I was having a pretty nice day today, up until I got that dreaded email. I just dropped everything and almost cried. The three years I had spent at San Diego State University seems wasted. I've completed all my GE requirements and I was just waiting to get accepted so I can further my career path. I've worked hard to earn a cumulative GPA of 3.432 and I passed my TEAs with a score of 85, but I guess that was not enough. I was denied with the same mechanical message, "We regret to inform you...". I'm completely distraught and I've got little will to fix it.
Leaving high school, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to help people in need and hence, decided to pursue nursing. I hadn't a CLUE about what type of nurse I wanted to be, but I know it was within a hospital setting, involving the task of facilitating the care and emotional welfare of patients. I haven't looked much into possible paths because I figured that once I got into the school of nursing, I would be given the opportunity to specialize and what-not.
I'm so confused and depressed now. I'm not sure what I will/can do next. I expected a standard 4/5-year university experienced before earning my degree and working at the hospital.
I'm really confused beyond belief. I want to earn a Bachelor's in Nursing Degree, but I will settle for a quick ASN to RN degree and then work my way up. Would you guys happen to know any other university or colleges in San Diego that I could send my application to as well...?
If you guys can, please give me some advice as to what I should do...? Is waiting the best option? I'm just afraid of investing another year of hard work and a ton of money, only to be rejected once again... I'm really afraid of spending anymore time in college than necessary due to current financial and home-life circumstances. How long does the typical nursing student wait?
I apologize for such a hectic post but I'm quite shaken up.
Thank you so much Missnurse, for talking to me. I'm still overwelmed but knowing someone who's had it worse than me and still overcoming it is a light at the end of the tunnel... I can't say all my troubles are relieved, but I can see that it's do-able...
@biglaughter: It sure is.. Words cannot describe how awful I felt after seeing that email. Not only am I criticized by my friends for wanting to be a male nurse, but now, I can't even do that. I was in the middle of a date with my girlfriend when I got the news. It flipped our worlds upside down, quite literally. She had to drive me home cause I just blanked.
I can't say I've absorbed all the advice I got today... cause quite frankly, it's just so overwhelming and I'm still burdened tremendously. To work so hard for however many years to get a "we regret to inform you...". We've invested our blood, sweat, and tears into something only to be denied. But ... this is what I want to do. I'm twenty years old and if people twice, even three times my age can do it, I'll give it another shot. Things won't be so clear at first... and I'm still at a lost of words. I know it's competitive, but I just wish that they had given us more resources, and more information.... ANYTHING.
I'm going to reapply next semester at my university. In the mean time, I'm going to see what I can do to raise my GPA, whether it be taking electives or not. My score of 85 on the TEAs isn't likely to improve... I'm a horrible test taker... but I will try my best to study and retake it during the summer. Knowing what I do now, I really wished I applied to many more schools than just one... I plan on doing just that when they are open. As for experience in a hospital environment... I will try looking at some suggested sources such as CNA and EMT.
It's still REALLY hard to accept that we didn't get in. Especially considering that my friend of whom has the exact same GPA but scored a 90% on her TEAs got it.... We were study buddies, and it's going to be really hard for the both of us to do our separate things.
I will try to keep in mind every and all the help I received today... I would like to thank you all... I'm still unsure of myself and my life... But I've got some options to look over now. Biglaughter...I feel you. Rejection is hard in EVERYWAY, especially so when it's with something you're so passionate about... My email is [email protected], feel free to email me...right now even. I received quite a lot of insight from Missnurse. Our circumstances may be unfortunate, but some people have had it much worse, and still prosper. Thank you everyone, for all your support and input...
Maybe a shower and some sleep will clear our heads... It's been a hell of day.
First of all, here's a hug, :hug:. Second I agree with some of the posters here, take more classes to get a high gpa. Just don't give up. I could feel your compassion while reading your post. We need nurses with that compassion. Keep working at it. You'll get in the next time. Keep your head up and your eyes on the prize!!
If you want to continue in school to raise your GPA, I would choose a minor and take courses in that minor. Many nursing students choose Health Science, Psychology, or a foreign language as their minor. Best wishes.
