Nikon D5100 External Mics, audio static issue

[Filmdudefilm]

I tried to use my d5100 for a class project but as we all know the internal audio is horribad, so I sought out on how to get better audio and thats where I'm having issues. My professor lent me her personal and very much professional mic ( I forget the name of the mic but it was expensive as she stressed the importance of taking care of it) that connects to XLR, however, she also lent me a XLR to mini converter which is how I connected to my D5100. My internal mic works, but with the external mic, when I played back the video all I heard was static. The same mic worked well for her big camcorder. We thought the problem was that the mic required too much energy and that my dslr couldn't produce it. So we then used a much smaller external mic (forgot the name) and we could barely hear the audio but the static was still the majority of the noise. I believe my temporary solution was a separate sound system that she let me borrow. So time passed, and now I purchased a Rode video mic pro, and that I know is configurable with the camera. I was stoked to use it and to my surprise the the same problem is there, that all I hear on the play back is static. I am no camera technician, but I know a thing or two about general trouble shooting to assume that the problem isn't the external mic's but it's the camera. Also, this is just a hunch but if the internal mic is working then the problem might be the mini jack. I don't know if its a simple clean I have to do, or a replacement.
Also, I tried changing the settings on the camera and nothing. I don't know what to do =(. I bought the camera about less than about a year ago but I never used it much.
Thanks in advance to whoever is reading this and might be able to help.