I keep coming across these posts from nursing students who say YOU MUST HAVE a 4.0 to even bother applying. Although I understand that there exists steep competition for nursing school admittance, I can't help but roll my eyes every time I see one of these posts. And for every person who says that their school did not accept students with a GPA below a 3.9, I want to see documented proof beyond all this he said she said. The cornerstone of nursing practice is the holistic model of patient care. I would imagine many nursing programs would adopt a similar holistic approach when selecting students for admission. Although GPA may be heavily weighted, many schools also incorporate test scores, interviews, essays, references, and even community involvement.
Now I am not saying that a 2.7 GPA is going to get you into nursing school. However, I think aiming for a decent 3.4 and producing a solid essay can get you in. I have applied, and have been successfully admitted, to 5 nursing programs without a 4.0. I feel we are often discouraging our fellow nursing hopefuls when we try to play as if every nursing program is actually Harvard Law.
Again, I am not saying that being accepted to, or even completing nursing school is an easy accomplishment. I just think we need to do a better job of encouraging our peers rather than crushing their hopes and dreams by claiming these impossibly high admission standards that are so often not even true.
My school does a points system. They look at 4 classes and Teas only. There are 20 seats available in the RN. And either 20 or 30 in the LPN. Those of us in the RN got all A's in the required 4 classes. That's just how it is. Those that had B's whether it was 4 or 1 got in the LPN program. It's crazy but that is how it is.
I was just admitted to start in September!!! I have a 3.5 gpa and have friends with much higher gpas not get admitted. I think there are many factors that go along with being accepted.. Not just your gpa.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
What we are saying is if you do have a 4.0, you don't have to worry about not getting in.
Actually, a former coworker's application to nursing school was rejected, even with a 4.0 grade point average overall and in the prerequisite courses. She applied to a highly competitive community college nursing program where 600+ other candidates had already applied.
I think it really depends on the the location and the pool of applicants that cycle. Here in CA, it's EXTREMELY competitive, so while you may not need a 4.0, you need to be pretty close.
This is where I would like to see documented proof. I do not deny the importance of a high GPA for this particular kind of program, but I would like to see both the average and the lowest GPA of admitted students.
Our program uses a points system. The higher your GPA, the higher the number of points you get. They base points as follows: in-district or out-of-district (5 extra points for being in-district), GPA, completion of Microbiology w/Lab prior to beginning program (10 extra points), completion of either: CNA, EMT, Phlebotomy or Intro to Health Professions certificate (6 points), Direct Patient Care experience (different points based on full-time/part-time hours worked in past 2 years) & Health Care Volunteer hours (sliding scale based on # hours volunteered up to 100 hours).
All of those combined give you a total score. Some people (like me) got in with a high GPA, completion of the phlebotomy certificate, completion of Micro lab & in-district residency. I had no direct patient care experience or recent health care volunteer hours and I still got in. Other people had much lower GPAs, but got in because their direct patient care experience & volunteer hours gave them points. So, we have a big mix when it comes to the type of student in our program.
I will say, though, the students who had borderline GPAs and got in on work/volunteer hours tended to struggle more with critical thinking/reasoning. We did have some with near 4.0 GPAs struggle, too. But the majority of our strugglers have math phobia on the med math exams and just don't grasp critical thinking and nursing diagnosis.
GPA isn't the end-all-be-all, but it definitely *is* one of the most heavily weighed factors in most admissions.
Depends on your school... I had a 3.4 and couldn't dream of being accepted at University of Florida (or really any public BSN program in the state of Florida!) You can get in to schools without a 4.0, but they will probably be private schools, and I haven't seen many of those around here that are BSN. UF accepts at the lowest around a 3.7. They don't do an admission exam or and interview. The proof is in who of my friends got in and who didn't... Competition is stiff y'all!
I ended up getting lucky and finding a state college RN program that also took into consideration work experience and your admission exam score. I was a pretty good candidate for that program which is the only reason I got in without paying $20,000+ a year
It depends on what her program considers. I wouldn't go around generalizing what is good or bad for other people's programs, because they all look at different things!
I had a 3.7 with ACT scores of 27 and NLS scores of 96 percentile. I was higher up on the admission list than someone else with a 4.0 and lower test scores.
Over half of the respondents had less than 3.9, that should speak for the do I need a 4.0 to get accepted? rumor.
Lol I caught that too... That would be problematic if it were a lab value
And GPA totally depends on the program, so no one can say there aren't programs where a 4.0 is necessary. There is a state school where my parents live that the lowest gpa is around 3.85. Yikes!
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NurseGirl525, ASN, RN
3,663 Posts
My school does a points system. They look at 4 classes and Teas only. There are 20 seats available in the RN. And either 20 or 30 in the LPN. Those of us in the RN got all A's in the required 4 classes. That's just how it is. Those that had B's whether it was 4 or 1 got in the LPN program. It's crazy but that is how it is.