Bad college grades a tough record to shake

[Liberal_in_LA]

Bad college grades a tough record to shake

Excited to become a nurse after years as a caregiver, Powell earned A's in her toughest courses at City College of San Francisco: anatomy, physiology, chemistry.

But California State University denied her entry for a year before admitting her this fall. An A student there as well, Powell still has little hope of qualifying for a nursing program: She's haunted by the ghosts of bad grades past. Her story is a cautionary tale for college students that can be summarized in three words:

"Don't screw up."

Parents and advisers have hammered at this idea for generations. But at 18, who listens?

'Academic hole'
"We try to make this one of our biggest, loudest messages," said Sally Murphy, director of general education and freshman programs at Cal State East Bay in Hayward. "The grades you get in freshman year will follow you all your life. Students need to make sure they don't dig an academic hole they can't get out of."

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"The only take-away life lesson is to be serious from the time you hit school," said Jo Volkert, head of enrollment at San Francisco State.

Volkert rattled off a list of majors so popular that San Francisco State routinely turns away students because of blemishes on their record: nursing, psychology, dietetics and journalism among them.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/24/MNB71GODK3.DTL#ixzz19RHFk2Pt

[pnwmom]

1. A student like this might be better off just starting over

somewhere . . . not trying to get credit for those years with bad grades.

[aikoaiko]

10. Most programs ask you to decalre all previous college work

And if you don't you get bounced from the program at any point if it ever gets discovered. Its gotten much easier to find out if someone was at another college these days because of digital records.

[Statistical]

2. There are many other nursing programs around the country.

Nurses are in such severe shortage getting a "premium degree" is of little economic value.

Here is a concept:
If you have blemished academic record don't apply to the most prestiguous program. Find a smaller program at another school. Get your degree and you will be hired almost instantly as a nurse.

My mother employer offers $5000 signing bonus on RN. $3000 for new employee, and $2000 for the person referring them because need for nurses is critical.

Getting a nursing degree from a "premium school" is just an ego trip, nothing more. Now if unemployment among nurses was something like 10% having the best might be necessary but with an aging population that is hardly likely.

[LisaL]

7. I am not sure how much that would help her.

She had a really low undergraduate GPA.

[Hannah Bell]

15. she can enter a community college, redo the credits, then apply to the cc program.

knowing the profs helps.

the article is selling the pov that there are no second chances, because that's the world the ptb want -- except for themselves.

their second chances = infinite.

[Lisa0825]

9. I don't know about everywhere, but the problem in Texas is that

there are too few spots available for nursing students because nurses make much more as NURSES than a educators. Recently programs have opened up more spots, and now we are finding it is hard to place new grads (BSNs and ADNs), even as much as they are needed because there has to be the right ratio between new grads and experienced nurses on the units.

I hope that as the current batches of new grads get a couple years of experience behind them, the second issue will work itself out.

[Brickbat]

3. I have never heard of this -- but in a tight hiring market, maybe they do look at grades more

closely.

[LisaL]

6. She isn't looking for a job. She is trying to get into a nursing program.

[fortyfeetunder]

4. Yes, grades follow you 4-ever....

I remember 10 years after graduating having interviewed with a company and they wanted to see my undergraduate transcript then. Needless to say, I didn't get that job -- and at that time the economy was doing well.

[Taverner]

5. I've never been asked for my Undergrad, or Grad grades

Except when applying to grad school

[sammytko]

8. 1.5 GPA after 3 years. They should have kicked her out sooner and

maybe she would have seen the light.

[LisaL]

14. Sounds like she took quite some time to mature.

I think they really should give people like her a chance to start over.

[aikoaiko]

11. This is as it should be.

Almost all schools have an appeals process where someone who is denied admission because of a strict following of the rules can make the case that they are a changed person and now a conscientious college student. If the school believes them, they can let them in. If they have plenty of student applicants who have better records, then they don't have to accept the appeal.

[Motown_Johnny]

12. then explain W.

[LisaL]

13. Not everybody has president for a father.