Where to go from here

mrsmoore213 · Sep 28, 2012

Hi, I know this is the Nurses forum and Im a pre-nursing student. But I had a question for all of you. Nursing schools are limited where I live and very competative, my gpa is good but not good enough. Im thinking about going to a different kind of college like Carrington or ITT. I know their expensive and I know their credits dont transfer out. But Ive met a few nurses that graduated from there and are pretty happy they just got it over with without the gpa game.
So just wondering if any of you are grads from alternate schools and how your experience helped you or hurt you.

I'm not a grad but I will be attending Carrington College In Sacramento in October. I called CSUS and they said they except credit from carrington college. It is pricey but I didn't have to take any pre reqs, and of you look at it college probably averages 20k a year anyway. There nursing program is 16 months and 40k, plus they have an 8 month RN bridge.

DutchRN09 · Sep 28, 2012

40K for an RN degree? What is the average salary in your area? That sounds like a lot of debt for a potential job that pays around 22 dollars an hr (in Illinois) to start.

TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN · Sep 28, 2012

Nope, most schools are not $20K a year! I didn't pay $20k for my BSN and my local community college is a fraction of that. My advice is to do some more courses and get your GPA up so that you are competitive. Like someone else has said, that is a whole lot of debt in a very uncertain job market.

Overwhelmed1026 · Sep 28, 2012

I am attending a small, private university with about 32k in student loans. They don't play the GPA game. As long as you meet the requirements to enter the program, it is on a first come, first serve basis. Plus, in Florida if you sign a 2 year contract with certain hospitals, 80% of loans are forgiven.

DowntheRiver · Sep 28, 2012

Which program in Florida?

DawnJ · Sep 28, 2012

I'm at Pima, which is private and costly. You may get in sooner with a lower GPA, but that may not be truly of benefit to you. Be really honest with yourself as to why your GPA is low. If it is because you were younger and not motivated but you now are fully committed.....OK. If you struggled to make B's in your A&P, microbiology then you are heading for trouble in nursing school. 77% is passing, so if you couldn't pull an A or B in the prereq's, you aren't likely to do well once you get in.

Nursing school is not a cakewalk, not even the ones with a more lenient admissions policy. We all have to pass the same NCLEX at the end, so the material is the same. Seriously, that is why we have a 50% attrition rate and we aren't even through the first semester. They just weren't ready for the nursing school material.

I don't see Pima doing this, but a previous un-named For Profit university I went to admitted anyone with a checkbook, front loaded the easier classes the first year (to get the $20k) and then all the tough classes kicked in second year. There were 60 students in my cohort in year one and 23 students in year two. 20 of us graduated.

Was the degree a valid program? Yes. We did get through the tough material. But the way we did it maximized the profit for the school by encouraging and taking the cash from students that were not going to be able to hack it long term. I think it would have been kinder to not accept them rather than taking their money and leaving them with nothing but a bad feeling when they were dismissed halfway through for poor academic performance. Now, I know others disagree and feel that everyone should be given a CHANCE to do well, since some will defy the odds and rock nursing school. But I think that when there are limited openings for students, those with the best chance of completing it (as predicted by previous GPA and entrance exams) should be given preference.

NutmeggeRN, BSN · Sep 29, 2012

Another very important thing to look at is their pass percentage on the NCLEX and whether or not they are accredited. Good Luck.

