Will this haunt me forever?

[MJB2010]

I am looking to go back to school for my MSN. Problem is, although I maintained a good GPA in my ADN program 3.2, I have a previous BS degree from when I went to college right out of high school. My gpa for that degree was a 2.70 and it just drags my average down. It was 15 years ago, my ADN was 3 years ago. But schools are still asking for all college coursework and have been including my old GPA which is hurting my average. All that I have asked said they will still count it in calculations. I am hoping I can explain in my essay that being young and foolish did not last forever. Ugh.

[Pachinko]

It will be difficult to raise your cumulative GPA under any circumstances at this point. Some programs are going to have a hard-and-fast rule about minimum GPAs for admission; others will be more flexible. Start by targeting the flexible ones, or those with lower GPA requirements.

Your volunteer experiences, and especially your work experience, will need to be your strengths. Try to get into ICU work at the very least. If you can get into a specialized ICU at a large hospital, such as a cardiothoracic ICU that requires autonomy and and sharp critical thinking skills, it will speak volumes about you. Couple your experience with good recommendations, and you might have enough to counterweigh your GPA.

If you're applying to a program that requires a GRE, a strong score will also benefit you.

I wouldn't lose hope. Just make sure to look at all of your options and be persistent. You may wish to attempt to schedule an appointment with your target school and discuss your dilemma with an admissions counsellor. Tell them to be brutally honest with you. Your GPA may not, in fact, be as bad as you think it is.

[SCSTxRN]

I am applying to Texas Woman's in Denton. They specifically use your last 60 hours. My ADN was about 45, my BSN is 30... so my GPA from the 90's doesn't factor in at all. :) UTA Academic Partnership RN to BSN online is where I'm completing my BSN.

[elkpark]

I got into grad school with a low GPA (don't recall exactly, but somewhere in the "C" neighborhood) from my first college experience, fresh out of high school (didn't complete that degree), and a high GPA from my hospital-based diploma program and BSN completion program. I had to explain my earlier, lower grades (even got asked specifically about them in my interviews), but got accepted to both the schools to which I applied (and they were v. competitive schools). It's do-able.

[UVA Grad Nursing]

Different schools will handle this in different manners. At my institution, we do not average GPAs across schools. With us, you have a GPA for each school you attended. We emphasize GPAs from degree programs over those gpas where you did not earn a degree, and also focus more on recent grades/GPAs over those from 10+ years ago.

[sheronep, MSN, RN]

My previous degree and my pre-reqs for nursing were not stellar grades. I just submitted the truth and let the chips fall.