The Troubles of becoming a Pre Nursing Student

wooh, BSN, RN · Aug 6, 2012

A friend of mine is doing it the long way for reasons similar to you, his grades sucked. So he's gotten himself into paramedic school, then he can do a bridge paramedic to RN program. Perhaps there's a similar bridge program near you?

Orizza · Aug 6, 2012

Have you tried taking anything over at a community college? I've noticed those are a little more relaxed with their admissions.

Live.&.Learn · Aug 6, 2012

I have a couple of questions...where in New York are you? and What's holding you back from starting? I also live in New York and had gone to school MANY years ago and did fairly terrible :) When my daughter was born I decided I wanted to become a nurse. I had a federal student loan in default and was ineligible for financial aid. Eventually I set up a payment plan, paid 9 months to get the loan out of default, and registered for classes at my local community college. Unfortunately, I missed my last loan payment but I called and they said no problem, just send it. Excited to start school, I was denied financial aid, missing that payment sent me back to square one with this loan Broke and frustrated I never made it that semester or the next or the next...ect...What I finally did was sign up for classes part time and pay for them myself. That was a few years ago. The first week of classes I found out I was pregnant, SURPRISE :) I stuck with it and after paying out of pocket for a few semesters I paid that old loan off. I applied to the nursing program 5 times and was put on a wait-list EVERY TIME. Thinking I would get in next time, I kept chipping away at classes and re-applying. Last semester I started looking elsewhere, out of pre-req classes to take, I took some that could be used later for a BSN. ANYWAY...I start the 20th at Samaritan Hospital!!! Thats my story, not that you asked but I felt like it was never going to happen. It has taken way too long, I started in January '09 and still have 2 years of nursing classes but that's only because I wasted so much time applying to the same program when I should have applied to other schools 2 years ago. I had no idea what I was doing, I just started taking 2 classes per semester and didn't take chemistry and biology first. There was a lot of things that dragged it out so I suggest sitting down with a counselor at a local school and taking it from there. You can do this, is there a SUNY community college near you? GOOD LUCk

ProudStudent · Aug 6, 2012

i simply repeated classes (which took forever), but did very well when the time came that i decided i cared. much like béla&jackson's mom, i took one or two classes at a time until i felt ready to take on a full load.

Rosenhammer · Aug 6, 2012

It's deinitely a game of getting all of your ducks in a row. I'm returning back to school full time in my late 30s. The first thing I've done, and I'm pretty sure that it would apply to you, since it's only been about 4 years you said since you've last taken classes, see what would transfer over. That will lighten the work load and tuition cost. The community college idea is a GREAT place to start. Lots of very good programs out there at a fraction of the cost. Some programs even take your EMT training and certs into account and use them toward credits.

For me, there are some classes I haven't touched since high school and repeating them is a necessary evil, but will only help me in the long run. It sounds to me like you're heart is definitely pointed in the right direction, but you're tripping over your own brain. Don't be so hard on yourself. Check out a few programs. Talk to a few advisors. The next thing you know, you'll be on your way!