How to Calculate an Accelerated Nursing (ABSN) Prerequisite GPA

The Career Pivot

You graduated four years ago with a Bachelor's degree in Marketing. You have a 2.8 Cumulative GPA.

You hate the corporate world, and you decide you want to become a Registered Nurse (RN). Because you already have a Bachelor's degree, you do not need to go back for four years. You can apply to an ABSN (Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing) program.

These programs are brutal (cramming a 4-year nursing degree into 12 to 16 months), but they are incredibly efficient.

You look at the admissions page. The ABSN program requires a minimum 3.0 GPA. Because your old Marketing degree is a 2.8, you assume you are disqualified.

You are not. You just need to calculate your Prerequisite GPA.

The ABSN Prerequisite Filter

Most ABSN programs know that a Marketing degree from four years ago has nothing to do with your ability to be a nurse today.

Therefore, many programs explicitly state: "We require a minimum 3.0 GPA in the specific nursing prerequisite courses."

To apply to an ABSN, you must take 6 to 8 hard science prerequisites:

Anatomy and Physiology I & II (with labs)

Microbiology (with lab)

Chemistry

Developmental Psychology

Statistics

Nutrition

The Clean Slate

If you enroll in a local community college and take these 6 classes over the next year, earning straight 'A's, your Prerequisite GPA is a 4.0.

When you apply to the ABSN program, the admissions committee will see the 2.8 from your Marketing degree, but they will heavily weigh the 4.0 Prerequisite GPA. Because you proved you can handle rigorous medical sciences now, they will often admit you, completely bypassing the 3.0 cumulative cutoff.

If you are pivoting to nursing, your past grades do not matter. The only thing that matters is how you perform in Anatomy and Microbiology.