Should I give up on my dream to become an NP?

Nursing Students NP Students

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  1. Will my old grades hold me back?

    • 10
      Nope
    • 3
      Yes

13 members have participated

Hi everyone, I am a 26-year-old aspiring nurse practitioner who will graduate in May with my ADN. I plan on going right back to school to get my BSN and then continue on to NP school. However, I'm afraid my past GPA will hold me back.

After I graduated highschool in 2009, I attended a community college for a couple years. I took 30 credits and ended up with a 1.78 GPA. (I had a TIA the summer after highschool and developed very bad depression and anxiety)

Since then, I have recovered and relocated out of state, enrolled in a new community college and will graduate with a 3.5. Even though my grades are great now, I'm worried that I won't be accepted into any NP programs because of my past GPA. I plan on applying to NP school after I finish my BSN in a year or two. (Mostly online programs)

Does anyone have any experience with this? I appreciate any advice or input you may have!

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Specializes in Cardiac (adult), CC, Peds, MH/Substance.

Some NP programs look only at your BSN GPA. Some calculate it to include your ADN. Some look at everything. Time to do some research on potential programs.

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well, some sort of NP programs will take everybody. 3.5 is fine to get into a decent school though. just dont go to one of those online for profit garbage bank places like kaplan, walden, etc

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Funny I came across this post. This is something I was wondering about, out of sheer curiosity. Would it be against the rules to just not send in the transcripts from your first CC experience at all? If you essentially started all over and didn't use the old grades to satisfy any pre-recs or credits for your ADN, I really don't see why they are particularly relevant. I don't know the answer; it probably depends on the school. But could be something to look into, if you fill all the necessary requirements without any of those old classes. Just don't omit them if they are required, because that would almost certainly backfire.

Either way, I am not qualified to assess whether your grades will hurt you or not. But I'd think that showing such a huge improvement is good. Hopefully some programs would be able to see that you had some problems when you were younger that you've since rectified.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
Funny I came across this post. This is something I was wondering about, out of sheer curiosity. Would it be against the rules to just not send in the transcripts from your first CC experience at all?

I wouldn't risk it and in most cases you would probably need some of those credits. The bottom line is unfortunately there are NP schools who will take anyone who can pay the tuition. Yippee for our profession. :wtf:

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haha Jules you've probably exhausted all of the disgusted emojies when commenting on NP education quality :) :) :) :) lol

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Thank you all for your feedback!

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I haven't applied to NP school so don't take what I say as law.

But as someone who applied to nursing school with a 4.0 in the pre-reqs and a less-than-stellar GPA in my previous BA (think low 2s)...my previous performance wasn't really taken into account other than the fact that some classes I took help satisfy pre/co-req classes in the nursing program. They were more concerned with how I did in the pre-reqs.

I imagine NP programs would be the same way, except that they're going to care far more about how you did in nursing school than how you did in the undergraduate program from way back when. But again, each school is different so it doesn't hurt to drop the admissions office a note and ask.

IMO, I wouldn't let it stop you. Apply: what do you have to lose?

Best of luck!

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

As long as you did well in your ADN and do well going forward, you'll be fine. I had plenty of Ds, Fs, and Ws in my first two years of college. Even with hard work my final GPA from 1st degree in finance/econ (years ago) was sub-3.0. I went back for a master (company paid), got strong grades; got a prestigious certification; and did well on the required standardized test. With that I got an interview at an ivy and a acceptance into a top 20 MBA program with partial scholarship (ended up not going). My pre-req GPA was 4.0 and I got into nursing schools. So it can be done. Shoot for reputable schools...the NP field is becoming and will become very saturated. You need every competitive edge you can get.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
haha Jules you've probably exhausted all of the disgusted emojies when commenting on NP education quality :) :) :) :) lol

Lol I'm sure I have but that one is fantastic I'm puking and have been gouged in the eye, doesn't get any more dramatic than that!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Hi everyone, I am a 26-year-old aspiring nurse practitioner who will graduate in May with my ADN. I plan on going right back to school to get my BSN and then continue on to NP school. However, I'm afraid my past GPA will hold me back.

After I graduated highschool in 2009, I attended a community college for a couple years. I took 30 credits and ended up with a 1.78 GPA. (I had a TIA the summer after highschool and developed very bad depression and anxiety)

Since then, I have recovered and relocated out of state, enrolled in a new community college and will graduate with a 3.5. Even though my grades are great now, I'm worried that I won't be accepted into any NP programs because of my past GPA. I plan on applying to NP school after I finish my BSN in a year or two. (Mostly online programs)

Does anyone have any experience with this? I appreciate any advice or input you may have!

You're getting your ADN right now. Why don't you decide whether you still wish to pursue an MSN after you've got a little time in as a nurse. You'll have a much better idea about the difference in roles and perhaps you'll find that you no longer wish to be an NP.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

I wouldn't spend too much worry on it, especially if you get excellent grades in your ADN and BSN programs. But you could always contact some admissions departments and ask. And you can always attach a letter to your application explaining your earlier poor GPA and (the important part) what is different now that ensures that you won't be a poor student in their program.

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