Anyone ever tried to get into a 2nd degree bsn program with a "Big 3" bachelors?

[walternc3]

I recently finished taking 24 exams (DSST,CLEP,TECEP) and accumulated 84 semester hours so with my other classes I'm at 102 semester hours total and hopefully on schedule to graduate from TESC in June 2013. After seeing how easy it is to complete a bachelors through a big 3 school I started thinking about another one of my dreams, becoming an RN. I'm 37 and I previously thought it would be too much of a hassle too late in the game but now I'm seriously considering it. I'm seeing online that there are a lot of "2nd degree BSN" or "Accelerated BSN" for people who already have a bachelors allowing them to get a BSN in an average of 15 additional months. If I save my money I can realistically shell out 30 to 40 thousand for one of these programs (will take a few years of saving though).

The problem of course is now the GPA issue comes into play. I tested out of everything and you guys know Excelsior doesn't give letter grades for CLEP anymore and only grades for 4 of the DSST's I took. TESC is just pass/fail for all exams or any courses not taken at their school. So I'm seeing all these BSN programs are all MINIMUM 3.0 on ALL coursework to get accepted. So there's the rub. I only plan on taking one or two courses through TESC because of the excessive cost per unit and the rest I'm transferring in. These nursing programs (I think) will look at my transcript and it will be a dealbreaker because my gpa will be based on one or two courses. I guess I could go through Excelsior and basically do all those exams over again as ECE's.

I'm wondering if anyone has overcome this situation and how the heck they got around it or knows an alternate path to nursing. Has anyone ever heard of a way to get a university to give a letter grade for a clep, and then put it on a transcript which I could then send to Excelsior, thus circumventing the issue?

Thanks

[vanglorious]

I'm sure your overall gpa will be taken into account but most nursing programs are focused on the gpa of the prereqs. I don't know of any BSN programs that do not require prerequisites but they may exist. I'd contact the schools you're interested in to find out their specific selection criteria. You may want to take the prereqs on campus somewhere because many schools frown upon taking foundation courses such as anatomy and physiology online - lab or not.

[walternc3]

I think you've got a good point there. I guess they'd care more about the gpa on the prerequisites. The other factor being that if you're willing to shell out a boatload of money you can likely slide into a private school. I sure hope life really does begin at 40. Hahaha

[cookderosa]

I recently finished taking 24 exams (DSST,CLEP,TECEP) and accumulated 84 semester hours so with my other classes I'm at 102 semester hours total and hopefully on schedule to graduate from TESC in June 2013. After seeing how easy it is to complete a bachelors through a big 3 school I started thinking about another one of my dreams, becoming an RN. I'm 37 and I previously thought it would be too much of a hassle too late in the game but now I'm seriously considering it. I'm seeing online that there are a lot of "2nd degree BSN" or "Accelerated BSN" for people who already have a bachelors allowing them to get a BSN in an average of 15 additional months. If I save my money I can realistically shell out 30 to 40 thousand for one of these programs (will take a few years of saving though).

The problem of course is now the GPA issue comes into play. I tested out of everything and you guys know Excelsior doesn't give letter grades for CLEP anymore and only grades for 4 of the DSST's I took. TESC is just pass/fail for all exams or any courses not taken at their school. So I'm seeing all these BSN programs are all MINIMUM 3.0 on ALL coursework to get accepted. So there's the rub. I only plan on taking one or two courses through TESC because of the excessive cost per unit and the rest I'm transferring in. These nursing programs (I think) will look at my transcript and it will be a dealbreaker because my gpa will be based on one or two courses. I guess I could go through Excelsior and basically do all those exams over again as ECE's.

I'm wondering if anyone has overcome this situation and how the heck they got around it or knows an alternate path to nursing. Has anyone ever heard of a way to get a university to give a letter grade for a clep, and then put it on a transcript which I could then send to Excelsior, thus circumventing the issue?

Thanks

Yes this is an incredible way to speed up the process and save a ton of money, only I didn't do it the way you did. I took classes for all the prereqs/sciences after I graduated. Had I knew ahead about the path, I would have taken the classes inside my degree and still saved a ton. Go back and take the prereqs for letter grades. You can do it online if you need flexibility, or do it at your local CC if you need to be affordable.

Health programs have lines of applicants, so short of a significant exception, you need to meet and exceed the admissions requirements. I was accepted into all the nursing programs I'd applied to.