Where to go from here

2 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.
Quote from dhiblerHi, 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.

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.

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.

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.

Which program in Florida?

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.

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

Quote from DawnJI'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.

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

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!

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.

My only advice is to make sure the school is accredited and the accreditation is accepted with the state boards where you live and plan to take the boards. Check w/the board - don't just take the schools word for it. Good luck