Specializes in Med/ Surg/ Telemetry, Public Health.
Sorry to hear you didn't get accepted. Maybe you could retake a few classes to up your GPA and retake the Teas to get a higher score. Also I would suggest talking with your advisor and them what is the GPA and Teas score that will get you in the door. I am currently waiting on my acceptance letter, it could go either way because i don't have a 4.0 GPA I have a 3.5 GPA, but I am applying to a CC. Don't give up you have come to far to turn around. If i don't accepted I will reapply in September. Think positive (I know that's hard to do right now) and try to move forward.
First breathe! You still have options. Check out all the possible allied health jobs. Ultra sound tech is a great job! Pays the same as nursing and more likely to have regular hours, days, and deal with only one patient at a time, less chance of back injury and blood/body fluid exposure! Won't have to juggle many patients and be pulled in different directions, be everything for everybody, CNA, HUC, Janitor, etc like you do in nursing!
Get some real world experience in a hospital setting ie PCA/tech for the summer to see if nursing's for you. Take the time to take a personal finance course at college or a cheap tech school in the area. Do some personal finance reading such as Personal finance for dummies, or All your Worth a great budget book down to earth and readable by the wonderful Elizabeth Warren who brought us the Consumer Protection Bureau. Check out Deal with your debt by Liz Weston (msn money advisor) who also has a book Your Credit Score which is so important to the loans you and your parent's pay. Suggest all this stuff to your friends and family as well if they don't know much about money! Also check out the Student Loan Scam by Allan Collinge to know the dangers of student loans. Read Money Magazine for instance and the personal finance info on yahoo or msn. Money magazine can tell you about low cost banks and credit unions such as Pentagon Federal Credit Union and anyone can join, if your not military or govt, you just pay a $25 donation to a military charity. They offer great loans and great credit cards! You need to know basic money info no matter what degree you get and need to be forewarned about the dangers of student loans for your own protection! Don't get in over your head, they can garnish 25% of your pay, even 15% of social security and can keep you from getting or keeping your license to practice. Many jobs besides nursing require a license to practice. Be forewarned and prepared before taking out any more student loans!
If you still decide to stay with nursing, plan to transfer to a private (non-profit) college. Do some tours and get them to compete for you see what scholarships/grants they'll offer to get you to transfer to their college. You'll be surprised and amazed at the personal attention they give you, but stay away from Phoenix and the private for profit schools that flood the newspaper and TV with ads! Stick to public federal govt student loans, avoid private loans like the plague and if your family is helping they should consider taking out a home equity loan or one thru a credit union to get better terms than a PLUS parent loan. Be aware if they cosign for you they will have to pay if you don't, even to the point of garnishing wages 25% or social security 15% with student loans! Keep all your student loan document's in a safe place (a safe) or security box at the bank so if there are any snafu's down the line ( this is not unheard of) esp with Sallie Mae a PRIVATE lender) you have proof of what you owe and what you don't! Keep all your repayment document's safe as well!
Consider living at home or with roommates, especially when you graduate to keep costs down and help you pay off student loans and save up an emergency fund. Student loan repayment should be one of your top priorities, if you defer it, you face the risk of it growing and capitalizing and getting in over your head. Nowadays, many people graduate with student loans the size of mortgages, but without a house to show for it! It is not unheard of for people to be paying it off for 20-25 years and people are getting their social security wages garnished 15% if they still have their own or their children's loans when they retire! Obviously if you can keep the loans low and make them your top priority hopefullly you will be able to pay them off in 5 to 10 years max!
Getting into nursing school is insanely difficult these days. I shudder to think what might happen to me if I were trying to get in--or half the people on this board with RN after their names... the competition is intense, just like the competition for new grads finding jobs. As heartbreaking as this is, it's not a final door being slammed in your face, it's just a setback.
There are tons of similarities between finding a spot in an academic program and finding a paying job. (I wrote a lengthy post a few weeks ago discussing ways to do this and if you're interested you can look back through my threads and see it. Much of the information applies to college applications, too.)
