St. Margarets Nursing School

kay0324 · Oct 31, 2011

I did not get accepted .. ughhhh!!! something about my previous grades which is stupid to me because I retook the class I did bad in .. I don't know what to do I guess I can appeal it after this semester bc I have straight A's now. I do however find it funny that 2 people I know got in with very similar grades. I wonder if they would just forward my application to mercy bc they are sister schools??

tmow86 · Nov 1, 2011

I did not get accepted .. ughhhh!!! something about my previous grades which is stupid to me because I retook the class I did bad in .. I don't know what to do I guess I can appeal it after this semester bc I have straight A's now. I do however find it funny that 2 people I know got in with very similar grades. I wonder if they would just forward my application to mercy bc they are sister schools??

awe, sorry.

They will not forward your application, you have to apply all over again to Mercy because their process is different. :-(

kay0324 · Nov 1, 2011

thanks ..I thought I read something on here about mercy forwarding their application to st marg. I just figured I would ask. Hey I can always appeal it at the end of the semester with the new grades, doesn't hurt to try! I just feel like trying to get into a school is overwhelming anymore. Do you know anything about Mercy? I heard that they accept more students then St Marg. does but I don't know if thats true or not.

annietart · Nov 22, 2011

I don't want to be a Debbie-downer but I'm going to say flat out that Mercy is the tougher program to get into, but if you make a case in your essay and rock the PSB you may have a shot.

Good luck!

Jasoninpa · Nov 24, 2011

For those of you who are stressed/hesitant about CCAC due to the Pax: they are no longer using it for admissions, starting with the Fall '12 entering class. You need a 2.8 gpa.

As far as St. Margaret's program: I know someone who left their program and is in my class at CCAC now. He said their assignments are extensive...as in a royal pain.

For nursing employment, the Diploma is essentially the same as the Associate's Degree. The credits are equivalent to each other also, so they transfer in the BSN.

UPMC favors grads from their nursing programs for hire.

AGH hires CCAC grads regularly, I hear. I'd rather work at AGH anyway.

You can't beat CCAC's cost. I ended up going to CCAC because of cost and location and hearing actually negative things about Margs-- and the fact that Shadyside severly rolled back their tuition forgiveness program.

Regardless of where you go, the program is what you make of it. How much do you want to study? That is what largely determines how much you learn.

Annakay · Dec 10, 2011

Hello everyone,

I am extremely stressed! I am so ready to start a nursing program, but am really scared becasue unfortunatly I received a big fat F in my A&P2 course, retook it, then received a big fat D..and if that wasnt bad enough, I took it again and got an ugly C. Which brought my GPA down to a 2.8. I also still need to take Microbiology, which is the last course I need. Will low scores in science courses be an automatic REJECTION LETTER to the program?(ST MARGARETS and MERCY) I have a very strong passion for helping others,and will write a killer essay. I have worked in a nursing home for about 2 years and absolutly love it. But I am very worried, but dont want to give up.

carbon86 · Dec 11, 2011

I hate to be the one to answer this one but since it's my thread I'm gonna throw my opinion out there. No, you're probably not going to be accepted into St. Marg's or Mercy, or even CCAC for that matter. From what I have heard from current St. Marg's students is that the program is crazy intense. They expect you to be on your game 110% of the time and if you aren't they are going to let you know about it. I am not sure what the pre-reqs for the LPN programs are but maybe you should look into that first and then bridge to your RN. I would also assume that if you do really well in the LPN program you would be a shoe-in for the RN program, plus a work history when it's time to apply for nursing jobs.

pixiestudent2 · Dec 11, 2011

I hate to be the one to answer this one but since it's my thread I'm gonna throw my opinion out there. No, you're probably not going to be accepted into St. Marg's or Mercy, or even CCAC for that matter. From what I have heard from current St. Marg's students is that the program is crazy intense. They expect you to be on your game 110% of the time and if you aren't they are going to let you know about it. I am not sure what the pre-reqs for the LPN programs are but maybe you should look into that first and then bridge to your RN. I would also assume that if you do really well in the LPN program you would be a shoe-in for the RN program, plus a work history when it's time to apply for nursing jobs.

Hi there.. i was just wondering if you were a current student or in the applicationi process, if so how do you like st. Margarets? i am planning on applying to start in june

pixiestudent2 · Dec 11, 2011

I hate to be the one to answer this one but since it's my thread I'm gonna throw my opinion out there. No, you're probably not going to be accepted into St. Marg's or Mercy, or even CCAC for that matter. From what I have heard from current St. Marg's students is that the program is crazy intense. They expect you to be on your game 110% of the time and if you aren't they are going to let you know about it. I am not sure what the pre-reqs for the LPN programs are but maybe you should look into that first and then bridge to your RN. I would also assume that if you do really well in the LPN program you would be a shoe-in for the RN program, plus a work history when it's time to apply for nursing jobs.

I think you can get into ccac they are practicly begging for applicants... you have to have at least a 2.8 to get in.

carbon86 · Dec 11, 2011

I'm currently in the application process ( I wanted to make sure that I had EVERY pre-req finished). PittsburghSN is the one that you would want to talk to, he started the program in June. I think he started a thread about St. Margarets a while back, and I'm pretty sure their class started a facebook page. CCAC does only require a 2.8 but from what I have heard from most of the people in my science classes (at CCAC) they had at least a 3.4, except for one women who had a 3.0, but she had 7 years of CNA experience.

Jasoninpa · Dec 11, 2011

I'm going into my third semester at CCAC starting next month. Don't believe the hype you hear on these message boards about getting into programs...it is mostly B.S. Yes, you definitely have a chance to be accepted to CCAC...and no, contrary to what someone else said, it does not mean that CCAC is "begging" to get people. CCAC is either No 1 or No 2 among community colleges in numbers of nursing students they graduate. It is just that some people on the board decided the Pax was "discriminatory," so they decided to throw it out. There's a difference.

When I applied to CCAC, I remember all the hype circulating on these forums saying that CCAC only accepts 1 out of 4 applicants, average gpa is nearly 4.0, etc. And that was from people who supposedly saw the applications and the admissions office deciding who was in and who was out. It is people making up things to pretend to know more than they do. I also remember people talking about how high the fail-out rate is, which is bs also. You'll hear gossip once you are in the program, too. Take it all with a grain of salt unless you see it in writing or hear it from a professor.

I would go to the CCAC website and see when the deadline is for the next class. If you can, take some of your corequisities or prerequisites before then to bring up your gpa a little.

Don't get your hopes down. :)

pixiestudent2 · Dec 11, 2011

Ok so maybe not begging lol... But does anyone know much about shadyside? I went to a info session a few weeks ago and they made it seem like they accept everyone... Is that the case?