<p>My life has seemed unmanageable and hopeless for years. Thanks to undiagnosed severe clinical depression, my grades for freshman and currently sophomore years were less than stellar even though I'm fairly smart. I could barely get out of bed, let alone study for my spanish quiz. Recently, I finally got the courage to tell my mom how I felt. I'm looking for a therapist and starting work out my issues.</p>
<p>Now that my emotional issues are getting better, I feel prepared to get my life back on track. I've always wanted to be a nurse, and now I'm ready to make getting into nursing school my number 1 priority.</p>
<p>My grades so far in my High School career have been pretty bad. Lots of C's and B's, a few A's and D's, and one F in chem. </p>
<p>Next year I'll be taking AP world history and AP english lang. This year I took AP us history. </p>
<p>For extra curriculars, I write for the school paper and am on the Activities Committee. I've also worked as a cashier at a grocery store for two years.</p>
<p>If I get my grades way up, do I still have a shot at getting into a direct entry nursing school?</p>
<p>What should I do to better my chances? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It helps to post on the most appropriate forum, in this case, the Nursing forum.</p></li>
<li><p>Do not excessively bump, members will respond when they a ready. The day you post, do not bump your thread, after that bump only every 24 hrs or when off the first page of threads.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Moving.</p>
<p>At this point in your life, direct-entry into nursing might seem like a huge benefit because it would securely mean you’d get into nursing school your freshman year of college. But, keep in mind that the majority of nurses don’t enter into a BSN program directly admitted from HS. There are many other pathways, and you certainly haven’t lost your shot at being a nurse. Improve your grades from now moving forward, remember that a direct-entry program is a possibility but not a necessity, and work through your emotional issues and you will be a great nurse one day who can empathize well with patients!</p>
<p>I think you might to retake that Chemistry class, if you haven’t already, to show that you can get a good grade in it. College chemistry tends to be a make-or-break class for nursing students even in direct entry programs so they will want to see that you can handle your high school class. You can even take it (or audit it) at your local community college too. </p>
<p>When you’re a senior, apply as soon as you can! This is very important as many direct entry programs fill up before January. Apply to many programs also. There’s a thread of direct entry programs but it will help to do your own research too. </p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>There are many different health care programs - don’t immediately limit yourself to nursing.</p>
<p>You might apply to both bachelors-RN programs AND to associate degree-RN programs. As a fallback position, you might look into getting a practical nursing degree. A practical nurse can later go back to school to become a RN.</p>
<p>To increase your chances, it is helpful to get a paid or volunteer job in a health care setting. The volunteer work does not need to be long-term - a total of 50 hours or so would be very helpful.</p>
<p>Show colleges that you have made a positive change in your grades, and highlight it in your essay.</p>
<p>You do as well as you can in the rest of your high school courses. Even so, your grades early on may make some of your nursing programs difficult to gain entry into. </p>
<p>I’d suggest you look into an ADN at a community college. They’re open admission. The first year (the year you’re on the waiting list anyway), you take the prerequisites and earn a GPA that shows you can handle the work. After earning the ADN (at a signficantly lower tuition than most 4 year schools, I might add), you can go the RN-BSN completion route and earn a bachelor’s.</p>
<p>In many parts of the country, the community college nursing programs are competitive for admission. They are certainly worth a try, but a person should not think they can apply late in the year and get in (which is different from many other community college majors). Many nursing programs at community colleges have long waiting lists.</p>
<p>Some branch campuses of universities have nursing programs that are not very difficult for admissions. In general, I would expect the nursing programs in less popular and more rural geographic locations would be easier for admission.</p>