Questions on getting into nursing school

[c.wilson]

I have a few questions about nursing school, but first I'll say a little about my story. I was attending a community college right out of high school, and my last semester ended badly. I have nobody to blame but myself; I got caught up in making friends and partying than school, and my grades ended up reflecting that. I didn't drop any classes, so I received a F in English II and college algebra. I did pass my humanities class but barely with a C. It was my second attempt at college algebra so I've now had two F's for that course. My gpa fell below the 2.0 requirement, and I was placed on academic probation. I haven't been back to college since.

Fast forward to today, I'm now 24 and I have a two year old. I currently work at a hospital working as a monitor tech and I know this isn't where I see myself working for the long haul. I work around nurses and know that nursing is what I see myself doing, I just don't know if I can get into school with my past grades. I've matured since my previous college days, and I know I can push myself to achieve my goals, I just don't know where to start, or which path to take.

So my questions are, do I have a chance at getting into nursing school? I've looked up schools all over the country and I've seen that some schools don't accept grades that are five years or older, so should I just start over with all the pre reqs or continue where I left off? Which route would be the best to take; go to a community college and get my rn, then brige to an rn-bsn program, or go straight to a four year bsn program? Also, if anyone has any school recommendations, please let me know. I've talked to a nurse that teaches at a local college here in Florida and she says the average gpa accepted is between 3.5-3.7 but that the competition is insanely competitive here. I'm willing to move if it means I can get my degree.

[shrimp]

I'm in Florida too!

It depends on the school and what their requirements are. Not all of them factor in your prior coursework, although most will require a cumulative GPA of 2.0 at the very least. The GPA acceptance rate the nurse told you about sounds like it only includes the prerequisites. The local cc here has a typical cutoff in the same range.

How many of the prereqs have you taken? Will you be attending the same community college you first attended? Whichever school you attend, make sure you check their retake policy and how that affects you. I, personally, would get an RN from the cc and then do a bridge program afterwards. It's cheaper than going straight for a BSN, and you'd be a nurse sooner. You could be working as a nurse while completing an online RN to BSN program. If private college is a financial option for you, then you may want to look into that as well. They usually have you taking the typical prenursing coursework along with nursing courses. It's hard and expensive, but doable, and you can have your RN license in two years.

[Zyprexa_Ho]

Is that GPA for the average accepted applicant cumulative or does it only include prereqs? That may make a difference for you.

[Nurse2BeCam, ADN]

Don't start over from scratch without talking with the schools you're wishing to transfer to. In my experience, 2 universities that I'm applying to won't take any science courses past 5 yrs. Another university I'm applying to will take any course no matter how old it is. Just ask first to be safe.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

Most schools (CC and university) are extremely competitive (3.5 GPA or higher). Most schools have a 5 yr limit on pre-reqs. so you may need to repeat those. In my opinion, it is best to start from scratch and build a solid, competitive GPA rather than attempting to find a school that will accept you with a bunch of Cs, Ds, and Fs on your transcripts.

If the only schools that will accept you with your current GPA are for-profit schools, then DO NOT do it. All of them are expensive and have very low NCLEX pass rates. It does you no good to graduate with your nursing degree and spend thousands of dollars to take the NCLEX multiple times. If you do pass NCLEX, many hospitals will not hire you unless you graduated from an accredited school, which the for-profit schools are not.