Striving to do Better

mbtsab · Jul 18, 2014

What I can share with you is only the gpa- I had a 1.9 and retook the ones that I flunked out of. This does delay you somewhat ---but look at the bigger picture. I am 31 years old and hopefully going to apply for the spring 2016 nursing program at TCC(hamptonroads in va) good luck

mindofmidwifery, ADN · Jul 18, 2014

Yeah, I've looked into retaking but my school does not replace classes even if you do better in them, they only allow freshmen to do that :/

mbtsab · Jul 18, 2014

Mine doesn't either--but mine does take the better grade to calculate the gpa--double check it

RunBabyRN · Jul 20, 2014

You can take more transferable courses to beef up your GPA. That's pretty much what I had to do (I did poorly when I first got to college, too; it happens :) ). I was honest and submitted all transcripts, even though it would have been easy to omit one or two and retake those classes elsewhere. You COULD do this, but you'd risk expulsion for academic dishonesty.

How many units have you completed at OSU?

Getting your DONA certification will help you, if only in experience. It won't help you get into nursing school or a CNM program. If you're smart, you'll use that experience to make connections to get a RN job when the time comes, which WILL help you get into a CNM program. You need at least 1 year of RN experience, ideally in your specialty, for most CNM programs (at least the ones I'm looking at). If you are working with clients as a doula, you can get to know the nurses, nurse managers, OBs, etc, which will help if you are smart when you graduate with your RN. The doulas I know work independently, not through a provider or hospital. You'll need to use your business smarts, create a website, and network, network, network. Check into lactation specialist training, too (different than LC!). It'll help with your doula work, especially postpartum doula work. I did my preceptorship in postpartum, and my preceptor and the LCs LOOOOVED that I had lactation experience!

One thing to think about with Mount Carmel- a 3.0 is required for eligibility, but the accepted GPA is likely might higher. Can your feasibly boost your GPA that hight? Have you taken the TEAS/HESI? If so, how did you do?

mindofmidwifery, ADN · Jul 21, 2014

Thank you for the response,

I am taking more courses at my community college; really just math courses though, because I know their pace would suit me a lot better than OSU's :down: So far I have taken 29 credit hours with OSU, while only completing 19 of those... I have not looked into lactation specialist training but am definitely doing that now. I have spoken with the woman who is hosting the doula workshop that I plan on attending and she assumed that I would be working independently anyway, and I'm thinking it's because Ohio probably doesn't have a big demand for them. However, I am eager to get as much experience as possible with childbirth and even postpartum and am willing to do what I can to acheive my short and longterm goals. I have not taken the TEAS or HESI, is there an ideal time to do so?

jamisaurus · Aug 20, 2014

I did mount Carmel's second degree program, also went to osu first, also planning on OSU's CNM program here in a few years. Twins!! You should look for aide jobs in mother/baby so you can get hired right into that unit or L&D after BSN graduation. --new grad RN jobs are virtually non existent in Columbus without working as a PCA first.

Take as many classes (patho, ethics) for sdap as you can so you can keep working during school. Then when you apply to CNM school you have experience as a RN working with mom and baby. Get your GPA up, that current one will never cut it. However I will tell you I got in with a 3.3 cum, biology major, so don't think you need a 4.0. Sorry for the horrendous errors, I'm on my phone.

mindofmidwifery, ADN · Aug 20, 2014

Thank you for this lol, what do you think of me going and getting my ADN at CSCC then going for RN-BSN at OSU? Will they still want my OSU GPA to come up? Or would it be more plausible to get RN-BSN at Mount Carmel then go for CNM? But again there's the worry, if I want to go for CNM at OSU will they still be hung up on my OSU GPA?

maj0079 · Aug 21, 2014

My advice, do what you have to do, to get where you want. I had a similar experience. I flunked out my first year of college and looking at my transcripts you can see how much i have excelled since then. I had a 2.7 GPA when I contacted my school. I was already accepted into an LPN school and was going to work my way up. They took everything into consideration, I had to write a letter stating why I did what I did and all that. They accepted me, but I was on academic probation my first semester. My advice, with a second degree, contact the nursing department, talk with the director, and professors, ask what you need to do to get in. I met with the director and already my overall GPA is up to a 2.85. I am praying that I get it up to a 3.0 for the NP programs i want to do. Good luck and you can do it however you choose. the nice thing is there are other options to get where you want to go!

jamisaurus · Aug 26, 2014

Thank you for this lol, what do you think of me going and getting my ADN at CSCC then going for RN-BSN at OSU? Will they still want my OSU GPA to come up? Or would it be more plausible to get RN-BSN at Mount Carmel then go for CNM? But again there's the worry, if I want to go for CNM at OSU will they still be hung up on my OSU GPA?

it's near pointless to get an ADN in Columbus, so I ron think the RN-BSN or CSCC route would be a good one. The job market is so saturated with new BSN grads. It took me 4 months to find a job with a BSN. You would just be wasting time and money with an ADN. Are you a sophomore at OSU? If so, I think you'd get from point A to point B quickest by transferring to another schools BSN program.