Ramblins- Getting into Nursing School and GPA

SparklyGirl · Sep 27, 2007

I think a lot of people are in your same position. Try not to stress out so much! :)

Also, every school has its own admission requirements. Some schools only look at your prereq GPA, some only look at the last 60 units, and some look at overall gpa, though in my experience, those are the most rare.

If you get As in your prereqs, I think you will have a good chance of getting in somewhere.

Sarah Bellum · Sep 27, 2007

This is one of the reasons I hate schools that ONLY look at GPA (or GRE scores or other one dimensional factors) to do admissions. There's so much more to a person than the grades they earn.

Karen

SunnyCaRN · Sep 27, 2007

I know it seems unfair but as an older student that averaged 19 units per semester I still have a 4.0. Now I'm taking 3 class -2 science with labs and I will be lucky to keep that while a friend of mine stayed at the CC and is just taking 1 science with lab and a Poli Sci and is getting not just an A but a 102% because the teacher is curving. Fair-NO, Life-YES.

Don't worry pick another type of class such as a Soc or Psyc that can help raise your GPA. They will take all your college course into account. If you got a C in one course may-be you can retake it and get an A if they average then it pulls it to a B and you make up your points. Just remember if you have the desire the way will come!

Good Luck! and thanks I needed the rant too!

L :)

catzy5 · Sep 27, 2007

I am just kind of rambling here, but I need to talk about this and get other opinions, so bear with me. I graduated college 16 years ago, and at the time I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I got through college in 4 years and at times had to take 18 credits a semester as a result of the fact that I changed schools. Several things happened to me in college (hey.. life happens, right?!), father was diagnosed as terminal and died close to the end of my college years. Grade wise.. well, they are not what they should have been especially the year my dad died. Still I got through it, was never on academic probation and even made Dean's list a few times, but the overall GPA- respectable, but not stellar.
Fast forward a few years. Desperately trying to get into nursing school (I want an AD program), but worried that the grades of my youth will keep me from realizing this. My GPA is 2 hundreths of a point lower than what the school I am looking into says they require. I will take the prerequisites that I did not take in college - like A&P and Micro (had a micro but it didn't have a lab so have to redo it), but even if I get 3 As I am not sure that will pull my overall GPA up much. *sigh*.. I am just feeling frustrated.
Also the GPA thing doesn't seem fair to me at times. And I am NOT trying to offend here, so please don't take it that way. BUT if someone goes to school and takes 1 class at a time and is able to complete their degree (which is a GREAT thing, I am not saying its not) but is able to make all As, and keep a 4.0, whereas someone else takes a full class load but has a lower GPA - do schools take this into account? I mean, I don't think anyone would argue with me that taking 5 classes at a time is harder to juggle than taking one class at a time? No? Does anyone see what I am saying?
I am sorry your feeling frustrated I remember feeling the same way at one time too. Have you checked to see what requirements are needed for GPA, for example my school the GPA is only on the pre requistes, so I basicly got to make a fresh start. Also if you got a D or an F at my school you can retake the class, you can NOT retake the class if you got a C or above, however, you can take one class higher. In college 20+ years ago I had a C in English 101 I was really frustrated because GPA is everything at my school I knew I wouldn't get in with anything below a 3.7 and even that is cutting it close. Well after dropping out for a semester changing my game plan and looking into the LPN program, I found out that they looked at my highest taken course, in this case english 102 wich I did infact get an A in.
As far as taking 1 class at a time and getting an A, its been my experience that students that do this, do it because they have too, they may not be taking 5 classes but they more then likely have several other things going on at a full time basis that make even one class hard to juggle. No one wants to prolong the already long process of getting into RN programs, if a student can manage more then one class he/she usually does. I have been working at this since 2004 I am not a young person, but I have a full time family that needs me and managing even one class was a real struggle at times, as they got older and more independent I managed 2 sciences together, I think most will agree two lab sciences together is a full time job in and of its self.

