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by CaitRN2be

From all of you wonderful, seasoned nurses! A little background.. I was more then 1/2 way through my BA in Elementary Education when I decided to throw caution to the wind and do what I TRULY want to do!

Here is my predicament... My husband, kids and I currently live overseas in Japan, and will for the next 12 months. My husband is in the Air Force.
There are a few colleges here where I could complete my prerequisites so that I am prepared to apply for Nursing School. The thing is... we will not get our orders until Jan./Feb. time frame. My plan was to research colleges around our next base the second we get those orders, and start applying for the Fall 2008 semester (to colleges whom are still accepting apps., that is.) So basically..I have to complete the pre-req's without having any clue in the world what college I may be applying for. We could literally get sent to about 35 different states..and have no idea which one it might be. Researching online I have realized that a lot of different colleges require different pre-req's...
I guess what I'm asking is.. I'd like to hear different people's opinions on what you think I should take to ensure I'd be in good standing to apply at most nursing schools. Thanks so much for your time. Also, I'm sorry if this is in the wrong area... very new to this!!

[GingerSue]

Re: Would love some advice!

would anatomy and physiology be suitable?

[Kat0430]

Re: Would love some advice!

I think the most basic pre-requisites are usually A&P I&II with labs, microbiology, general chemistry and human growth and development. If you have these, you should be sitting pretty nicely. I am assuming you already have things like English Comp, General Psych and such from your previous classes for your BA in Childhood education. Considering how tough A&P, Microbio and Gen Chem can be, these are best taken prior to entrance into a program regardless of if they are "required". I have many classmates who are taking A&P in conjunction with our nursing classes and they have a much harder time (and certainly NO life outside school). Good luck and congratulations for taking the leap and following your heart!

[sam027000]

Re: Would love some advice!

I'd think you'd be safe taking Anatomy & Physiology and Microbiology. There are a number of other courses that most schools require, but you'd need to look into the specific school. That's going to be hard b/c of your situation. My school's prereqs were A & P 1 & 2, Micro, Chem, Psychology, Human Growth & Dev, Sociology, Statistics, and Intro to Computers. Those courses were in addition to the University core requirements like english, history, government, art, algebra, etc. I opted for a BSN program, but I think a lot of the prereqs may be the same for ADN programs, although I bet they will require less core classes.

Good Luck to you!!

[Mommy TeleRN]

Re: Would love some advice!

Are you planning on an ADN or BSN program? If ADN then many only require A&P I/II for sciences..if BSN then you will most definitely need Micro and "maybe" Chem (In my area chem isn't required, I have it anyway because I was like you..had no idea what school I was applying to)

Other gen ed you probably already have: Humanities, Speech, English Comp I, General Psychology, also a Growth & Development Psych class...those are pretty much for sure gonna be givens... If you are going for a BSN then one-two history classes and a lit class and another humanities. Again you may already have most of this.

[crissrn27]

Re: Would love some advice!

For my ADN I had to have A and P I and II, micro, and chem. So for ADN or BSN I would feel "safe" taking these. Also, a lot of places are offering a math for nurses as a separate class, even if that didn't transfer, it sure would come in handy!

[CaitRN2be]

Re: Would love some advice!

Thank you everyone! I'm going to research this a little more.
Also, I forgot to mention I will be going for my ADN, not BSN. So if more people could respond who got an ADN I would appreciate it so much, thank you!

[fultzymom]

Re: Would love some advice!

I would say start with the basic classes required for the majority of the colleges. Your A&P, Pathiophysiology, biologies, ect that way you have them out of the way et you know they are required for nursing.

[traumaRUs]

Re: Would love some advice!

Hi there! Fellow military wife here. Our first assignment (I was active duty USN) was at Yokota in 1979 (I know I'm old - lol). We got married at the chapel and had our first son there too - loved it.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand - I was in the same boat - wanted to get pre-reqs out of the way. I'm going to give a little bit different advice - finish your bachelors degree in ANYTHING now. Than...apply once you get stateside to an accelerated program.

Don't take your pre-reqs overseas because it is not worth the effort. I had to repeat too many classes. Believe me, micro and A&P must be taken with a lab and usually must be fairly recent too.

If you have a bachelors degree in anything, (even gen ed), you can then apply for an accelerated program and go from there.

Good luck.

[CaitRN2be]

Re: Would love some advice!

Thanks all!!
TraumaRus-
We have a friend at Yokota!
I don't have any problems getting the pre-req's done. We have two colleges on our base, Central Texas college and University of Maryland. Both are regionally accredited and offer all the classes I'll need including A&P I&II w/ lab. I just don't want to end up going overboard and taking a bunch of classes that won't be required for admission.