79.4%..really?

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So I just finished my first semester of Nursing School. Got an A in skills, a "well deserved" B in clinicals, and then there is theory. I worked my butt off studing for this class and ended with a 79.4%. I thought surely my teacher would give me the fraction of a point to make a B...but she didn't! I know I know you get what you get but man does it burn!! I am in the same category as those who may have slacked off to earn a C. I don't even get a C+. Bummer. Oh well, at least I passed I guess.

My first semester was definetely an eye opener. If I can give any advice to the newbies coming on board it would be as listed below:

  1. Don't panic! We were given the same old tired speech that nursing school will run your whole life but I am here to tell you it didn't. Now let me clairify, it is what you make of it. If you want to make all A's then yes it might consume your whole life and that is fine. I made a personal choice to not allow this to happen. Which leads me to my next point...
  2. It is possible to have a family while in nursing school! I am a mom to an 18 month old and a wife and I did not lose any time with my family this semester. I made a personal choice to not study at home or on weekends to instead spend it with my family and it worked for me. May that be the reason I got a 79.4? Perhaps, but again it was a personal choice. I only studied at work (because my job allowed it) and did okay.
  3. Find your groove early on in the game. What I mean by that is find the best way for you to study and stick with it. The material goes really fast and you have a lot thrown at you with clinicals, skills, and theory. The faster you get a grip on your learning style the better off you will be.
  4. Be as helpful as possible in clinicals! The more you offer yourself, the more the nurses will offer themselves to you. Don't be afraid to ask questions but make sure they are good ones. If you have the opportunity to look up the answer first do that and if you don't understand ask the nurse. Often times they would answer my questions by asking questions but if I wasn't prepared it made me look bad. :)

That is really all I can think of right now! Good luck everyone, congrats to those graduating, and congrats to those finishing their semesters! One down, 4 more to go!

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Thanks that was very helpful and comforting. I start the program next week and I was really nervous and worried about not having a personal life. I don't have kids but I'm married and I was a little worried about not having time to spend with my wife juggling school and work.

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Specializes in Hospice.

That would have been failing in my program..... (Only above 80 is passing with a C). The grading scale in nursing is intense! For good reason, I get that, but still............ :nailbiting:

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Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

same with actual nursing. Close does not count

OP has learned some valuable lessons and will be a great nurse for having been able to apply her experience to practice. Good for you!

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.

"Don't panic! We were given the same old tired speech that nursing school will run your whole life but I am here to tell you it didn't. Now let me clairify, it is what you make of it. If you want to make all A's then yes it might consume your whole life and that is fine. I made a personal choice to not allow this to happen..."

So, why be bummed about the C if it's the result of your personal choice?

You may want to rethink your study habits. Is "ok" going to be good enough? Each semester builds on the last, gets more challenging, and the NCLEX will be your ultimate cumulative final exam.

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Well on our cumulative Exam I did pretty well and on our HESI which is 99% accurate in determining pass/fail rates of the nclex my scores earned me 90% chance of passing the NCLEX on the first attempt so I think I did pretty well. :)

What got me was one test I bombed, the 2nd test which is where clinicals and skills really pick up so it was time management there. Which is why I gave the advice to find what works for you early on and stick with it.

When I have other obligations such as another life to tend to that depends on me then yup ok is good enough for me. So long as I understand the material and grasp concepts to be a safe nurse I am happy. I say "bummed" because it is a fraction of a point. I think anyone would be bummed by that regardless.

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Check the syllabus. If 70-79 is a 'c' and 80-89 is a 'b' then 79.4 is not a valid grade according to the syllabus.

If it's a 9 point scale an 80 will do you no good.

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Specializes in ICU / Urgent Care.

I ended theory with an A and it honestly wasn't that time consuming. My take on it is you have to study smart and understand the nature of the content and how to apply it. I'm naturally a critical thinker so it was an easy course for me, but I've seen most of my class struggle. My advice would be to take your time with exams and reread each question to see what it's actually asking, and you'll often catch some very simple mistakes in just the misinterpreted understanding of what the question asked.

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Our grade scale has anything in the way of a B ending at 83. Needless to say, I got many a C+ and I was very happy to do so. I wouldn't call anyone in my nursing program a slacker; even those that didn't make it. Nursing school was hard.

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You're lucky. In my program 79.4 is failing.. And you can't pass one (theory), without passing the other (clinical) and vice versa.

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Our grading scale where I attend nursing school is 78 or higher.

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Wow, yall's grading scale is tough. I am happy to pass, and I can say slacker because unfortunately some of those I studied with admitted to not giving it there all. I have to say I don't think nursing school is all that hard to be honest. It is just a different way of thinking and it does take a lot of time. So sure if I applied every bit of myself to school I would probably have A's but its just not more important to me then my son, but again...personal choice!

Kuddos to yall who had to maintain a B to pass! Good job! :)

Thanks for the advice on studying. I tend to think to much into the question when I take my time and reread. But like I said I earned that C because of my 2nd test which I made a 62. Totally was not prepared. But my 3rd test made a 92, first test made a 88, and on the cumulative exam made a 78. Just that one test got me. But I learned from it and did well throughout. Hopefully I will do better next semester! :)

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