catzy5 · Sep 27, 2007

This is one of the reasons I hate schools that ONLY look at GPA (or GRE scores or other one dimensional factors) to do admissions. There's so much more to a person than the grades they earn.
Karen

I think that's why it's great that there isn't a standard for admissions, there are many different options out there, for me the school looking at only GPA is my fastest entrance, I also have a CC near me with a 3 year wait list, I have a university that has admission based on points, there are private schools that pretty much take you, if you can afford it. Then there are bridge programs LPN step over to lpn-rn. Many many options out there for a wide variety of people and talants.

luvlilly · Sep 27, 2007

Thanks everyone for reading my "poor me" post and for your encouragement. Catzy I hope I didn't offend you at all. Its great that you are taking classes and have a family. I commend you for all that you are doing to better yourself! And again its not that I hold anything against those that take one class at a time. Just having my own little pity party.

If I just extract the prerequisite classes that are needed for my program my GPA is much higher... maybe they will take that into account? I bombed 4th semster Spanish (Spanish 4) and made a D (which is not needed for my prgram, just 1 semester of foreign language and I got an A in Spanish 1), which in turn, bombed my GPA. We were required to take a ton of foreign language for my BA. Up to then I did pretty well in spanish. Oh well.. whats done is done. Thanks everyone.:wink2:

catzy5 · Sep 27, 2007

Thanks everyone for reading my "poor me" post and for your encouragement. Catzy I hope I didn't offend you at all. Its great that you are taking classes and have a family. I commend you for all that you are doing to better yourself! And again its not that I hold anything against those that take one class at a time. Just having my own little pity party.
No, NO absolutely no offense taken, I was just pointing out that most who do take one at a time do have other stuff equal to a full load going on, Typically. I have done it both ways there just isn't an easy way to get through this, but time goes by and you will be looking back posting to someone else saying oh yes I was there before too, but now I have moved on to the next concern hehehe.

cad4296 · Sep 27, 2007

I definately understand where you are coming from! My GPA is pretty good considering that I worked full time and took a full time load. One semester I took 5 classes, 2 sciences with labs so a total of 17 credits, worked full time, worked part time and still ended the semester with 4 A's and a B. I make all A's and B's, but I still make B's. My GPA is high enough to graduate with honors yet not good enough to get into nursing school! Its frustrating when you have a family, job responsibilities and do school and still do fairly well, but there's no competing with someone who has no other responsibilities outside of school and can focus all their time and energy on just school. I had class with a girl who was 18 fresh out of high school who didn't work, lived at home with her parents who were paying for all her expenses and only taking 2 classes because she told her parents if she only took 2 she could get all A's. :uhoh3: Just look around at all your options and find something that works for you! I found a school that goes by a points system, GPA of the classes you need only for their program (Which bumps up my GPA not taking into consideration the classes I don't need!), entrance exam, and points for how many credits you have completed. This gives me a better chance of getting in that GPA alone. Best of luck to you! I hope you find something that suits your situation!

fmrnicumom · Sep 28, 2007

I wrote out a long post and then my son shut off the computer! lol I'll keep it short this time. I know it's scary to want something so much, and be afraid that something will happen so you won't even have a chance. This is very important to me, too. The best thing you can do is contact the advising departments of all the schools you might be interested in directly and ask them what classes they will look at, if there is a point at which the grade is no longer taken into consideration, if you might have a chance to put in some sort of statement to explain why you had some difficulty the year your dad died, etc. You have to ask to find out. I know my school does not look at grades older than 7 years old. You still get credit for the class, provided you earned a C or better. That helps me some because I did not have stellar grades when I was in college the first time. They were okay, just not great. Anyway, I did not know about grades older than 7 years, one of the nursing advisors just happened to mention it in a nursing information meeting. You never know, there may be something like that at the school you're considering. From what I understand, most schools rely more heavily on your recent performance than that which happened many years ago. They are aware that people mature and situations change. Like I said, it definitely can't hurt to ask.

Keep us posted, okay? :)

Tiffany