GPA Advice, Please?

[NHEDTECH]

Hi there!

I'm a 23 yr old, 4th year f/t BSN student (graduate this May). I've learned a lot just by "lurking" around this forum and will try not to ask anything that has already been covered (I hate that!).

I work as an ED tech (in Fast Track, 32hrs/wk) at a small hospital near my university (U of NH), and have gone out of my way to shadow a few CRNAs over the undergrad years. I've wanted to be a CRNA since high school and it's the reason I went to nursing school' to begin with. I'm not in it for the money (although it's nice, of course), etc. So I think I'm doing pretty well in the "passion for" and "early experience" departments. If all goes well, I'll start my RN work in a critical care unit (however, most of my professors (non-CRNAs) say to start off in med/surg....).

However, I took my science courses (a year of general chem, a semester of bio, an accelerated summer of a "full year" of A&P), my freshman year. During which 'life' (divorce, other crap), got in the way, and my grades suffered. So my GPA is only a ~3.2. :Flush:

I'm not sure if I can take these classes (or others like them) post-graduation to either increase my GPA or show that I can do well in the subjects. Any ideas? It seems to me like taking the same courses or higher courses in the same subjects would pretty much cancel out the bad grades. At least show that I'm serious, determined, etc, etc.



Thanks in advance for any advice!


Eliza

[MmacFN]

1st off ignore your nursing instructors and goto the ICU right from school if its avaliable. You will take nothing useful from med surg or tele. The only reason not to go is if you feel you cant do it right off. At the worst you wont make it through the ICU orientation and will be working on tele. Its worth the attempt.

2nd: your GPA isnt that bad. The cutoff is 3.0 so at least you are over that. I think that if you destroy the GRE and have a good interview you will be fine. Having said that getting the GPA up will make you more competitive but dont retake those classes.

Since you have at least a year before you can apply to CRNA school I would suggest you take MSN classes. If you know the schools you are going to apply to will be MSN schools i would take graduate level classes from them. They like to see that as it shows you can do graduate level work. Most schools realize that the GRE and GPA isnt predictive of anything but that the most predictive indicator of success at the graduate level is taking graduate classes. If you are going to wait 2 years before CRNA school id suggest taking the whole MSN.

Some people on the board may give you alternate advice but here is why i suggest doing the MSN.

1) 50% of schools are MSN CRNA schools and so require it.

2) While not all classes at one MSN school may transfer to another, the MSN degree DOES. So if you have an MSN you are exempt from their MSN classes period.

3) Anything that decreases your workload in anesthesia school means you focus more on anesthesia. That is a good thing. While MSN classes have their place, they are often a distraction in CRNA school from the voluminous amount of reading you SHOULD be doing.

Go for it!

[944S]

Your GPA is only one part of the package. Many have gotten in with the same GPA but they had to make up for it in other areas. 1st off make sure you do well this last year. That should be your primary objective. Then meet with the directors at each school you are considering and follow their advice. 2. most schools look at your science grades in particular so figure out your science grade GPA and then decide if you need to retake some of these classes or take some grad level classes. If you do this make A's. 3. Get your CCRN
4. Study for the GRE and make sure you do well. 5. Don't do Med Surg first, go straight to an ICU if possible and take every class possible. ex. IABP, CABG etc. 6. Sit down and make a timeline for accomplishing each of these goals and then stick to it. In your case you have plenty of time.

[nojrevorg]

If you are in New England, and plan on staying there, I recommend once you are done boards ect, working towards your experience, UNE which is the only Nurse anesthesia program in the area(and a good one), requires that you take biochem prior to applying, along with GRE's. That is a really hard class, and if you can focus your time all too that and your GREs in your waiting period it could be a great use of time. I believe they offer it online as well. And I agree with Mike, dont listen to your nursing instructors, they are just telling you what they think, and they are sending you to the area with the most holes. I started for a short time on Tele, and in less than 4 months I was ready to leave. Critical Care is a great place to be. Their is a ton of stuff to learn regardless if you have experience on Medsurge or not.
Hope it helps
jon

[matman]

Second what everybody said above and some further info about the UNE course in biochem-
http://faculty.une.edu/com/courses/bionut/distbio/distbiohome.html

Good course for the self learner. I found it particularly challenging (politically correct for friggin' hard). Georgetown U. asked me to take it as a "warm-up" after they accepted me, so I can only assume that it is a well respected distance class. Rocking this course will only help you.(read the fine print though as the class average on his exam is like 78 or something- so you will HAVE to study.)

And for the record- I think "bionut" would be a great rock band name. (see link above)

[ethernaut]

Second what everybody said above and some further info about the UNE course in biochem-
http://faculty.une.edu/com/courses/bionut/distbio/distbiohome.html

Good course for the self learner. I found it particularly challenging. Georgetown U. asked me to take it as a "warm-up" after they accepted me, so I can only assume that it is a well respected distance class. Rocking this course will only help you.(read the fine print though as the class average on his exam is like 78 or something- so you will HAVE to study.)

And for the record- I think "bionut" would be a great rock band name. (see link above)
yea, the class wasn't easy by any means, for me at least...
i could barely make it through the dvd lectures.
i think i napped more during that course than an old-folks home resident!
georgetown considers that a warm-up?
geesh !!

[MmacFN]

If GPA is an issue i would caution anyone from taking a class which may actually risk LOWERING it. Stick with the MSN classes, all A's and the GPA increases. :P

[NHEDTECH]

Hi!

