what do I do if I can't get into nursing school?

Question

For army reserves, can they put me through nursing RN program? How long does it take? Do you have possibility of staying stateside while in school? or maybe get shipped overseas while still training? Any other ideas besides Army Reserves if you miss GPA 3.0 for sciences (have 2.7) to do it through secular school?

Answer 1

The Army Reserves manage the education of Registered Nurses through the ROTC programs at the colleges and universities in your area. If you are in the reserves you have many education benefits available to you some of which are as follows:

Many Army Reserve units now offer the innovative ECS program, which lets you finish college without interruption. ECS allows deferment from mobilization and deployment — giving you an uninterrupted path to your college degree. Now you can pursue your goal of completing college with the peace of mind that you won't be deployed. You will still be able to take advantage of the Army Reserve's valuable training and benefits.

If you'd like to take college courses while you're in the Army Reserve,they will help you pay for them. Available for approved courses, tuition assistance covers 100% of course costs up to $250 per credit hour. Up to $4,500 per academic year

Army ROTC Cadets gain practical experience in management and problem solving while training to become Army Officers. Scholarships pay up to $17,000 per year for college.

The Army Reserve wants you to take advantage of your educational benefits. In the Concurrent Admissions Program (ConAP), the reserves partner with over 1,800 colleges and universities to make it easy for you to get into college and start earning credit.

If you are active duty as an enlisted soldier and have the prerequisites for a bachelors of science in nursing program completed, you may consider the following:

If you're an Army, Active Duty Enlisted Soldier in any MOS, you may qualify for the Army Medical Department's Enlisted Commissioning Program (AECP). You will attend college as a full-time student while on Active Duty to complete a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Tuition and fees cannot exceed $9,000 per year. Upon successful completion of the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) you will be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant with a three year additional service obligation and attend the AMEDD Officer Basic Course in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Eligibility requirements are:

Qualify for an Active Duty Regular Army appointment as an Officer in the Nurse Corps by meeting all of the following conditions:
Meet the prescribed medical and moral standards for appointment as a commissioned Officer
Be a United States Citizen
Be 21-46 years of age (exceptions may be granted to prior service applicants)
Have a minimum of three years (waiverable) and a maximum of 10 years (waiverable) of active federal service at the time of commissioning.
Be able to complete your degree requirements within 24 calendar months of enrollment in the AECP program
You'll receive full pay and allowances and remain eligible for promotion while enrolled in the AECP program. In addition to full pay and allowances, the Army will pay $1000 per year for books and no more than $9000 per year for tuition and mandatory fees.

The active duty US Army Nurse Corps only has BSN nurse graduates (including reserve officers on extended active duty). The reserves do have ADN graduates as nurses, but nurses in the reserves are encouraged to complete their BSN.

Additionally, the active duty ANC sends almost 100 officers a year to school for graduate school (masters and doctorate degrees).

The military, does not have an RN program of it's own. The US Army had a program in the past called the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing (WRAIN).

The WRAIN Program, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, was established on 1 May, 1964, as a class II activity under the jurisdiction of the Surgeon General in cooperation with the University of Maryland School of Nursing, with the academic aspects of the program under the jurisdiction of the university. The program initially provided financial assistance to 135 qualified high school graduates who desired to complete a four-year program in nursing. Upon completion of the program, a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing was conferred by the University of Maryland. Following state licensure, participants were commissioned as second lieutenants (initially; later as first lieutenants) in the US Army Reserve and were obligated to serve on active duty for three years. In April 1975, it was announced that recruitment for the program was suspended pending a Department of Defense study of the program. WRAIN officially closed on 30 June 1978. A total of 1,219 students graduated from the program. The graduates of the program were commonly known in the ANC as "WRAIN Drops".

Answer 2

Grades need to be as high as possible, nursing school is very competitive. If you're not getting all A's (or at least very few Bs) you probably don't want to waste your time applying. But grades aren't all a college cares about. I hope you have extracurricular activities like band/choir/theatre, maybe honor society or key club or Spanish club, and some community service couldn't hurt. Especially working with kids would be good, since you want to go into pediatrics. Maybe you should go to a hospital and offer to candy stripe, or try to get a part time job working at one? This always looks good to a college admissions office.

Answer 3

a regular nursing program can take from 2-4 years, depends on the type of nurse and the school

Answer 4

If you can't manage to get a good GPA (over 3.4) then you shouldn't be in Nursing school in the first place. Medical school has high standards for admission, and so should Nursing. You either need to work harder, or realize that Nursing school is beyond your skill level.

Jozelle, RN, LCSW

Answer 5

You can definetely get into a regular nursing school with a 2.7. Mine requires a 2.74 to get accepted!