For starters, it's probably not your GPA that was an issue, so no need to retake classes. I'm not sure what your school's criterion is for TEAS scores, but I don't think your score was low, so that might not be an issue either. These are two very important ways an admission committee measures and applicant, but they are not the only way. It's important to know how your school decides who gets in and who doesn't.
Some schools use a point system that gives a number of points for different GPAs, more points depending on what the applicant's TEAS were, and assign points to students with work experience, more points for volunteer work, etc. So, when all the applicants get these points assigned, they are ranked from those with 720 points at the top of the heap and those with 310 points near the bottom. Then the school sends out acceptance letters to the first 50 to the top applicants (or however many spots they have, plus maybe 20% more because not all accepted applicants will attend--like the airlines overbook flights), wait list letters to the next 25 applicants (who really have little chance of acceptance) and 'sorry' letters to the rest. Some schools forgo the wait list letters because they've gotten this system down to a science and have a very good idea how many acceptance letters they need to send to fill their freshman class.
Other schools use a more personal approach and look at the important parts: GPA, TEAS, work experience, strength of references, difficulty of previous coursework (I'll get back to that one later) and quality of your essay, etc. A committee sits around a table and discusses the applications, and makes two piles: 'No' and 'Yes'. This is a painstaking process, and the committee is extremely thoughtful and serious about their duty.
Both processes are similar in nature, but depending on which they use you might be able to figure out either how to win more points (for the first system) or really make your application stand out (for the second one). You might make a call to the admissions department and ask this question. If they use the point system, ask if they can share the list of criteria they use. Some schools will do this as they strive for transparency and fairness, others don't share it.
The second really important question is: do they use a rolling admission? or is there one time per year they look at all the applications? If there is rolling admission you want to apply as early as you possibly can. Rolling admissions accept applications for Fall semester as much as almost a year before. If you have all your forms, pre-reqs, etc., you can throw your name in the hat as soon as they open up the process. The big advantage to this is the school has 50 spots and, so far, no students. They are far less selective at this point. So, this can be a huge advantage for you, because you have all your application materials. Get your application in as early as possible. If they don't have rolling admissions, it doesn't matter because they're going to look at the big pile of applications at the same time... but still, they have to look at them in some order, so if the order they use is postmark date, yours will be at the top of the pile (if they go through alphabetically, you have no control... but logically, they still probably go through them chronologically.)
Next, whether they use a point system or committee system, you want to make your application stand out, and for the most part what you do to improve your chances with one system will improve your chances in the other system. There are tons of things you can do that are health-care related: get a certificate as an EMT and work or volunteer on an ambulance; take a class not required by the program, get a part-time job as a certified nursing assistant, or CNA (the certification process adds another easy credential). Get a part-time job at a coffee shop, retail store (anywhere!). Experience is experience and is valued when you apply for a university or apply for a job, later.
You're twenty years old, and while that is very typical for someone applying to college, it's not necessarily the mean or median age of a nursing student. There is nothing you can do about your age, but you have to realize that this puts you at somewhat of a disadvantage. If the applicants are all 30 to 50 years old, they have life experiences that are will be positive entries on their applications. You need to gather up some experiences, too. And, be able to go back to what you've done in the past and recognize that stuff you've done may look really good. Have you helped coach a sports team? Were you on a sports team and take a leadership role? (This is where people usually fall down in writing their resume or application to school; they think that unless you had the job title of 'manager' you can't claim to be a leader. They think as long as it wasn't an 'official' company or 501c3, they can't say they started a company or organized a volunteer organization. Don't laugh, but if you ever cut grass you can say you had a lawn care company. Will the admissions committee 'see through' this? Yes, they'll know it wasn't Microsoft you started but they will see you have some self-motivation and work ethic and skills. I tutored some fellow nursing students who were clinically great but academically weak and used this on my applications to grad programs and job applications. These things speak volumes.
