Here is my dilemma. While at CCU, I ended up really messing up, and got 3 Cs and one D, thereby lowering my GPA to below 3.0. To get that up to where CCU's Nursing school wants it would take an act of God almost literally. In addition to this problem, there is the high probability that if I do get into the Nursing program, that there would be some part of my tuition left unpaid (CCU doesn't want to increase my financial aid award letter even though I would be considered a full time student and would be eligible for it). To add to this confusion, my dad wants me to keep my options open and wants me to take the Chemistry and Nutrition courses as a non-degree seeking student. The kicker to that: I would have to pay for these classes myself as I would not be eligible for financial aid or scholarships. I digress.
I did some investigating and maybe I'm jumping the gun a little and thinking too far ahead, but I was looking at CU Denver (someone wanted me to look into the Community College of Aurora's partnership with CU Denver's Nursing school, and that program is useless and meaningless to me, as it requires too many prerequisites). From what I see, transferring in the Spring of 2012 would leave me with 10 credit hours of further prerequisites that I would have to do. Not only that, but the cost would be much less (a little over half the price), I would have more financial aid to work with, and the GPA requirement would be attainable for me. If all works well and I would only have 10 more hours of prerequisites, I would even be able to take some of my pre-med courses as well. My dad says for me to keep my horizons open, and I am doing that. By transferring to CU, I would be aiming for admittance into medical school or something higher than the BSN I would be receiving and I would be gaining more science education than I could be getting at CCU. While it is wonderful that I would be integrating my faith into medical practice, I really need to keep in mind the reality of attending CCU's Nursing school. I don't meet the minimum requirements and it would take me twice as many credit hours to attain these requirements. Really, CCU was something that going to was a dream, but completing was a fantasy. While I wasn't ready for state college a few years ago due to allowing my faith to rule me, I now have learned to put my faith aside and to work hard without allowing it to dictate my life. I do still have my faith, but I need to stop allowing it to affect me the way it does. It really separates me from those that I could be reaching.
So my dilemma is do I contradict my father, risk his disappointment and anger to go to CU or do I risk not being able to pay for Nursing school or not getting admitted due to low GPA and make my dad happy? I know that this is within my boundary, that this is a decision that I have to make, and this is one that I will not make lightly. I'm really investigating the likelihood and benefits and costs of each. I'm going to contact an admission counselor for CU soon, and I hope to get in touch with the Dean of Nursing to be able to talk about the likelihood of being accepted into CCU's school of Nursing and how heavily my GPA would weigh on it. If it's like I think and they won't budge on the GPA requirements, than indeed attending CCU is a fantasy and my best bet is to transfer to CU. If the GPA can be negotiated, then I might have a chance. However, from the way that I see it, I will most definitely make it into CU's Nursing program at the very least. This wouldn't be too bad a position, but I really need to think about some things now rather than later, or I will be caught upstream without a paddle.
