So stressed/confused/worried, PLEASE help !

[AnthonySatmary]

Hello all, my name is Anthony and I am a student at a local community college on Long Island. So Ill cut to the chase. I have 29.5 college credits, after this semester I will have 42.5. My cumulative gpa as of right now is 2.3 and program GPA is 2.6. Reason it is so low is a Construction job I had freshmen year that had me never going to class and I did horrible one semester until i quit. Anyway, Im going to take a statistics class in the winter session which will bring me to 45.5 credits. I need 64.5 to graduate at this community college. Should I wait and graduate here at this community college? If i do stay Im going to have to fit my pre-reqs which are A&P 1. Bio Chem and A&P 2, and probably Sociology. Can someone put me down the right path. Do i Apply to nursing schools while still taking the pre-reqs? Do I wait until I get all my pre-reqs AND graduate? I don't want to fall anymore behind and I can't seem to find someone who can point me in the right direction, my advisor at this college is not helpful at all and they just send me to their online website. Please someone help ! Should I apply and try and transfer schools, or wait until i have an Associates. Im just so confused and probably not even wording my questions correctly.

[mandaleni23]

First and foremost, I would get information about the nursing schools that you might want to attend. Speak to someone in admissions, check out the websites, go to open houses, etc. You need to know what hoops you're going to have to jump though before you start jumping!! Not to sound harsh, but I know that a lot of nursing schools require at least a 2.5 cumulative (higher for the nursing science pre-reqs) to even apply. Plus, getting into nursing school is competitive and many applicants have much higher GPAs than the minimum. Not to say that you couldn't get in (because you definitely could re-take classes, or bring your GPA up by kicking a** and taking names from here on out), but I would suggest starting there. You also want information from your prospective nursing schools so that you know what the pre-reqs for each program are. Some programs require that you have your pre-reqs completed before you can transfer.

As far as whether or not you should finish your associate's degree or just transfer, I am of the opinion that it is always a good idea to get that diploma. Offered classes, graduation requirements and the like change all the time. Today your CC might require 64.5 credits to graduate and require X credit hours of science, X credit hours of English, etc. If you don't finish your associate's and (for whatever reason) decide to go back to your CC and finish it later, you could at the mercy of new requirements. Plus, nursing schools like to see stick-to-it-ivness, so having that associate's demonstrates that you have the discipline to finish what you start.

It is definitely tough to figure out the "right" way to go. I'm sorry that you're having a hard time getting help from your academic adviser. I hope that I gave you some information that you can use. Good luck on your journey!

[Cuddleswithpuddles]

The best course of action is to speak with the counselors of the schools you want to apply to. If the nursing programs have their own counselors, even better. Talk to them. Nursing programs often have orientation meetings. Get as close to the source as possible.

Nursing schools have such varying expectations of their applicants. Some will accept prerequisites in progress, some will not. No one here is qualified to give you a definitive answer since we're not counselors. For your sake, put your trust in nursing school pros, not strangers on the internet hehe.

Most importantly, relax and do not treat your pursuit of a career in nursing as a race. Focus on what you can do at a manageable pace and do not sacrifice your performance to do what you THINK needs to be done ASAP. Nursing schools will not shut down because you miss one application cycle. Take care of yourself and your current job. When you are ready, the nursing schools will still be there.