Also, consider different paths to your goal. You want to get a four-year college degree, but don't focus on that, exclusively. One of the best parts of nursing is there are not only a thousand things you can do as an RN, but there are many paths to entry. You can start as an LPN (or LVN) which is typically a one year program, graduate and take another year or two of classes to get an RN diploma, then do a degree completion program (usually online) and you can finish in another year. This is basically what I did (except I skipped the LPN part) when I went to nursing school. I had an undergrad degree so didn't want to go another four years (at the time, there were no second-degree programs). I went to a hospital diploma school, then realized that my BS in psychology was meaningless in nursing and did an online BSN completion program. The huge advantage is you get experience along the way, and most employers have some form of tuition reimbursement, you you're not shouldering the entire cost (which is significant). There are also community college programs (also inexpensive) and the hospital diploma RN schools (where they often focus on clinical experience so you get a very good clinical foundation).
Many nurses will swear 'their' training was superior to others, or that a BSN makes you better qualified, etc. This is basically nonsense. If you lined up 50 nurses and watched them perform their jobs you would have no clue who had a BSN, who went to a hospital diploma school, who started out as a CNA or LPN, or who had an MSN or even DNP. There will, of course, be better nurses in that group, but they won't necessarily be the ones with the higher education. Employers may pay a nurse slightly more (slightly!) who has a BSN, but when you consider the additional expense for an extra two years of university, it'll take a long, long, long time to recoup that money with the extra $0.50 an hour they're making. Having said all that, I do think education is valuable, and it not only promotes you as an individual to have a four year degree, but it promotes nursing as a profession.
Yes, this is a setback to be rejected for a program you worked so hard to be accepted to. But, this is not the end of the road, it's just a little detour. That detour may actually work out better for you in the long term. Use this time to improve your application to school, and in turn that will improve your employment possibilities in the future. Which leads me to my final thought; if you get a part-time job as an EMT, or working as a CRN, or volunteering at a food bank, or working at the coffee shop, do not quit these jobs while you're in nursing school!!! You may be tempted to quit when you class burden is intense, but do not quit! (Do I need to repeat that, again?) Cut back to 4 hours a month on each, but do not quit (OK, I repeated it... but you need to get the message!) These positions will help you get your first job... and if you do this for a year, get into nursing school then these disappear from your resume, it will look like you only got the job or did the volunteer work to get into nursing school (which you did... ). You don't want to look like someone who is manipulating the system--doing volunteer work only to open the next door. Believe me, people that read resumes (I do) can sniff these things out in seconds. In four years you don't want to be the new grad who is posting a tearful question about never getting called for interviews, or never hearing back after sending out resumes. Start working on that grad-nurse job NOW!
Have you considered social work? My hospital system uses social workers to help connect patients to resources that will help them at discharge, such as food, shelter, prescription assistance, home health services, hospice services, etc etc. I worked in an ED with an amazing social worker. Got a little old lady that won't be admitted to the hospital because she has nobody to take care of her cats? Call the social worker. A disabled man with a living situation that does not meet his needs? Call the social worker. Social workers also work in the ED doing mental health evaluations on crisis patients. Social workers can not only work in the hospital system, but they can also have a private practice doing counseling. Social workers do good, important work and you don't have to jump through as many hoops as nursing programs to get into a good social work program.
Lots of great advice here! I wanted to add that I have been there. I have had a very long road to get to the BSN program I was just admitted to. I have spent the last 13 years on detours with pre reqs, having to move from the school to hollow my husbands job, health problems and raising my kids. I have had to retake my pre reqs since they were more than 5 years old. I finally got them all done, had a 4.0 gpa and was interviewed and NOT accepted. I went through months of depression, self doubts and wanting to give up. I didn't, I studied my butt off- retook the entrance exam and reapplied. I was again interviewed again (oh so nerve wracking!) and finally accepted for this fall.
So, if this is truly your dream- don't give up! You can find a way to make it work. When you do, you will find you are that much stronger and ready for anything! The acceptance feels pretty good too.
@Julesmama! Congrats! I hope the OP and others in his position reads your reply, it's so encouraging for those who are struggling to get into nursing school. Also, consider that a school has 75 slots for incoming freshmen; if you were rejected you may have been number 76 on the list (or if you were accepted you may have been number 75). There is little difference in the backgrounds or achievements of those two applicants... or even between number 30 and number 100 on the list. Virtually everyone is qualified; at some point it becomes almost arbitrary--and a matter of luck. This isn't much consolation for those who were rejected, but it does reinforce my point that you need to percervere if you really want something. Good luck to all: those who were admitted already and to those who will have to try again before they get their acceptance letter!
