Prospective Nursing Student Seeking Any Advice Possible / Is ABSN even the right route for me?
I am writing to seek some advice regarding ABSN admissions in NY. I am currently planning a career pivot into nursing and will be spending this upcoming year completing my prerequisites. My goal is to earn As in these courses; however, even with top marks in my prerequisites, my cumulative undergraduate GPA will likely still fall just below the 3.0 requirement used by most programs in my area.
To strengthen my application and gain relevant insight, I am planning to get CNA certified and volunteer at local hospitals. I also recently completed a Master’s degree in an unrelated field with a 3.6 GPA, though I’ve noticed many schools specifically focus on undergraduate transcripts.
The primary reason for my low undergraduate GPA was that I was providing care for a family member who was dealing with serious health complications and ultimately passed away. While I have grown significantly from that experience, I am concerned that my application might be automatically filtered out by the 3.0 cutoff before I have the chance to explain my situation.
Should I still apply to these programs if I don't hit the 3.0 cumulative mark, or will my efforts with the CNA and volunteering be for naught if I don't meet that specific threshold? I would appreciate any insight or advice from those who have been in a similar situation.