Should I just give up hope?

afranklin · Apr 20, 2009

Don't give up! That's what you'll get from this board, and believe me, you'll be

glad:) Life is tough, but we have to try to find the strength to keep putting one

foot in front of the other, even if it means taking classes over and over; I know,

I'm dropping Micro(horrible experience) and re-taking it again(this will be 3rd time)

until I get the results that I deserve and you can, too!

You will find a ton of support here so please, don't give up:)

Javeed · Apr 20, 2009

I understand how you feel. I know it seems bad but you can do this. Before you start another semester, get your house in order *so to speak* Nursing School will require your full attention. I have spoken to a lot of people who are in school and they all tell me one thing, It is hard but you can make it. You will need to look at your history. Did your grades drop only due to the hurricane or were they bad prior? Was it due to bad study habits or a lack of dedication? I am not trying to be mean but often I find that when I am doing bad it is due to my lack of giving 110%.

You also must ask yourself how bad do you want this? This is more than a passing fling. It takes all of one and you must be willing to give up all to have it. Many friends have told me that you will not have a life. All you do is school, study, little sleep, and grab a bit here and there. If you party, you will fail. Keep your head up and don't drop out. If you are serious, stick with it, you will do better.

TexasNurse2B · Apr 20, 2009

I understand how you feel. I know it seems bad but you can do this. Before you start another semester, get your house in order *so to speak* Nursing School will require your full attention. I have spoken to a lot of people who are in school and they all tell me one thing, It is hard but you can make it. You will need to look at your history. Did your grades drop only due to the hurricane or were they bad prior? Was it due to bad study habits or a lack of dedication? I am not trying to be mean but often I find that when I am doing bad it is due to my lack of giving 110%.
You also must ask yourself how bad do you want this? This is more than a passing fling. It takes all of one and you must be willing to give up all to have it. Many friends have told me that you will not have a life. All you do is school, study, little sleep, and grab a bit here and there. If you party, you will fail. Keep your head up and don't drop out. If you are serious, stick with it, you will do better.

They were not the best prior to the hurricane. I was one who thought college was no big deal and I could just drop a class and retake another semester. I now know its seriously coming back to haunt me. I have horrible study habits also and need major advice in the dept too.

nolimitam · Apr 20, 2009

Anything worth having is worth fighting for. I know that what you do in the past in regards to GPA follows you no matter how long ago it was. To bad we don't have the option to start with a clean slate. I know that now I have more of a drive and now having a family, more reasons to succeed. My overall GPA when I got my first degree was 2.98. After talking to nursing student I was advised to maybe go the route of going for LPN and then RN. I knew that I had the determination and what it took to achieve my goal of getting into a BSN program. I completed my prerequistes with a 3.5 GPA in the prerequistes and I have raised my overall GPA to at least 3.1 or 3.2. Don't let people discourage you. Only you know what your drive and determination is. Anything is possible if you work hard enough. I have heard some programs judge you admissions on the last 60 credit hours or your prerequistes GPA. If you can find a program with that criteria and put your heart into doing well in your prerequistes, then you can make it. Good luck to you. You can do it. :up:

Diver Dude · Apr 20, 2009

I would never give up. I, too was a poor student, and now I'm above a 3.5 GPA eligible for honors. I had to say good bye to priorities that interfered with school. I have not missed a single class session in 3 years, and I force myself to stay focused. I am taking physio 1 this semester and It's kicking my fanny... but I refuse to quit. I practically live in our tutorial center and spend countless hours studying. I say "no thanks" to hanging with friends unless it's a study group. It seems like I have no life other than my kids, but I am perhaps happier than I ever have been before knowing I am making good choices.

keep up the work, and it will pay off.

nolimitam · Apr 20, 2009

Diver Dude is right about the tutoring. That has helped me out tremendously in my prerequistes and I plan to take advantage of free tutoring services in my ABSN program as well. Use all tools available to you.

rnstudent2009 · Apr 21, 2009

Hello, I am currently in an ADN program and happy to say that I am one semester away from graduating. I know the immense pressure you must be feeling to do well in all your prereqs in order to get into a program which is already very competitive. I am an optimistic person and I would always tell someone to never give up their dreams, but one needs to be realistic with themselves first and foremost. It seems like a GPA below 2.0 is going to be hard to bring up to the desirable 3.0-4.0 range that many programs are really looking for and that many applicants actually have. Study habits should also be carefully examined, because it doesn't get any easier once you are actually in a nursing program. In nursing school, there are NO EXCUSES! so you should start getting into that mindset to prepare yourself mentally. Trust me, you will not have the time to get distracted. I have a classmate who was actually living out of her car for a while because she didn't have the money to pay for rent, but here she is now one semester away from graduating as well. A second major is never a bad idea, if anything it makes you more diversified and you might find you have a passion for something else. I hear that the LVN/LPN programs are a lot easier to get into so there is another option as well. If you really want to get into an RN program you're going to have to give 200% starting now, be patient because it might take some time for you to get that GPA up, and more patience to get into a program. Whatever you choose to do, good luck! and study hard!

futureflrn · Apr 21, 2009

Do NOT give up! I share your same dream of becoming a NICU nurse, and although it is taking me a little longer than I would have liked, I refuse to give up. I'm going to keep going until I get what I want. I wanted to start classes in fall 2008, but I had a newborn and an 18 month old...I'm a SAHM with little help during the day, so I decided against it.... I want to do the best I can, and knew I wouldn't be able to focus on school work like I would have needed..Also, this summer I will not being taking classes because what I need to take doesn't coincide with my husband's work schedule (no babysitter). So, I'm taking the summer off but, I'm going to use it to try and get ahead in A&P. (Sorry to go on like that!)

So, don't give up!! Just remember how worth it will be once you're done with school...and even better, once you accomplish your dream of being a NICU nurse.

Javeed · Apr 21, 2009

They were not the best prior to the hurricane. I was one who thought college was no big deal and I could just drop a class and retake another semester. I now know its seriously coming back to haunt me. I have horrible study habits also and need major advice in the dept too.

One of the issues I see is that you must change your study habits. If you are like me a TV person, remove the TV. I did and it helped. What ever keeps you from taking about 3 hours or more to study a day remove it. If you can. Watch your diet. It will effect how you study. I found that some foods make you sleepy. :angryfire

We all enjoy hanging out with out girls. This is not something you can do for a while. Put all this on hold. Talk to your friends, if they are truly your friends they will support you. If not, you did not need them. Follow the advice on this forum. Use the help the school offers. Take advantage of everything. It will help you. I know you can do this but you must want it more than you want anything. Do not let "college" interfere with college. You are there to study and get into the program. Look at college for that reason and that reason only.

I hope everyone here has helped and given you the strength to continue. Use this site. It is full of information that will help. Good luck and I will be praying for you.

Diver Dude · Apr 21, 2009

Some good advice here. I agree about the no excuses thing. I see it in my classes how students explain away their drama... teachers aren't interested. They take note of the students that don't show up for class/lab. In grown up land, you have to leave the kid stuff behind. In demanding science classes (unless you are a truly gifted genius, which I'm not) missing a lecture is a death sentance. My current physio class has about half the students left from the beginning of the semester. In many ways, I could have given up, but I won't!

Many of the students in my class are on their "second round" of the class, meaning they are remediating the class.

I never realized what I was getting into, but I'm glad I did.

Hang in there.

Steve