Distraught: San Diego is such a pain for nursing school. I'm from there and am currently going to SDSU--South Dakota State University. I had done most of my pre-reqs and found everywhere remotely close to San Diego (even nearby states) had waiting lists or were so competitive that you didn't have a shot unless you had a 4.0. I started looking for less populated states so I wouldn't have to deal with that and lo and behold, up pops the other SDSU. The West River program in Rapid City never has a waiting list so far; in fact they import accepted students from Brookings, the main campus, in order to fill their slots. Yes, it's far away and yes it's a hassle to move but I'm going to be starting my 3d semester of the 5 semester BSN program this fall and it's going fine. I would still be waiting to be admitted if I'd stayed in San Diego. I figure I might even work around here for a year or so if I have to so I don't have to fuss about being a new grad if I ever go back to CA. Good luck to you. It's possible if you think outside the box. You can always find your dream but you sometimes have to look outside your backyard!
Stop and breathe first. I know how it feels to get that same letter. Give yourself a few days to collect your thoughts. Trying to do something when you are working out what just happened just adds to the anxiety. Once you feel like you can really focus... get your tail back on the horse and get going! Look into every school in or around your area. BSN or RN program. Work on your GPA or TEAS score if you feel its necessary. Talk to the nursing school you applied to... see if you can get find out why you weren't accepted. I did this and it helped a lot!
Don't let this get you down. Let it make you all the more stronger. If you really want to be a nurse you have to work hard and it will pay off.
Best of luck to you!!! And remember there are others (including myself) that weren't accepted the first time around.
Distraught_Concerned
14 Posts
Thank you so much Missnurse, for talking to me. I'm still overwelmed but knowing someone who's had it worse than me and still overcoming it is a light at the end of the tunnel... I can't say all my troubles are relieved, but I can see that it's do-able...
@biglaughter: It sure is.. Words cannot describe how awful I felt after seeing that email. Not only am I criticized by my friends for wanting to be a male nurse, but now, I can't even do that. I was in the middle of a date with my girlfriend when I got the news. It flipped our worlds upside down, quite literally. She had to drive me home cause I just blanked.
I can't say I've absorbed all the advice I got today... cause quite frankly, it's just so overwhelming and I'm still burdened tremendously. To work so hard for however many years to get a "we regret to inform you...". We've invested our blood, sweat, and tears into something only to be denied. But ... this is what I want to do. I'm twenty years old and if people twice, even three times my age can do it, I'll give it another shot. Things won't be so clear at first... and I'm still at a lost of words. I know it's competitive, but I just wish that they had given us more resources, and more information.... ANYTHING.
I'm going to reapply next semester at my university. In the mean time, I'm going to see what I can do to raise my GPA, whether it be taking electives or not. My score of 85 on the TEAs isn't likely to improve... I'm a horrible test taker... but I will try my best to study and retake it during the summer. Knowing what I do now, I really wished I applied to many more schools than just one... I plan on doing just that when they are open. As for experience in a hospital environment... I will try looking at some suggested sources such as CNA and EMT.
It's still REALLY hard to accept that we didn't get in. Especially considering that my friend of whom has the exact same GPA but scored a 90% on her TEAs got it.... We were study buddies, and it's going to be really hard for the both of us to do our separate things.
I will try to keep in mind every and all the help I received today... I would like to thank you all... I'm still unsure of myself and my life... But I've got some options to look over now. Biglaughter...I feel you. Rejection is hard in EVERYWAY, especially so when it's with something you're so passionate about... My email is [email protected], feel free to email me...right now even. I received quite a lot of insight from Missnurse. Our circumstances may be unfortunate, but some people have had it much worse, and still prosper. Thank you everyone, for all your support and input...
Maybe a shower and some sleep will clear our heads... It's been a hell of day.