Retaking Classes With Bad Grades

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I was wondering if I could get some input from those of you who have already applied and/or have been accepted into a nursing program. I have a couple of courses that I received either a D or F grade in, earlier in my college education. These are not pre-nursing prerequisite classes but just general education courses, when I was still unsure of what to do and actually some of the courses I do not even need to fulfill the general education requirements as I already have a bunch of classes I took. I am planning to retake them before applying to nursing school, but I wanted to know if anyone who has experience with this, knows how the nursing schools will look at these? Will the bad grades be calculated in my GPA? Will the grades be averaged out or the bad grades removed and new grade counted? I am in southern California if that helps. I would appreciate any input and help. Thanks.

Specializes in Surgical/Trauma ICU.
Hello,

I read your post on allnurses and was wondering what other csu schools I can apply for. I don't want to be focused on one school. I currently attend Cal State San Bernardino. I will be applying to the program this winter. I am taking some classes over again because I got low scores. I want to know if you have a listing of any other csu schools I can apply to for next year. I am a older student and would have to wait another year to get in. I really wait to become a Nurse. My friend that goes to Cal State San Bernardino couldn't get in with a 3.5 GPA. Help please!! How do I research all of this. Thank you! carlasbizz:redpinkhe

go to www.assist.org , it has all the transfer information to CSUs and UCs. Under "Explore Transfer Information" pick the school you go to. Next, you'll be able to choose a different university that you want to transfer too. Then pick a major, and it will have the agreement between the two schools of what classes you need to take in order to apply for their nursing school.

Very helpful link

Good Luck!

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Specializes in ER/Ortho.

As the above posters said it depends on the school you are applying to. There are three ADN programs in the my area and all three have different rules.

The first ADN program only uses the GPA from the pre reqs they require.

The second use the GPA for the pre reqs they require, but when your pre req GPA and someone elses who applied are the same they use your overall GPA. In this situation if you have retaken a class the newest grade replaces the older grade, and its like the old grade never happened.

The third ADN program looks at both the Pre req GPA for their program, and your overall GPA. In this situation they could all classes taken for GPA purposes. If you have taken a class 3 times they count all three times, and all three grades.

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When applying to most, if not all colleges, the application requires you to list ALL colleges and Universities attended. It doesn't matter if the transcripts will be forwarded or not.

Here is the statement from my application: "All information in the application must be complete and accurate. Any MISREPRESENTATION or OMISSION of facts from the application will justify a denial or revocation admissions or subsequent dismissal from the graduate program"

Well see, here is where the school has the problem. If you don't put the information TO START WITH on the application, and if you cannot be electronically tied to a school via financial aid, then there is no way they can find out.

No one is debating whether or not the schools ask for this information.

No one is debating with under the "letter of school policy" if you are supposed to put this information down.

The debate, is if you DID NOT include the information...could you be "found out"?

The answer to that question...is no. Not unless you tell someone.

I know of a very, very prominant member of this website who did the same thing and that is how they got their degree. I won't mention them unless they want to be mentioned, but they have posted that about themselves before on this site.

Schools need to have a process for students to "renew" themselves academically...one shouldn't be punished forever for a mistake...criminals aren't...so why should students? Does that not bother you?

Yes, you may find a school that may be willing to only look at recent grades...but I can TELL YOU NOW that if you are trying to apply to graduate school, you will have an uphill battle on your hands b/c most graduate schools have too many applicants to where they do not have to be concerned about such acceptions.

This is the one area of education that I 190% wholeheartedly disagree with and if a student can get away with it, I say do it.

They have to pay to take the classes over, they still have to earn the grade, so I have no moral issue with it whatsoever.

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Well see, here is where the school has the problem. If you don't put the information TO START WITH on the application, and if you cannot be electronically tied to a school via financial aid, then there is no way they can find out.

No one is debating whether or not the schools ask for this information.

No one is debating with under the "letter of school policy" if you are supposed to put this information down.

The debate, is if you DID NOT include the information...could you be "found out"?

The answer to that question...is no. Not unless you tell someone.

Ok, so the debate is about being "found out". Why risk being found out? Jus include the information. There is a reason that this is part of the school's policy. They want to see what the person's track record is. It is like someone who cheats on a test and justifies their actions by saying, it is ok to cheat because I didn't get caught. Well, it is not ok to cheat, and it is unfair to the students who studied and worked hard for their grade.

Schools need to have a process for students to "renew" themselves academically...one shouldn't be punished forever for a mistake...criminals aren't...so why should students? Does that not bother you?

Yes, you may find a school that may be willing to only look at recent grades...but I can TELL YOU NOW that if you are trying to apply to graduate school, you will have an uphill battle on your hands b/c most graduate schools have too many applicants to where they do not have to be concerned about such acceptions.

This is the one area of education that I 190% wholeheartedly disagree with and if a student can get away with it, I say do it.

They have to pay to take the classes over, they still have to earn the grade, so I have no moral issue with it whatsoever.

I AGREE that students should have a way to "renew" themselves. I believe that is why schools allow us to take classes over (Some schools, because mine did not). For the schools that doesn't allow students to take classes over, should implement a policy that allows them to.

Students are also allowed to plea their case when they apply for programs. They are allowed to state in their essay/statement why their grades were not up to par. Some may even supply a supplemental essay discussing the reason for their short comings.

I didn't have a problem being accepted into my graduate school. In my essay, I stated why my grades from my first semester of college did not mirror the last three years. I was going through familial problems. I got my act together. I presented my case and got in. And believe me, the program was competitive. I am one of 40 in the BSN/MSN program.

I believe that people can get their act together. I ended up graduating summa cum laude in my undergrad. But it would have been unfair for me not to list my prior education because i didn't do well the first time. This is how the committee "weeds out" their applicants.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this matter. Good luck to all.

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Specializes in Transplant.

I had a baaaaad first year in my first undergrad degree which dragged my GPA down to a 2.7 (without the first semester: 3.6). I worked like a mad person on my pre-req's and got an A in them all. I noted all of this in my application essay and it seems to have worked, since I'm currently in a BSN program.

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