New to college and don't understand

First of all, take a deep breath and relax! This is not that hard to deal with. The counselor was telling you to get going with your registration because you want to get your prereqs done so you can apply to the nursing program. You will see just how hard this is. My physio instructor said he was watching registration one time and his class filled in less than ten minutes on the first day. You would have to take classes to remain in school if you don't get registered in prereqs. There are other classes, like US History, that you will need to get your degree. They have nothing to do with nursing.

You will do most of your study at home. How long it takes depends on your study habits, how much time you have available, and how long it takes you to master the material. You will see that your school schedule is way different from high school. You won't be attending from 8 to 3 M-F, most likely. Your anatomy class may meet for four hours a day on M and Wednesday. Your psych class could meet for three hours once a week on Thurs night from 6 to 9 pm. Look at the schedule of classes online to see when the classes meet. You can also go to the bookstore on campus and buy a copy of the class schedule.

All those nursing classes are the actual nursing program. Don't know why they were listed with the others. Any other questions, feel free to ask here.

Congratulations!
Each semester, you have to have 12-15 credit hours to be considered a "full time" student. The problem is, there are only a limited number of classes available each semester, and other students who register early fill them up. Then you would be stuck taking other classes to maintain a "full time" status. Don't worry, each and every class makes you a better person.

The other thing is that, depending on which combination of courses, your schedule each semester will be different. I've had classes 8-9 in the morning, then a 4 hour break, then another class at 2-3. Not the best schedule, but if you register late, you have to take what you can.

Those listed seem a little heavy (humanities). Some schools will only require micro, anat, phys, English before applying. Others will also require psych, maybe soc. Each school is different in what they require before you apply. Some will want all prereqs done before the application, others will allow some corequisites to be taken at the same time as nursing classes. You will find it easier on yourself if you take as much as possible prior to nursing courses. Required for me: Micro, physiology, anatomy, English 101, Biology (prerequisite to anatomy), math prior to applying. Psych, developmental psych, sociology (or humanities), speech to be taken with nursing courses. Like I said, each school has their own requirements and their own sequence of doing them. You should go to the school's website and look for the schedule of classes online before you make a trip to the school.

Here is a list of all the classes I took before applying to the nursing program. Even though I can do Microbiology, Psych, Sociology, Life-Span, a "humanities/fine arts elective", and English 103 during the nursing course, I have gotten all but the english out of the way already so I am not bogged down by those classes. Here are the classes:

Intermediate algebra (I also had to take Intro to algebra 1st because I tested low in math placement)
English Comp 101
Principles of Sociology
Psychology (general/101)
History of American Music (my fine arts elective)
Life-Span Development (I am doing this now)
Introduction to Software Applications (I HAD to do this computer class as a prerequisite for the RN program!!)
General Biology
Concepts of Chemistry
Anatomy & Physiology I
Anatomy & Physiology II
Microbiology

Now all I have to get done is 1 more English class before next fall (2010). I plan to do that next summer in between nursing semesters. I hope this helps you! Not all colleges are exactly the same, but this will give you an idea. I am sure I will have to do other things (like History) once I continue from my Associates to a Bachelors.

The best way I can explain it is that in order to do well in the actual nursing classes, the school feels that you need to have a solid background knowledge of several things including math, science (specifically Bio, A&P and Micro), and English (for all those papers you'll be writing) and so on. So they have you take these classes before you enter into the program.

It can also be used as a way to weed out some applicants since nursing programs are competitive admissions. So if you do poorly in A&P and your other science classes they feel you wouldn't do very well in the actual nursing classes because those classes build on that previous knowledge.

hth

Talk to your advisor, ask your advisor these questions, that's what they are there for, to advise!!