Sending all transcripts to nursing school

[esunada]

I have a previous bachelors degree and got a 3.5 and I'm doing prerequisites and doing well in those classes, too, all As! However, I had one semester in law school years ago, when I totally didn't know what I was doing and got Bs and Cs. I subsequently quit law school. Do I really need to turn those in? I know schools request all transcripts from previous coursework, but this was one semester awhile back, that has no revelence, and would considerably lower my GPA. Is it okay not to send those, will they find out and not let me in for not turning those in?

THanks.

[llg, PhD, RN]

If they say "all" they mean "all" and if they catch you lying about your academic background, it could easily mean an automatic rejection or dismissal from the program.

Lying (or "covering up") on an application is usually taken very seriously as it suggests that you are not honest when it comes to disclosing information that does not present yourself in a positive light. In the health care industry, that is a particularly bad sin as we depend on health care professionals to police themselves ... report their own mistakes ... etc. If you can't be trusted to be honest on your application, how does the school have any confidence that you can be trusted to report yourself for making a mistake in patient care? Therefore, a lot of schools and a lot of employers have a policy of "no tolerance" for deception in the application process.

Sure, you might get away with it. But do you want to take that chance? If caught, the penalties could be severe. Also, do you really want to start your new career with a lie?

Address the low law school grades in an accompanying letter or elsewhere in the application. Say that it was something you realized was not for you, it was a terrible fit, etc. I doubt it will hurt your chances of acceptance very much if at all.

[elkpark]

:yeahthat:

I got into a prestigious and v. competitive graduate program in nursing with transcripts that included two years of college many years ago in which I got very mediocre grades, including one "F." I went on to do well in my diploma program and BSN completion program quite a few years later. I was actually asked about the F, specifically, in my (grad school) interview, and was able to talk about how I had grown and matured since the earlier experience. It ended up not hurting me.

I would much rather be honest from the start, and not have to worry about whether the alternative would come back to "bite" me at some point. I don't think there's anything wrong or damaging about acknowledging that you tried law school and discovered it wasn't for you.