Beautiful Mind RN · Sep 29, 2012

I'm at Pima, which is private and costly. You may get in sooner with a lower GPA, but that may not be truly of benefit to you. Be really honest with yourself as to why your GPA is low. If it is because you were younger and not motivated but you now are fully committed.....OK. If you struggled to make B's in your A&P, microbiology then you are heading for trouble in nursing school. 77% is passing, so if you couldn't pull an A or B in the prereq's, you aren't likely to do well once you get in.
Nursing school is not a cakewalk, not even the ones with a more lenient admissions policy. We all have to pass the same NCLEX at the end, so the material is the same. Seriously, that is why we have a 50% attrition rate and we aren't even through the first semester. They just weren't ready for the nursing school material.
I don't see Pima doing this, but a previous un-named For Profit university I went to admitted anyone with a checkbook, front loaded the easier classes the first year (to get the $20k) and then all the tough classes kicked in second year. There were 60 students in my cohort in year one and 23 students in year two. 20 of us graduated.
Was the degree a valid program? Yes. We did get through the tough material. But the way we did it maximized the profit for the school by encouraging and taking the cash from students that were not going to be able to hack it long term. I think it would have been kinder to not accept them rather than taking their money and leaving them with nothing but a bad feeling when they were dismissed halfway through for poor academic performance. Now, I know others disagree and feel that everyone should be given a CHANCE to do well, since some will defy the odds and rock nursing school. But I think that when there are limited openings for students, those with the best chance of completing it (as predicted by previous GPA and entrance exams) should be given preference.

This is true for a lot of for-profit schools. They accept anyone that does not wish to sit on a waiting list at the community colleges and/or does not have a competitive GPA to get into state universities. HOWEVER, they have to. They cannot be as picky as the non-profit schools because they are not getting paid by the state government, they make their profit directly from their student body, which is also why their programs are far more costly than community colleges and some state universities.

With that said, I do not think it is the school's responsibility to see who will make it or not, it should be dependent on the actual would-be student. They are the ones that need to do their homework and see if they are mentally and profitably ready for a for-profit Nursing program.

Good rule of thumb: Schools are there to guide the students into their chosen career, the student is the one in charge of reaching that goal.

That is what I did. I am currently enrolled in a for-profit school that offers a BSN program and have prepared myself for it. I know it will be expensive and I know how much hard work I would have to invest into it, and I have made quite a few sacrifices to ensure I achieve my goal. Meaning, I did not want to play the waiting game or the GPA game (even though I did have quite a fair GPA of 3.5, I knew there were students out there who had 4.0's and going to school full time constantly, giving them some advantage over a working adult such as myself), because I am already 28 and I wanted to get my career started as soon as possible.

In regards to the author of this thread's case, I think you should evaluate yourself by asking questions like, what can you handle, school-wise? Do you want a career as a RN? (Really research the profession and the curriculum of nursing schools) Can you afford it(as in, can you look out of state as well for options)?

I really hope my insight helps and I wish you the best of luck either way in your new endeavor.

SarcasticLVN · Sep 29, 2012

I went to a private school for my lvn and have a good chunk of student loans.. Honestly I bombed out I'm community college straight out of high school, got involved in my parents financial company and thought that was my career until I started feeling stuck and Unsatisfied.. Nursing had always been in the back of my mind but I didn't want to wait and do pre reqs and wait lists at the community college. Anyways I'm happy with my lvn and job in ltc, however if I could do it over again I would recommend rn for sure. I'm doing a bridge right now. I did horrible in high school and community college but in nursing I graduated top 3% of my class :)

timmedico · Sep 29, 2012

Search extensively for all schools you can find. The nursing school I attend barely factored in the GPA, giving more emphasis on grades in science classes (Anatomy and Physiology I and II, Microbiology, etc) and the score on a standardized test. A school that will give you so much debt might not be the best one for you...try for as many grants and scholarships as you can. :) Wish you the best!

xtine618 · Sep 29, 2012

Are you fully committed to becoming an RN? 40k is a lot if you're not sure if this is the job for you. I graduated from a for-profit school and I have student loans that you wouldn't believe but I still think I made a good decision. At the time I enrolled, waiting lists at the CC and University were 2 yrs long. I didn't have that kind of time. I was working a minimum wage job and I didn't want to postpone my studies any longer than I already did. Plus, had I stayed on the waiting list, yes I would have paid less in student loans, but it also would have taken me that much longer to start earning RN pay which was A LOT MORE than minimum wage. I felt like my school did a good job in preparing me for boards and finding a job. But I was also very self motivated. And that's what you need in order to get through school and pass boards. The hours are pretty long and there are very few breaks/days off in the program. We didn't get summers off like regular college students. Just make sure you educate yourself about the differences in both types of programs.