Hello fellow nursing school hopefulls. I have been using AN.com since I got out of the military and started on this journey towards my RN. In the last year and a half I have seen alot of joy, anger, frustration and strife on this website. Recently I posted some information on another thread in reponse to a Community College vs Ivy League debate, needless to say that thread was shut down. However, I think my findings are relevant beyond that debate and wanted to share them with you all.
If we follow the trends of AN.com it seems that everyone and their brother has a 4.0, but thats not an accurate indication of what the competition really looks like. A 4.0 is a very rare grade to get, one bad test in one class at a bad time and bam 3.95. Based on my states data (so there is sure to be some error when taken nationally) there is only a .5% chance that a transfer student has a 4.0!
How easy is it to get a 4.0 GPA in community college? Well 1 in 200 students in my state that transfers from a community college to a 4 year school has a 4.0, so its not that easy.
Of course this includes a few assumptions as I dont have the grades for all 9,702 students that transfered, but I do know that 50 transfer scholarships based soley on GPA were handed out and the cut off was 3.93 (so I assumed all 50 were 4.0).
Also I only have the instate transfer data, I am sure a few students that transfered out of state had 4.0's. But I am sure the ratio is pretty accurate for any transfer student as it doesn't take much to ruin a 4.0.
That being said, all of you out there that are worried about not getting into school because you don't have a 4.0, don't. If my state is a decent sample, it is highly unlikely that there are multiple applicants to your school with a 4.0. Not to say that you shouldn't still try your hardest, but a slip here and there isn't the end of the world.
It's cool. The 1+3 programs are not very popular. I only started to look at one of them seriously when a poster mentioned she finished BSN prereqs in a year (and ment a school year, 2 semesters) which didn't seem possible to me, but now I know she took less than 30 hours...
Sorry for the side bar. I am derailing my own thread...
Grades are important and it's surely easier to get better marks in prereqs than in nursing courses (hopefully one day I can say for sure, but as of now I am waiting to hear back from admissions), so you are right to want to buffer your points for grad school. I'm just saying that worrying about getting anything less than a 4.0 because everyone else has a 4.0 is not time well spent because not everyone else has a 4.0, nearly no one does.
FUZZY MATH!!! the following calculations are for entertainment value only, even though the numbers are fairly accurate there is a whole lot of extrapolation going on...
142,000 (aacn) were eligible to take the NCLEX last year, assume a 90% retention rate (Cali Bon) and that makes for 158,000 nursing students, assume 2 qualified applicants were rejected for every 1 accepted (Cali Bon) and that makes for 474,000 nursing school applicants (holy cow batman that's alot of people, seems too big but then again ever A&P program at my school is packed with nursing hopefuls). 474,000 * .5% (my stat)= 2,367 applicants with a 4.0 nation wide. Assume all students with a 4.0 were accepted (unlikely at best) and that makes for 2,367 or 1.7% of accepted students have a 4.0. I wouldnt worry too much about 1.7% of anything.
Again that was FUZZY MATH and should be taken with a grain (or shaker, maybe a pound) of salt.
One thing to keep in mind though is that many programs do not look at cumulative gpa. They look at prerequisite gpa. For the program I've applied to you need a 3.8 or better (based on history) - that is prerequisite gpa not cumulative. So when people are saying they have a 4.0 often they are referring to prerquisite gpa not cumulative.
My program looks at both prerequisite and cummulative gpa. At my school, the average person accepted has a 3.75 cummulative gpa and a 3.68 prerequisite gpa. That's impressive, but still not a 4.0.
So just went to an awards ceremony at my school. It was to recognize students that were on the deans list for a full calendar year, and to award calendar year 4.0 students with a pin (a very ugly, very gaudy pin). The amount of people getting a 4.0 over 1 year was 1% of my schools population, so (assuming that that percentage lowers after a second year is played put) my data is somewhat confirmed! Just thought I'd share a real world example.
Well, I'm waiting to see what happens with my 2.56...
Well, If you are willing to move to Texas... I know a BSN program where you still have a really good chance at getting in! PM me for more info. (and NO its not a private, for profit school... it's a public state university that has a real good NCLEX pass rate and you graduate ACLS and PALS certified)
Ok - I'll probably get some slack for this, but here's my issue with nursing program requirements:
Many programs are GPA based - I get that, but that doesn't mean it's right. Now don't get me wrong, I believe GPA to be an important factor in deciding who gets in where. But what classes individuals took and where they took them, should also be an important factor.
If "John" took Organic Chem, Medical Microbio, Statistics, etc. at University of Texas and received a B/B+ average (3.0 - 3.4), and
"Mike" took General Chem, Nursing Microbio, Statistics, etc. at Southern Austin Community College and received an A (4.0), at many schools Mike would have the edge.
I'm sorry but I think that's ridiculous. I've taken a class here and there at a community college over the summer, so I'm not knocking CCs, but I honestly believe the classes are easier at the CC level in comparison to the same classes at the university level.
