Help Selecting a School

Hi.

I am a university graduate with a Bachelor's of the Arts in a completely unrelated field. After much contemplation and discussion with friends + family I have decided to try to go back to school for a bachelor's in Nursing.

I am currently living in NYC and would prefer to stay here, but I think NYU and Columbia are much too difficult for me to get accepted. What other schools would you recommend? I would also be willing to move to California, Toronto, and maybe Seattle.

Unfortunately, there is another issue. I hate bringing this up because I don't want it to define me as a person, but I think it has some relevance here. I was born with a major heart defect and serious other issues, which led to a rare dysfunction with over a 50% mortality rate. I was even given a Make-A-Wish. These past few years I have been doing very well. In fact, I do so well that I think people are often shocked if they hear about my past. To get to the point, my struggles in my past greatly affected my schooling and studies (which I put on the back burner to deal with obviously more important issues). My grades are low compared to others. I think I graduated with a 3.0, but some classes that might be important to Nursing (Science for example) have some really low grades.

I originally thought to do the accelerated Nursing program I noticed some schools offer for non-Nursing Bachelor degree holders, but with my grades, I am unsure if I would qualify.

Thanks for any and all help! It is greatly appreciated and I just want to show my love for all you nurses out there =)

Josh.

I think you would have problems getting accepted at an accelerated program. They usually want people with a high GPA. Furthermore, the intense pace of the program might be difficult with your physical problems. It would be best to look for a traditional BSN program or an ASN program that will accept you. I would suggest looking at all the nearby programs, and starting to take any prerequisites you may be lacking. You also might want to repeat any courses where you did poorly in the past, if those courses would now be applicable, such as college algebra or English. Try to get the best grades possible from here on out to make it easier to get into a program. Good luck.