What a bummer.. Wait time to start NS?

RN BSN 2009 · Mar 7, 2007

One semester isn't too bad... It leaves you some time to get prepared... have you taken microbiology yet? if that is a requirement in your program... or maybe a medical terminology class... or see if you can take a class early (like pathophysiology or pharmacology) so that you don't feel overwhelmed once you're in the program. Good luck!

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 7, 2007

I had to wait an extra semester to be accepted. I have not taken A&P 1 for a year now and I still remember A LOT of the information. I worked hard in both A&P 1 and 2 so the information is easy for me to recall from memory. When there is information I do not remember, I quickly refresh my memory. So, do not worry unless you passed A&P by the skin of your teeth.

Danish, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 7, 2007

Take advantage and rest up:) I was told I had to wait at least 4 semesters after completing my prereqs for BSN with a 3.86 GPA...I gave up and started an LPN program....that might be an option if you are too eager to wait.

Good luck either way!

norcalRNstudent · Mar 7, 2007

count your blessings, i waited 3 semesters, and was considered lucky. the wait list at my cc is now approaching 3 years, despite expanding the program. and yes, a&p (seperate classes), micro, and english are pre-reqs. in our last semester of nursing school, i'm realizing that i took anatomy in the spring of '03, which was quite a while ago. you'll remember the important stuff, no nurse really needs to know exactly where the perroneous muscle is, and if she did, she'd look it up!

WDWpixieRN, RN · Mar 7, 2007

It was over 2 years since I first took A & P I (with chem, microbiology, etc. after that) until I started school....I didn't have a terrific grasp of a lot of the material to begin with, but a lot of it is quickly reviewed while you're in school (and in the books) and you'll most likely catch up pretty quickly....take other coreqs as mentioned above if you don't have your other sciences, history, English, etc., done as that's killing some of my classmates who didn't have those done...take a medical terminology course, pharmacology (there were some great websites posted around here on allnurses somewhere), or just relax and enjoy the time until you start...once you do, you'll be busy and miss this time!!

Kiringat · Mar 8, 2007

I waited for 2 and a half years after finishing pre-reqs and applying. Worked a crappy retail job the entire time. Looking back, I REALLY should have gotten my CNA or something.

IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Mar 8, 2007

1 semester wait is nothing. I know people around here at the local CC who are just waiting and have no idea when they will finally get to do clinicals. They are accepted but just wait and in the meantime have to take a set number of credits every semester even after the pre-reqs are done. So the college continues to make money off the students EVERY semester while they wait for their clinical spot to open.

I applied end of 2003 and started August/September 2005. That I thought was a pretty reasonable wait.

luvs2readlotsRN · Mar 9, 2007

I got on the waiting list Fall of 2005 and started Fall of 2006. When I first got on the list I was told it would be a two year wait. I took other required classes and classes I will eventually need for my BSN. Good Luck!

spydercadet · Mar 9, 2007

Good luck getting into the RN program, but I would definitely make sure that it’s only one semester that you’d have to wait. I taught at a junior college and while it can be one semester to wait many times it turns out to be a whole lot longer. In Illinois we have a significant shortage of available student seats. Last fall we had almost 600 applicants for 120 seats at the junior college I use to teach at. So my suggestion is to talk to the counselor at the junior college in your district, you need to make sure that you have all the information you need to make these decisions. Like being an in district student, realize that most junior colleges will give priority to the student who lives in the district over someone who lives out of the district. My other suggestion is to look into becoming a LPN first. I am biased here, so take what I say with a grain of salt; I just received the state’s approval for a LPN program I wrote and am planning to start this summer. What I have told some of the people who have expressed a desire of becoming a nurse but are not able to get into the RN program right away is to think about the LPN approach. Once you are a LPN then when you apply to the junior college you come in as a second year student and have a much better chance of getting in. What can happen, and generally does, is a certain number of students initially accepted into the RN program will fail out so that at the start of the second year the school will have empty seats that they will want to fill. What most junior colleges do to fill these seats is to admit a combination of their previous students who had failed but have gotten faculty approval to get back in and the rest of the seats will go to LPN’s wanting to get their RN. Generally the LPN will have to take a “bridge” course and then joins the second year students and finishes with them. Just something for you to think about but I can’t stress enough that you get as much information from the junior college counselor as you can. And most of all GOOD LUCK!!!