College Algebra or Equivalent?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I'm in a bit of a bind. Due to some trying circumstances earlier in my college career I've attempted College Algebra three times, yet have not passed it (2 withdraws, one fail). Now in order for me to take it a fourth time I not only have to pay out of state fees, but I also have to file an appeal. Right now I'm focusing on getting my AA degree so that I can transfer into a BSN program at a university, and I know I can satisfy the AA requirement with Liberal Arts or Finite Math, which I can take without all the hassle. But would that be a wise choice? Does anyone know if BSN programs would accept another college level math beside College Algebra, or is taking College Algebra the safest bet? TIA :).

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Every school is different. Right now, I have to take college algebra or higher, so the algebra is safest bet, I would check with the school.

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Check with your school. I took Math Modeling - which I was told was the better option for nursing majors- Math modeling is under the umbrella of Finite Math. I did not find it easier than College Algebra. Matter of fact, I regretted taking it instead of regular ol college Algebra. Some claimed it was easier than College Algebra - NOT!! Regular Ol College Algebra would have been so much easier for me I think. Math Modeling is all word problems. Still Algebra but with all word problems. You still have to know those formulas and apply it to the word problems. The only thing that made it not so bad was that we were allowed to use graphing calculators - But not all teachers do that. Someone else that I know that took the same class at another school was not allowed to use graphing calculators.

My advice is if you struggle with math, if your school does remedial classes- Take them!!!! Thats where I started, best thing I ever did. Doesn't make sense to keep spinning your wheels with math. Start from the bottom up- you need to get back to the basics and build from there. You will still need many of those basics for any college level math course. You can't get away from it.

The schools that I have checked with in my state all take College Algebra or Math Modeling. Kinda tells you something, Math Modeling is not that "easier" if you are looking for an "easier" math course.

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Every school is different. Right now, I have to take college algebra or higher, so the algebra is safest bet, I would check with the school.

Yeah, unfortunately I agree. College Algebra is probably my safest bet :(.

Check with your school. I took Math Modeling - which I was told was the better option for nursing majors- Math modeling is under the umbrella of Finite Math. I did not find it easier than College Algebra. Matter of fact, I regretted taking it instead of regular ol college Algebra. Some claimed it was easier than College Algebra - NOT!! Regular Ol College Algebra would have been so much easier for me I think. Math Modeling is all word problems. Still Algebra but with all word problems. You still have to know those formulas and apply it to the word problems. The only thing that made it not so bad was that we were allowed to use graphing calculators - But not all teachers do that. Someone else that I know that took the same class at another school was not allowed to use graphing calculators.

My advice is if you struggle with math, if your school does remedial classes- Take them!!!! Thats where I started, best thing I ever did. Doesn't make sense to keep spinning your wheels with math. Start from the bottom up- you need to get back to the basics and build from there. You will still need many of those basics for any college level math course. You can't get away from it.

The schools that I have checked with in my state all take College Algebra or Math Modeling. Kinda tells you something, Math Modeling is not that "easier" if you are looking for an "easier" math course.

Yeah, I hear you. The problem is I'm not working with a lot of time, and my school doesn't allow me to take remedial classes because I actually scored into higher level maths on my placement exam. I've already had this discussion with them. I honestly don't feel that I'm any more challenged in math than the average person. I just wasn't taking my classes seriously at the time I did algebra. It was during my first year in school and I didn't even really know what I wanted to major in, so I did well in all the classes I thought were interesting and never applied myself to the classes I thought were challenging, especially with the circumstance I was dealing with at the time. Now I know what I want to do for a living and I'm determined to get it accomplished, but I have that nasty track record holding me back a bit. Thanks for all of your advice. I'm sure I'll figure something out.

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My ADN program does not require College Algebra, or I tested out of it. You have to be at college level math otherwise you have to take "developmental" math courses.

I have to take Intermediate College Algebra and Statistics 1 for the BSN program.

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I'm in a bit of a bind. Due to some trying circumstances earlier in my college career I've attempted College Algebra three times, yet have not passed it (2 withdraws, one fail). Now in order for me to take it a fourth time I not only have to pay out of state fees, but I also have to file an appeal. Right now I'm focusing on getting my AA degree so that I can transfer into a BSN program at a university, and I know I can satisfy the AA requirement with Liberal Arts or Finite Math, which I can take without all the hassle. But would that be a wise choice? Does anyone know if BSN programs would accept another college level math beside College Algebra, or is taking College Algebra the safest bet? TIA smile.gif.

