CSUEB nursing program revises interpretation of retakes
- October 22, 2010
Nursing programs across the country have been a popular track for many students aspiring to be nurses. For those students finishing pre-requisites at community colleges, it’s important to stay up to date with changes to specific programs.
California State University, East Bay (CSUEB)
The nursing department at CSUEB is currently revising how they evaluate pre-requisite retakes for their pre-licensure nursing program, especially related to chemistry and microbiology courses.
Retake Point Deductions
Retake point deductions are when schools or programs deduct points on your application for retaking courses. Since most nursing programs are impacted or really competitive, this is a way programs weed applications out and make their final selections. Some students in the past avoided retake point deductions by taking a more detailed version of a class or a higher/lower level of a class, which CSUEB’s department considered an alternate or substitute class. These courses were approved by the department and advisors confirmed with students that choosing an alternate level of a class would not earn them a retake point deduction on the application.
For example, at CSUEB, they offer a year-long inorganic/general chemistry series that meets medical school requirements: Chem 1101, 1102, 1103. They also offer a one-term chemistry course that covers similar material, in less detail: Chem 1601. A similar comparison at a community college is Chem 1A and 1B at Chabot College, and Chem 30A at Chabot.
In the past, if a student took both sets of chemistry courses within a 7 year period of time, their department would simply take the higher grade on the nursing application and NOT apply a retake point deduction, as these courses were considered alternate versions of a prerequisite course.
The only reason most students took the alternate series was to attempt to earn a higher grade and avoid the retake deduction. The same is true of microbiology classes taught at upper and lower division, such as Biol 2025 and Biol 3405 at our campus.
In re-evaluation of their review process, their department determined that the content was too similar in most science courses to NOT consider the above examples as retakes.
A student can still substitute a higher level course to meet prerequisite requirements, but if a student has taken more than one version/level of the same type of class within a 7 year period, the retake deduction will apply. Again, this is based on overall similar course content at the discretion of the department.
In consideration of students who are already applying for Fall 2011, CSUEB will evaluate recent applications with our previous method. From this point forward, CSUEB’s department’s broader interpretation of retakes, which they intend to implement for the Fall 2012 admission cycle will be in effect.
Read article: