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Discussion

Trying to transfer to another RN program with an undeserved Fail

So, I was in an ADN program (2 years at a CC) and failed a class due to unfair treatment. Professor singled me out and clearly had favorites. I ended up failing still and didn't want to go down without a fight. I tried everything to appeal and it didn't work. This was the worse experience that I have ever been through and because of this fail, my record is now tarnished. Thing is...my prereqs are from ANOTHER CC (NOT from the CC of my nursing program), so if I reapply to other schools and NOT send in my transcripts from the CC I went to nursing school for, would the possible-future-programs find out about my history in another program? Another issue is that some applications asks, "Have you previously attended a nursing program?" I realized how competitive it is now to get in another program and showing my fail would hinder my acceptance.

I also read other posts here and someone posted that "basically you can't tell" and another posts where someone responded with "dont ask dont tell," but what do I put down if the application is asking for previous attendance in another program?

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    • Experts

    Failing to answer honestly all the questions asked on an application for a college/university, or failing to provide all previous transcripts if the application asks for transcripts from all schools you've attended in the past (as most do) is academic dishonesty the same as cheating on a test or turning in someone else's paper for an assignment. If you get found out, you will face the same kind of penalties -- like getting kicked out of school.

    Only you can decide what you're comfortable doing but, personally, I have a big problem with the idea of being dishonest in trying to get into an occupation in which people's lives depend on our personal integrity and honesty. If someone is willing to "cheat" to get into school, what corners would that person be willing to cut and how dishonest would that person be willing to be when in a tough spot in a clinical situation?

    Honesty is always the best policy in nursing, even if only because dishonesty tends to come back and bite you in the butt when you least expect it. You can't really go wrong "taking the high road" and doing things the right way. Best wishes!

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    Bottom line...they'll find out. I've had friends that failed out of school...and before they even thought of applying to another nursing program, it's known what happened. Even the ADN programs around here have 5 or 6 questions on their application asking about previous nursing programs, failing, eligibility to return and then ask for ALL transcripts(which means wherever you went, even if you leave the most recent school out..they can still see it). I was a Chemistry major at the University of Kentucky for a year, then transferred back home and wanted to do Nursing. Even my Kentucky transcript from 6 years ago shows where I transferred to. Don't try it. If you get caught cheating, it will look muuuuuuuch worse. Best bet is to try to explain on other applications what happened, and don't simply put "teacher singled me out and had favorites"

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    • Guides

    If you get found out - and somehow they usually do find out - you will get immediately expelled and any hope you have of ever being a nurse will be gone forever. It will be a permanent mark on a permanent record as a representation of the kind of person you are.

    You would do far better to explain what happened, including an honest look at yourself (no program is going to admit you with a "the teacher didn't like me" excuse. True or not, it looks like a lack of accountability from where they sit) and explanations of what went wrong and how you intend to improve it this time around.

    Best of luck. Don't compromise who you are just to get your own way. In this profession, as stated above, integrity is everything.

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    Honesty & integrity are in the "job description" of every nurse and failing to mention your previous nursing program is dishonest. Maybe you can set up appointments in person with admission advisors or nursing program advising faculty of the schools you want to attend in order to get advice (on how to best explain the failure in your application) and to leave a first personal good impression.

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    • Author

    How will they find out? This was just a thought brought up to me and so I researched it on here and am trying to gather more opinions. I'm not set on doing it, but was just curious.

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    • Experts

    I read that most students get caught because they provide their social security numbers as identification and it is usually through the financial aid office that they are found out.

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    That too. You put your SSN on the application for a reason. They can tell if you've had any kind of financial aid through another school. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it does show where you've been to school. Plus my nursing program required a background check before we even got accepted. A background check will tell you more about yourself than you remember. So those are just a few of the ways they'd find out.

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    A background check is not going to tell them where she went to school..

    I think it may depend on the particular college that you attend. I graduated with a BA, then went to a local community college to complete pre-requisites for an ABSN program. I was not required to submit my transcripts to them in order to take classes (not that it mattered to me either way). However, this may be different when applying to the nursing program within the community college - I'm not sure, since I only did the pre-requisites. The financial aid department and the registrar's office did not appear to communicate much with each other in my case. If the community college makes it clear that you must submit ALL previous transcripts, though, you should do so.

    Keep in mind, that if you were to go on for your BSN later, a university will definitely require you to submit ALL previous transcripts.

    Personally, I would prefer to just be honest, instead of worrying about getting "caught."

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    The background check has an area for previous employment and it will show the school name right there as well as the degree program you were in. If they pull a credit report, and they will, it will show there too. And again on the Lexxus Nexxus they pull, school name and degree information. Trust me, the new school will find out where you went to school prior and if they decide to do any digging, they will find out.

    Honestly is the best policy, always! Besides, if you didn't deserve the fail, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

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    Interesting.. My background check only lists previous criminal activity and previous residences.

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    This is very disturbing to me how many potential RN's are trying to slip under the radar with past behavior. In my experience, no one has been unfairly anything in nursing school. Instead, what I have seen is a student that thinks she/he doesn't need to behave a certain way for whatever reason. When you are in nursing school you do not buck the trend. You do not lie and if you have a personality conflict with an instructor (guess what? EVERYONE does) then you keep that underwraps and behave like the adult you should be.

    My advice is to be totally honest about everything. You will be amazed how good you feel about yourself, regardless of the consequences. Good luck.

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    I also read other posts here and someone posted that "basically you can't tell" and another posts where someone responded with "dont ask dont tell," but what do I put down if the application is asking for previous attendance in another program?

    Talk personally to the school you want to attend's advising or nursing program staff and explain your situation.

    They might ask you more about it and take your side into account. They might not, but either way is better than trying to hide it.

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