[Maria895]

Hi everyone! I will be transferring to the University of Detroit Mercy this Fall, and I will have a full slate of pre-requisite classes - some classes I hear are really hard to be exact.
The thing is I have to take all of these classes in order to be ready to apply to the actual Nursing Program at UDM for the Fall of 2009 (they don't accept students at any other time of the year). Since Fall of 2009 is the last year that students within the school will get preference over students with 4.0s from community colleges, its critical that I get in for the Fall of 2009 (I have a 3.93 but with hard classes that could easily go down). So now that I've explained why I have to take all of these hard classes in one quarter (I have to have finished ALL my preqs by Fall of 09) here is my schedule for this coming Fall:

Organic/Bio Chemistry (I heard its hard and I'm already having a hard time w/ Chem 101)
Anatomy and Physiology 1 (covering the anatomy aspect) - another class thats hard
A&P lab
Sociology 101
A easy computer course

My question is this: Do you think taking Organic/Bio Chem. with A&P 1 is crazy? Will it be too hard to get a good grade (getting a good grade is essential of course)? I've done well in Psychology so I'm not as worried about Soc. but at the same time everything requires alot of study time to do well. Do you think I'm in over my head? Thanks and sorry about the long winded post!

[Hopefull2009]

OH yeah...taking AP and Organic is not something I would do.

Anatomy, even if taking alone, without anything else, is going to suck up your time like you wouldn't believe...you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there.

It's a HUGE mistake to take both.

[Gauge]

I think it's doable. I took A&P 2 and Chemistry together not too long ago. I know its not Organic, but it is a Chem anyways. I'd say go for it, but thats just me, as long as you're determined you can do it. I just finished my 1st of 3 years of my BSN program so you'll get there!

[carlyfry]

Its doable as long as you bring your A game. Do not get behind and study your tail off and you should be fine. Also, make sure to find some other students to study with.

[lizmatt]

Do you work full-time or have other obligations? It is a hard schedule, but if that is all you have to do it should be possible.

[elkpark]

My nursing program, which was one of those that had no prerequisites but had the courses built in to the nursing curriculum, required that we take A&P (two semesters) and organic chemistry (two semesters) at the same time, plus intro to psych (one semester) and intro to soc (the other semester of the same year), plus our nursing fundamentals courses (both semesters) -- we didn't have a choice. It sure wasn't easy, but we all did fine.

[NYDreamer]

I just finished a semester of organic/biochem, Physiology, and Micro. It can be done. I try not to let other people discourage me by telling me a class is hard. Many people told me that Physiology was much harder than Anatamy. Well, I found it to be much easier.

Just keep up with your reading/studying, and remember what your goal is, to become a nurse.

[spring05]

Look at it this way, if you can successfully pull off both classes in one semester, then you will do fine in the nursing program itself.

Sociology and a computer class will be easy. Taking two difficult classes is always a challenge but if you have a 3.9 GPA then you are obviously already smart. Just don't second guess yourself. Keep you nose in the books and don't get too distracted. You'll do great.

[Maria895]

Thank you everyone for the great feedback!! Hearing positive encouragement like that has lifted my spirits (Chem. was getting me down), so thanks everybody! I SO want to get into nursing school (I'm even leaving my home state for the first time ever just because I might get into this program) and I've worked so hard thus far. I think that if I really work hard like everyone says I can do it! ....I just better! And like everyone says, this will prepare me for the rigors of nursing school.

[Parade]

I think it's going to depend on a lot of things.

We all learn and study differently; what is difficult for some may come as second-nature to others. A lot of it comes down to what your own personal aptitudes and weaknesses are. (We all have weaknesses, it's definitely nothing to be ashamed of!)

Do you have other obligations? Work, family, children?

What is your support system like? Do you have people you can turn to for help when you need it? Are you comfortable talking to your professors if/when you run into trouble?

What kind of learner are you? Visual? Audial? Do you learn by reading, seeing, or doing? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to accommodate your own personal learning pattern, even if it means taking the extra time to make graphs or charts, record and listen to lectures, etc?

Like others have said, it will be difficult, but if your head and your heart are in the right place, you can push through it and come out successful and with a high GPA to show for it!