You've been accepted...sike!

[jmmarie]

Hello everyone. I need the best advice possible. Put yourself in my position.

I was accepted into UNLV as a Pre-nursing major. The acceptance letter specifically says "you have been accepted into the pre-nursing program at UNLV for 2010 Fall semester."

okay. Before accepting a student into their school, they need to evaluate transcripts, transferable credits, etc. Obviously.

I accepted the admittance into UNLV. 1 week later, I speak with a nursing advisor to figure out what classes i need to take to become eligible for their BSN nursing program.

Then they tell me that I am not going to be able to apply to their BSN program because I retook microbiology (ive taken it two times at a community college) and received a "C" both times.

The policy is "a grade of B (3.00) or above must have been earned in either the first or second enrollment (an audit counts as an enrollment) in the following prerequisites courses: ...Microbiology (BIOL 251).."

She also tells me I am never going to be able to obtain a BSN degree from their program under these circumstances.

So I ask, why would they accept me as a Pre-nursing major, if I would not be eligible. Why did they overlook such a BIG requirement when evaluating my application and transcripts. PLEASE HELP

P.S. I plan on petitioning this to the Health Science Advisors. I don't think it is fair that they did this to me. It's not my problem that there is a flaw in their admissions system.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

You were accepted there to take classes, not to the nursing program. Most nursing programs require a certain GPA and most have more applicants than they know what to do with. And there are many states now that only allow you to retake a class once. Being accepted for "pre-nursing" only means you are being acknowledged as taking prerequisite courses so that you can apply to nursing school....ANY nursing school. That is why you were accepted to take classes. They weren't assuming you only intended to apply with them. Theoretically the courses can transfer to another institution. They were just letting you know you would not be a candidate for THEIR program. You are still welcome, obviously, to spend your money getting other pre-reqs done at UNLV if you so choose and then transfer them to another institution or nursing school. Accepted for pre-nursing is a statement of a goal only. You weren't accepted into the nursing program at UNLV. Nobody gets a degree in pre-nursing. It isn't a valid major other than stating a goal.

I would suggest you put your energies into researching alternative ways to get to your goal. You got good advice where you posted this in the main forum. The only thing you can "win" by fighting this is the opportunity to take classes at UNLV, which you already have. Nobody told you that you can't go to school there. They simply let you know you are not qualified for their nursing program. Your grades are not acceptable for applicants to this particular nursing program. There are other programs out there who have a lower GPA requirement. Keep in mind though that GPA required to apply doesn't tell you what the GPA is of other applicants, which tend to be very high due to the competitive nature of getting in...more applicants than slots available. So even if the requirement is low, those who actually get in probably perform on a higher level. Don't waste your time on fighting this - you won't get anything from it at all. There is no decision to reverse here. You were accepted to take classes at UNLV only. You would have to apply to the nursing program once you are qualified to do so. They were actually rather kind in letting you know "don't bother" given you are moving out of state to attend this school. Make alternate plans and then work hard to improve your grades to help offset this poor one.

[healthstar, BSN, RN]

You were simply accepted to their college and your desired degree is pre-nursing. My college requires B and above in order to qualify for their RN BSN program. Not only that, but you are allowed to retake one class only. Take a look at other schools.

[AOx1]

This is no different from being accepted as a pre-med or pre-dental student. I could apply as pre-med, be accepted to the school, then proceed to flunk all of my prerequisite classes. Does this mean I have a right to successfully protest that the medical school will not admit me?

You are responsible for ensuring you meet application standards to the school of your choice. The school, as others have mentioned, was nice to let you know you did not meet their standards. They are not required to do so.

[guiltysins]

I get what you're trying to say. Why let you be a pre-nursing student if you can't apply to their program. Maybe it seems silly but you more likely met the requirements to be a pre-nursing major. Which for the most part is having a gpa of 2.5 or 85 average. Now if having a B in that course would have been a pre-req to be a pre-nursing student or to continue as a pre-nursing student you wouldn't have been accepted as that at all.

But like the person above said, look at how many schools allow you to be pre-med but don't have a medical school. They're basically saying you can take your nursing pre-reqs at their school and apply to others. In a way though that doesn't make sense however since unlike med and vet schools, nursing schools don't all have standard requirements so it would be dumb to be pre-nursing there and take classes that either won't transfer or aren't required for another program.

[stillwating]

it is unfortunate but a lot of Universities are no longer accepting repeats...even if the community college you went to required you to repeat a class only because it had been over 5 years since you last took the course. Find another school that does accept repeat courses

[jmmarie]

i have decided to take other options into consideration. but i appreciate everyone's advice.

another thing that bothered me was that the UNLV pre-nursing advisor told me to change majors. now why would i do that? basically he was telling me to forget about what i want and pursue another career. what kind of institution tells you to change your major because you got a C. it was extremely discouraging.

[kbm318]

i have decided to take other options into consideration. but i appreciate everyone's advice.

another thing that bothered me was that the UNLV pre-nursing advisor told me to change majors. now why would i do that? basically he was telling me to forget about what i want and pursue another career. what kind of institution tells you to change your major because you got a C. it was extremely discouraging.

At my previous school I was in the pre nursing program and tried for 2 years to get into the nursing program but never could. My adviser asked me if I ever considered changing my major as well, it really irritated that they could'nt even encourage me they just discouraged me. But I kept applying to different schools and I just recently started in March. So don't let them discourage you, just keep applying places and try hard in your current courses.