they vary in their acceptance rates. Many factors are important in your application. And different factors are stressed differently in different schools (if that makes any sense).

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Specializes in Pediatric Home Care, Dr Office/Clinic.

Oh sorry. I graduated with a 2.5 gpa & wgu is where I want to apply. I also went to penn foster a few years ago & got my cert with a 4.0 gpa.

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I don't know what WGU stands for. I also don't know what you are certified in. If you still need to take a bunch of prerequisite courses, and you do well in them, your undergraduate GPA will improve. Still, many accelerated BSN programs require an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 and higher. I would call the schools you are interested in and ask them if your profile would be likely to gain admittance.

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WGU stands for Western Governors University. I took all of my science Pre-req's the regular way but clepped out of my psychology and sociology classes to speed it up. I used Instacert.com to study for my cleps and passed each one the first time I took it. Wish I would have clepped sooner.

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PS. My husband got his teaching degree from WGU and now teaches 6th grade math. He was very happy with his experience with the school.

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I would call the school. Do you need to stay in a specific part of the country? If your husband already has a job, you may have to remain in a specific location. One of you must have a job and health insurance. I don't know the selection criteria for this school. I would call them tomorrow morning and ask. Also, make a list of other schools you can apply to in your choice geographic location. Good luck.

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Specializes in Pediatric Home Care, Dr Office/Clinic.

Thanks guys for the responses thus far...

I have all the info at least as much as they are able to give me right now. I know what prereqs I need and all that to be considered. What I was asking was from peoples experience who just got into nursing school or recent grads what you all feel my better route would be for me to take my prereqs to highten the odds in my favor.

BTW my BA is in journalism with an emphasis in PR. What I got certified in at Penn Foster was Wedding Planning. My WGU counselor said that Penn Foster can definitely be plus because it is a distance learning/online program and if I did well that could only be a good thing to have within my transcripts because it shows that I was successful at a indep/distant learning program before.

I'm just looking for any tips I can get...my ears are open!

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So how is it going know , are you working as a LVN and going to school for RN ?

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Specializes in Pediatric Home Care, Dr Office/Clinic.

@nancyeva I ended up not starting as planned back in 11' my family was in a bad accident, then I got laid off, so nursing got put on hold for a bit. I am hoping to start my prereqs in spring 2015. I've decided on a RN program at a local community college.

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