Thank you all for your advice. My break at work is almost over, but I wanted to post a quick reply.

I will look into MSN classes and also try to find out what schools I'm interested in (that would be....any that will possibly take me!).

Science is ...not my strongest subject (but don't get me wrong - I work hard and learn well), so I'll be cautious about taking a distance-learning biochem class.


Also, several people have mentioned taking MSN classes (or the biochem), to up my GPA. Does that mean that the GPA the CRNA schools see will be comprimised of both my undergrad. courses and all others (MSN classes, biochem classes, etc)? I understand that the science/math/stat classes' GPA will be looked at seperate from all others (gen-eds and the like).

Back to the patients!
Eliza

[leebertn]

They look at the GPA at different angles. My school looked at the last 60 hours, graduate hours, science and math, and overall. I think the last 60 helps most of us. And I agree with Mike, take graduate level classes and make A's.

[Rioplatense]

It takes some guts to go into ICU right out of school, and you will get alot of negativity from people who wish they would have specialized. Like the intructor for my Kaplan NCLEX class, I was telling my classmates that I had an interview with the nurse manager from the unit where I preceptored (if you can pick your preceptor unit, go to an ICU you will like and maybe they will hire you) He butted in and said that ICU is very dangerous because "doctors can give you verbal orders and then recind if the situation goes to hell and you're held liable." But don't let that get to you because you will find alot of ICU nurses love to teach and precept and your unit will help you out. And doctors will know you're green, you just have to take their criticism lightly too. Anyway hope that helps

[ethernaut]

It takes some guts to go into ICU right out of school, and you will get alot of negativity from people who wish they would have specialized. Like the intructor for my Kaplan NCLEX class, I was telling my classmates that I had an interview with the nurse manager from the unit where I preceptored (if you can pick your preceptor unit, go to an ICU you will like and maybe they will hire you) He butted in and said that ICU is very dangerous because "doctors can give you verbal orders and then recind if the situation goes to hell and you're held liable." But don't let that get to you because you will find alot of ICU nurses love to teach and precept and your unit will help you out. And doctors will know you're green, you just have to take their criticism lightly too. Anyway hope that helps

to some degree i have to agree with this, however,
if you have layered experience, you can handle this type of situation...
when you get comfortable and secure with what you do, you know how to "handle" residents and attendings...
when you have a good grasp, and you can offer suggestions, and criticize the inner workings of the physician choices, they start to listen and hear you, because of the experience and all...
it does really feel good when they hear you..
don't give in and don't give up..
if you are a strong practitioner, you will be heard...

[ash8419]

to some degree i have to agree with this, however,
if you have layered experience, you can handle this type of situation...
when you get comfortable and secure with what you do, you know how to "handle" residents and attendings...
when you have a good grasp, and you can offer suggestions, and criticize the inner workings of the physician choices, they start to listen and hear you, because of the experience and all...
it does really feel good when they hear you..
don't give in and don't give up..
if you are a strong practitioner, you will be heard...

I totally agree with this point. I graduated from a RN-BSN program in May and went straight to a 27 bed SICU that is always BUSY (hearts, neuros, bellys, etc--you name it we get it). The learning experience is AWESOME and I had a great preceptorship and internship class. When I first got the job I was scared of the "what ifs," but not everyone in ICUs are not 100% confident (even the vets)--meaning they know everything about everything and have an ICU-god complex! Its always going to be a learning experience and as long as you have a good team of nurses behind you (CNs, NM, educators) you will be sucessful!

[NHEDTECH]

Sounds like I'm on the right track.
I'm doing my Practicum (internship) starting in January and was able to qualify for ICU (test scores determine if you can do a speciality or med/surg)!

The other thing is, in one of my courses this semester, an Adult Health (med/surg-ish) course, is extremely difficult (well, duh). I will come out of it with maybe an 82. However, the class average is a 74 and now that the class is over the professor spent a good deal of time telling us how the class "doesn't run well....needs to be split into two semesters...is just too much information". And when I took an NCLEX predictor test on the information taught, I got a 95%.
But all of this info won't be evident on my transcript. I don't think saying "oh yeah, that 82% was really quite good for that specific course".......

Well, I guess I'll just have to get great GRE scores, and CC experience!

[rnanes]

Eliza, I had the same gpa 15 years ago and was " accused" of being eithr stupid or lazy. The truth will set you free, i told the truth,, worked full time,paid for school myself and it was a long time ago, and i still got in. some programs has additional course work to take if they feel at all unsure of your gpa. Another option is to take grad courses asap and ace them. Show them what you are capable of. Rnanes

[lakelandcrna]

Great advice from all of those posting!. I would tend to agree with the comment regarding checking with the school or schools that you intend to apply to and let them review your transcripts. Then take their recommendations to heart and do as they tell you.

In regards to your likes or dislikes regarding science courses.....you ain't seen nothing yet! The bulk of your education in anesthesia school is going to be centered around science (and it won't be at the same level you experienced as an undergraduate). Pharmacology, physiology and pathophysiology will be the cornerstones of your practice.

Your GPA in and of itself is not bad. I have seen many students with 3.2 GPA's get in when those with higher GPA's and equally good GRE's did not (usually due to a terrible performance in the interview process)

Hang in there and good luck

Ron Eslick CRNA, MHS
South Carolina