What to do in the mean time of not getting accepted into RN program?

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I'm in a panic mode right now, due to the fact that my grades aren't at the highest peak I want them to be in. I'm looking into several programs to apply to besides Century, of course. So, as in a back up plan I need your feedback on what to do in the mean time of not getting selected into any of the programs? Should I just keep working? Retake classes? What do you suggest? I have no kids, and could possibly just work as a CNA, but wanna hear what you all have to say....:confused:

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Hey,

Sorry you are having such a hard time. This is the worst part of choosing nursing as a career IMO.

First off, retaking classes- I don't know if that will help. I know at Inver (where I am attending now) they take the first grade you got into consideration. Century may or may not be the same.

I would suggest attending a nursing info session. They have them at Inver once a month, I am sure Century must have them as well.

I applied to both Inver and Century with a 3.58 GPA. I was #14 on the waitlist at inver (my number came up) and #75 at Century. The reason I was so far down the list at Century was I had not taken classes at Century, unfortunately that is a deciding factor at both Inver and Century, which is tough what are you supposed to do take two classes at each school in the metro?

I was faced with the same question "what should I do" last year around this time until I found out I was in at Inver. You could look into colleges further out if you are willing to drive. I know there is a community college north of the cities up 35 and there is Rochester community college and fairbault, they have less students applying to them so it's easier to get in. If you don't want to drive you could apply at St. Kates, you are pretty much guaranteed a spot there although the downside to St. Kates is their low NCLEX pass rates in the past few years and insanely high tuition.

That's just a bunch of rambling thoughts I have, I know how tough it is. I would attend info sessions first and figure out what you are willing to do. Good luck to you.

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Hey,

Sorry you are having such a hard time. This is the worst part of choosing nursing as a career IMO.

First off, retaking classes- I don't know if that will help. I know at Inver (where I am attending now) they take the first grade you got into consideration. Century may or may not be the same.

I would suggest attending a nursing info session. They have them at Inver once a month, I am sure Century must have them as well.

I applied to both Inver and Century with a 3.58 GPA. I was #14 on the waitlist at inver (my number came up) and #75 at Century. The reason I was so far down the list at Century was I had not taken classes at Century, unfortunately that is a deciding factor at both Inver and Century, which is tough what are you supposed to do take two classes at each school in the metro?

I was faced with the same question "what should I do" last year around this time until I found out I was in at Inver. You could look into colleges further out if you are willing to drive. I know there is a community college north of the cities up 35 and there is Rochester community college and fairbault, they have less students applying to them so it's easier to get in. If you don't want to drive you could apply at St. Kates, you are pretty much guaranteed a spot there although the downside to St. Kates is their low NCLEX pass rates in the past few years and insanely high tuition.

That's just a bunch of rambling thoughts I have, I know how tough it is. I would attend info sessions first and figure out what you are willing to do. Good luck to you.

You know what? I have done the info sessions and stuff like that with St. Kate's, U of MN, and Century. I'm still stuck on stupid. I'm just frustrated with the fact, and knowing that I may be ranked low and not knowing where to go after I'm done w/ all my pre-req's for that particular program (like century). I don't wanna turn to St. Kate's because I can't afford it, and I did hear about their poor test scores. Btw, have you heard of anything from MCTC's 2 year RN program??? Oh and thanks for the reply, I feel fortunate there's people who can help w/ some two cents of theirs. :D

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I've heard MCTC is pretty competitive. Yeah I know those info sessions don't really help all that much... UGH. I don't know what to tell you. I was going to go to St Kates as a last resort in my case. Even though the tuition is high, if I had to wait around another year to get accepted (maybe) into another program that was a year of nurse's salary I wasn't going to get. I was also considering driving to Rochester. That would have been a little over an hour for me each way.... I am really sorry, I really feel for you. I was in this same boat last year and it's terrible.

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Hi guys,

I have just joined allnurses after reading a lot of responses about different programs in the area. I'm a little confused because everyone is saying that St. Kate's is so expensive. I calculated their tuition and that of the U, and it is $10,000 cheaper to go to St. Kate's. Now, this is when you look at the post baccalaureate program at St. Kate's vs. the Master of Nursing at the U. Perhaps that is the reason and their undergrad degrees are different?

Second thing is, why do people say it is easy or automatic to get in St. Kate's? I have an undergrad GPA of 3.8, a graduate GPA (different field) of 3.9, and I was denied admission in 2009. They don't seem to be looking for high grades but rather experience in the field. At the time, I did not have experience but now am volunteering at a hospital. Since the rejection of 2009, I have completed most of the U's prereqs at the U with hopes of getting in there. I'm still worried. Is any school really an automatic anymore? There is a lot of competition.

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Hey carakr-

The reason that I have said that it is easy to get into St. Kates is because in my experience many people I have talked to in the program have gotten in as a last resort. I actually called to apply there last year when I hadn't heard from Inver and was going crazy, the guy I spoke to told me that if I apply I am basically in the program (although I did have a 1 1/2 years of CNA experience). I could be wrong though, I haven't looked a TON into it.

