Will I get into nursing school?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I really have had my mind set to nursing Since I was younger. I am 19 and at a university in Ohio(CSU) in my first year. I am taking my prerequisite courses right now and my first semester didn't go as I planned to. I took A&PI and got a C, and got a C in lab for A&PI also. I had to take a preparatory chemistry and unfortunately that chemistry is my weakest subject, I got a D. Although that class was included in my GPA, it was not a prerequisite. I did pass it and am going to be taking Chem 1 and chem 2 and both labs this summer. I had good midterm grades but during finals week I had chem and A&P finals back to back the same day. I didn't know how to study for both and hence got the grades I did. My GPA was a 2.0 for my first semester. I am working really hard right now and hope to get better grades for this spring semester that I am finishing up right now. My question is, is there still a chance for me to get into nursing school? Will they deny me because of the 2.0 I got first semester?

Thanks in advance

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Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

More than likely NO. You need to talk with the school and not a message board who cannot give you bottom line answers. You HAVE GOT to get better grades. You have your "mind set" on being a nurse, but you are not getting the grades. BEING a nurse REQUIRES getting good grades. It doesn't matter if you "want it" or not. You have to DO IT. You have two options. 1. Get better grades. 2. Find a career that requires minimal education and grades. It doesn't matter if I "want" to be anything if I am not willing to work as much as required to do it. That is all I can say. Study..12 hours a day..if not more. If you REALLY want it you will do it.

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I appreciate your honesty. But do you really think I have no hope at all...

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If you have a good explanation for your 1st semester's grades AND you show a huge improvement this semester, you have a chance. Also, some schools won't ask for transcripts from other schools if you earned less than a certain amount of credits. If you have the option of transferring to a different school, it can be a good way to start anew.

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Thank you that gives me a little support I am doing really good this semester and really it's because chem is not in the picture

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Specializes in ED, Medicine, Case Management.

If you want to get into nursing school, you are going to have to make up some ground. Nursing school is competitive and grades are very important. Some schools only look at prerequisite GPA, others will look at your cumulative GPA. You need to start researching now the requirements for the nursing schools you are looking to get into so that you can exceed them. Most applicants are going to do much better than the standard 3.0 GPA requirement, so you need to as well. Refocus yourself, figure out what you are doing wrong, and do it better. Get a tutor. Meet with your professors. Join study groups. Do whatever you need to do to be successful.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Agree with PP advice. Nursing programs use very specific criteria for admissions... but the choice of that criteria is not arbitrary, it is based on an analysis of the things that predict success among their students. If they won't accept prerequisite GPA's

It's not just about the grade. It's about the knowledge that is represented by the grade. If you think of a 4.0 as 100% of the course knowledge, that would mean that a 3.0 means the student has absorbed only 80% of the course information. Nursing programs have a cumulative curriculum... that means each course is built upon all of the knowledge/skills obtained in the previous courses..... not just a portion of that knowledge. So, you can see that 'squeeking by' with minimal room to spare will eventually cause major problems down the road.

No one's trying to be mean, but the reality is that anything less than a 3.5 for pre-requisites will probably present a major obstacle in moving ahead in a nursing program. You're early in the process. Hopefully, you can make corrections and end up exactly where you want to be.

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