So Yes, GPA is important, but if I took higher level science classes and challenged myself, took them only one time, at a prestigious university and have a 3.3 cumulative GPA with 80 credit hours , and I am applying for a nursing program agains "Mike" and his 30 credit hours (only prerequisite) at a CC and his 4.0 - I could be waitlisted, and he will get accepted into many programs over me. So wrong, on so many levels.
Ok - I'll probably get some slack for this, but here's my issue with nursing program requirements:
Many programs are GPA based - I get that, but that doesn't mean it's right. Now don't get me wrong, I believe GPA to be an important factor in deciding who gets in where. But what classes individuals took and where they took them, should also be an important factor.
If "John" took Organic Chem, Medical Microbio, Statistics, etc. at University of Texas and received a B/B+ average (3.0 - 3.4), and
"Mike" took General Chem, Nursing Microbio, Statistics, etc. at Southern Austin Community College and received an A (4.0), at many schools Mike would have the edge.
I'm sorry but I think that's ridiculous. I've taken a class here and there at a community college over the summer, so I'm not knocking CCs, but I honestly believe the classes are easier at the CC level in comparison to the same classes at the university level.
So Yes, GPA is important, but if I took higher level science classes and challenged myself, took them only one time, at a prestigious university and have a 3.3 cumulative GPA with 80 credit hours , and I am applying for a nursing program agains "Mike" and his 30 credit hours (only prerequisite) at a CC and his 4.0 - I could be waitlisted, and he will get accepted into many programs over me. So wrong, on so many levels.
Agree or disagree?
I would have to respectfully disagree! I graduated at the top of my high school class and had to go to a CC, due to financial reasons. Yes, I got lots of scholarships but I chose to maximize them (thanks to parental advice) by using a fraction of it at the CC and use the bulk of it for when I transferred. I thought CCs were just an easy place that "dumb losers" went at first. Ahh... the brainwashing that some high schools feed the young into believing that you are at a disadvantage getting in to a professional school due to 'settling' for a CC! My community college was HARD AS HELL! (I can't speak for all CCs... mine was North Harris Community College, but nicknamed "North Harvard" LOL) I was struggling, especially with Microbiology... our Micro professor used to teach at U. of Texas actually. Even our Nursing students are *top notch*.
There are actually good CCs out there! And I think most of the time people just spend unnecessary $$ getting their basics at a university. Really all you are paying for is the "experience" and the "Brand Name" of a big university. Why not just pay for all the fun and experience when you really have to (like the last 2 years of completeing your degree).
I have lots of friends that worked really hard at CCs, and are now in pharmacy school, law school, and med school. And besides, maybe "Mike" had an upperhand... smaller class sizes, more access to the professor, and less "college life" distractions.
I agree there are some difficult professors at community colleges across the country, but I will stand by my own experience. The class I took at community college and received an A in, was a class at the university known for it's difficulty. Most people tried to take it at a community college over the summer in order to avoid taking it at the university. Also, my other point being that class level and difficulty should come into play. Anyone who's taken an OChem class knows it is much more difficult than a General Chem class. But according to Nursing Schools, Chemistry is the prerequisite. Shouldn't the person who took OChem and received the B+ be recognized over the student who took the General Chemistry and received the A? Maybe I see things differently? But if someone is my doctor or nurse, I want the person who challenged themselves, took the Organic Chemistry along with any other possible higher level prerequisite at the prestigious university. There's a reason Johns Hopkins is $90,000 for an Accelerated BSN.
Student4_life
521 Posts
It's cool. The 1+3 programs are not very popular. I only started to look at one of them seriously when a poster mentioned she finished BSN prereqs in a year (and ment a school year, 2 semesters) which didn't seem possible to me, but now I know she took less than 30 hours...
Sorry for the side bar. I am derailing my own thread...
Grades are important and it's surely easier to get better marks in prereqs than in nursing courses (hopefully one day I can say for sure, but as of now I am waiting to hear back from admissions), so you are right to want to buffer your points for grad school. I'm just saying that worrying about getting anything less than a 4.0 because everyone else has a 4.0 is not time well spent because not everyone else has a 4.0, nearly no one does.
FUZZY MATH!!! the following calculations are for entertainment value only, even though the numbers are fairly accurate there is a whole lot of extrapolation going on...
142,000 (aacn) were eligible to take the NCLEX last year, assume a 90% retention rate (Cali Bon) and that makes for 158,000 nursing students, assume 2 qualified applicants were rejected for every 1 accepted (Cali Bon) and that makes for 474,000 nursing school applicants (holy cow batman that's alot of people, seems too big but then again ever A&P program at my school is packed with nursing hopefuls). 474,000 * .5% (my stat)= 2,367 applicants with a 4.0 nation wide. Assume all students with a 4.0 were accepted (unlikely at best) and that makes for 2,367 or 1.7% of accepted students have a 4.0. I wouldnt worry too much about 1.7% of anything.
Again that was FUZZY MATH and should be taken with a grain (or shaker, maybe a pound) of salt.