The tuition thing is based off of what you would pay at a community college ($180 a credit) vrs St kates, which I believe is around three times that amount for the same ASN degree. I am not sure what degree you are looking into, if it was BSN I haven't even looked into that yet, I figured it would be cheaper for me to get my ADN then bridge (I already have 40k in student loan debt from my B.A.). It's probably best to call around and get your own information since info on these message boards is so subjective, heck I could definitely be wrong about some of this stuff. Everything about the process of getting into schools is so secretive and once you get in the program it really doesn't get much better :|

Good luck to you, with that GPA and some experience I would assume you would get in somewhere!

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Have you considered going to LPN school? An LPN license opens the door to LPN to RN programs. Plus, you can earn more money when working as an LPN rather than as a CNA.

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Hi guys,

I have just joined allnurses after reading a lot of responses about different programs in the area. I'm a little confused because everyone is saying that St. Kate's is so expensive. I calculated their tuition and that of the U, and it is $10,000 cheaper to go to St. Kate's. Now, this is when you look at the post baccalaureate program at St. Kate's vs. the Master of Nursing at the U. Perhaps that is the reason and their undergrad degrees are different?

Second thing is, why do people say it is easy or automatic to get in St. Kate's? I have an undergrad GPA of 3.8, a graduate GPA (different field) of 3.9, and I was denied admission in 2009. They don't seem to be looking for high grades but rather experience in the field. At the time, I did not have experience but now am volunteering at a hospital. Since the rejection of 2009, I have completed most of the U's prereqs at the U with hopes of getting in there. I'm still worried. Is any school really an automatic anymore? There is a lot of competition.

You are talking about getting accepted straightaway into a post bacc at St. Kates thats probably more difficult....in my experience it is easy to get into the ADN-RN program that they have...all you need are deep pockets.

Have you considered going to LPN school? An LPN license opens the door to LPN to RN programs. Plus, you can earn more money when working as an LPN rather than as a CNA.

No one hires LPN's around here.....at least I haven't worked with one for 2+ years (Med surg hospital CNA) I mean honestly I could do an LPN's job...

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I was wondering the same thing, I am a cna I working in home health and is graduating soon with a BA degree. I'm not sure if I should do rn prereques and use lpn for a back up or go back to schoool for cna II and work doing that until I finish LpN. It just seems so backwards to me, Here I am graduating with a four year degree and donot like where it's poining me.

So I'm wondering the same I have to make money, I have a family and I'm boared with the work. On the othe hand it works while I'm in school. I'm feeling that school would never end. I'm taking the summer off to shadow and get my head right and decide what to CNA II, LpN, RN, Or MSW.I would love to do public health nursing.

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I think people don't always know that St. Kate's has two separate campuses and at the Minneapolis campus only offers Associate degree programs. From what I understand, their admission process is pretty simple, which I think was a sign of the times some 10 years ago (when the nursing shortage was the big talk of the healthcare field and nursing programs were springing up everywhere). Unfortunately, I think that they haven't kept up with the changing times and their admission policy has gotten them in some trouble in the Minneapolis AA program with the low pass rates. From what I hear, that is changing. No getting around the expense. My understanding is that the St. Paul BSN programs have much better pass rates. They take a lot more into consideration for admission process.

Just thought that maybe I could help clear up some of the confusion about the school. You are right that a lot of untrue info flies around these boards!!

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Specializes in nursing home/geriactrics.

ladies I wonder what my chances are after receiving a denial into the LPN program due to past course performance. I currently have for the past year turned myself around from two years ago I have a 4.0 gpa, retook the classes I dropped or failed in the past and got As and they still denied me. I have all generals finished and really don't want to waste time and money taking classes that don't apply to nursing just to prove myself when I don't have to shouldn't all my As and two Bs in generals speak for itself? Also great TEAS scores and 6 years as a CNA at the same nursing home? I'm so at a loss my past has played a role in my present rejection and I feel its unfair I explained my dropped and failed courses and I have figured out why and changed my learning strategies and how many classes I take at once and I prevailed! They don't know my struggle with 3 kids and a full time job I had hard times but I'm older now and have redeemed myself what can I do to be reconsidered? What are some schools that may take someone like me with a past?

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That's a hard question. Like I have said earlier in prior posts the St. Kates program is probably the "easiest" program to get into. If you are willing to spend the money you can most likely get in there. It'll be 3x the price, but if it's your only choice what can you do? Also the good thing about their program is they offer nights and weekends (I have heard, also I am talking about their two year nursing program RN), which would be helpful with 3 kids and a full time job. Some colleges do not look at the second grade if you retake the class, that's another thing to consider.

Also I would not recommend going for LPN. The only place you will get a job is a nursing home and the pay is not good at all from what I have heard....

Good luck to you!

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