WIll my grade improvement help me get into college?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi I am currently deciding on the colleges/ universities I want to be able to attend. My choices are :

 - San Jose State University
 - University of San Francisco
 - San Francisco State University
 - California State University, Bakersfield

My current unweight GPA (9-11) is 2.88 and my weight is 3.01, while my overall gpa I want to major into nursing, and I suffered with depression, along with suicide for most of my life. Also, a nurse told me that I could never be able to be a nurse because I was short, which lead me grades to be affected but I was able to improve them.

Freshman (sem 1) 3.6 (sem 2) 3.5
sophmore (sem 1) 2.1 (sem 2) 2.88
junior (sem 1) 3.1 (sem 2) 2.9 ( had alot of boder line grades)

I am worried that I wont be accepted in the university of my choice, and even more so my grades wont allow me to major into nursing. I know that colleges also look at the personal statements, but i dont know about CSUs and privates. I dont plan on applying to any UCs because of my grades.

Im absolutly terriffied because I am constantly judged by my relatives as being useless because of my grades and height (4’8). with my cousins as validvictorians and UC students.

2

What is your reasoning for choosing these three CSU’s (plus USF)?

It feels to be as if you are getting ahead of yourself here. You are planning from a place of fear and anxiety, when what you need to be doing is starting with a plan you know you can count on, first, and then exploring how you might be able to upgrade that plan.

First thing, above all else, is your health, mental and physical. Nothing else will come together if you don’t have that. Do you have the support you need? If not, talk to someone about putting that in place.

Secondly, you know that you can go to community college if your stats or your finances make that the best or only option. So one thing you need to be considering is, if you did go to community college, where would you go? Would you live at home? What AA-T major would you choose to prepare you for transfer to a CSU?

Thirdly, look at what you would need to accomplish to be admitted to a CSU. Apart from graduating and taking all of the required a-g classes, you need a qualifying eligibility index: https://www2.calstate.edu/apply/eligibility-index

You can use that calculator to see where you stand as of now. Have you taken the SAT or ACT yet?

You will probably need to apply to non-impacted CSU campuses where you don’t need to have more than the basic level of eligibility. There are many good choices, but given your particular interest in nursing, I am going to suggest that you take a close look at CSU Dominguez Hills. CSUDH has the only BSN in the CSU system that is not impacted (i.e. competitive admission requiring higher stats), and it is also has one of the two entry-level MSN programs. So, at CSUDH, you could get your BSN, or if you decided you needed more time to build up to the demands of a nursing program, you could get your BA and then enroll in the MSN program. Also, there are programs in other health professions there, including an undergraduate med tech program and an occupational therapy masters program. You would have time to test the waters and explore your options.

(Contrast this with San Jose State, where you essentially need a perfect GPA in all of the lower-division nursing prerequisite courses to get into the nursing program as a junior. Plus, your current stats won’t get you into SJSU as a freshman anyway.)

I’m not saying you must end up at CSUDH. But I’m suggesting that you explore that possibility, as well as your best-case community college program, and see what those options look like. You need to see that these options are not only attainable, but could give you a great college experience, not only academically, but as your next step out into the world, becoming the person you want to be. Take a close enough look to realize that you can be just fine with either of these plans. See what grades you need to get next year, to make CSUDH happen. Take at least a few weeks to learn all you can about what your plans would look like at these schools. Look at how the finances will work - can you afford both options? Really establish proof of concept in all aspects of your planning.

THEN if you want to ask what your other options might be… whether you can get into any schools that are more competitive, whether you can afford schools that are more expensive, etc. etc… you have time to explore how you could upgrade that plan. But right now you need a baseline that is not just panic and self-doubt. Start with the basics and build from there.

Hope that helps.

3

^ Actually, I misspoke - the BSN program at CSUDH is for RN’s who don’t have their bachelor’s degree yet, not an entry-level BSN. You may want to look at CSU Channel Islands if you really want to try to get an undergrad nursing degree. But I also think that doing the med tech major at CSUDH could be a good plan; you could get your nursing prereqs done and get a solid health care credential, and then you could decide whether to go for the RN through the MSN program. Anyway, first step is to see whether you can meet CSU admission requirements or whether the CC transfer route will work better for you. Sorry for the misinformation above.