I would definately check with the school you will be applying to as every school is different. For the BSN program I will be starting this fall I had to have both College Algebra and Statistics. I too had to take college algebra two times..the first time I dropped was because the teacher sucked and didn't give any of us chance to ask questions..I dropped it before the end of the semester so i didnt have the "F" on my transcripts...the 2nd teacher was actually a "student teacher" and was wonderful..gave us lots of extra credit. LOL. You can do it though...have faith in yourself and look toward your goal to becoming an RN. Good luck in all of you endeavors!!:)

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Specializes in School Nursing.

I took College Math for Liberal arts for my AA which is the required math course for 2 of the 4 BSN schools I want to apply for. (One calls it Critical Thinking Math and the other Quantitative Math). The other two only require statistics as your math credit. Oddly enough, a couple of the ADN programs I've looked into (in the houston/galveston area there are tons) actually do require college level algebra.

Check your transfer guide. I won't take College Algebra unless I am forced to. (W once and F once)

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I would definately check with the school you will be applying to as every school is different. For the BSN program I will be starting this fall I had to have both College Algebra and Statistics. I too had to take college algebra two times..the first time I dropped was because the teacher sucked and didn't give any of us chance to ask questions..I dropped it before the end of the semester so i didnt have the "F" on my transcripts...the 2nd teacher was actually a "student teacher" and was wonderful..gave us lots of extra credit. LOL. You can do it though...have faith in yourself and look toward your goal to becoming an RN. Good luck in all of you endeavors!!:)

Thank you for your positivity and encouragement :D.

I took College Math for Liberal arts for my AA which is the required math course for 2 of the 4 BSN schools I want to apply for. (One calls it Critical Thinking Math and the other Quantitative Math). The other two only require statistics as your math credit. Oddly enough, a couple of the ADN programs I've looked into (in the houston/galveston area there are tons) actually do require college level algebra.

Check your transfer guide. I won't take College Algebra unless I am forced to. (W once and F once)

I guess that's the dilemma. I haven't exactly decided what school I'm going to go to yet :uhoh3:. I was focusing on finishing my AA degree requirements and I've been looking at various schools in the meantime. Currently Nova Southeastern and South university seem appealing to me, but there are a lot of other schools to choose from. I guess I better make a decision soon. I'm going to put off taking College Algebra (or another math if I can get away with it) until Spring. In the meantime I willl be taking Statistics in fall, along With A&P2 lecture and lab. Then Spring will be my last semester of undergraduate studies, which will consist of MCB lecture and lab and my other math requirement.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Clinical Documentation Specialist.

I had to take college algebra and stats. I tested into the college algebra class, but had no idea how I did it, it had been 20 years since I took any sort of math. I took the class online and was overwhelmed when class started. However, I did some searching and came up with the site yourteacher.com. It REALLY helped me. It only went so high, meaning it didn't cover much of the college algebra class itself, but it helped on the basics I had forgotten. I got an A in the class.

Also, my daughter needed to test into the same algebra class but hadn't taken much algebra in HS yet. SO, she used the same site and did their classes Algebra 1 & half of Algebra 2 in about 6 weeks. She got the highest algebra accuplacer score in her school. She will be taking the same college algebra class I did, this fall.

The site is a pay one, but I can't recommend it highly enough. The site has videos, problems they walk you through, practice stuff and notes. I don't pay for sites, but I made an exception in this one and was glad I did. They have videos on youtube if you want to see what they are like. Another resource is khanacademy.org, and its free. I only found this one after I had finished my class.

BTW, since the CC online school is in my state they allow you to use the CC math lab. I only found this out AFTER the class was over, but don't disregard those lab times if you need it.... and they are free to students.

Good luck! Algebra is just evil and it was my most hated class, but if you use resources on the net and from the school, you can always find extra help.

~SD

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After talking with my school about my options, I've decided that I'm going to take the College Algebra Clep Test. I won't have to go through an appeal process to take the test, and should I fail the test it wouldn't count as a course attempt so I could always take the course again at my school after I appeal it. But, I'm going to study hard for at least a month and try not to fail. I bought the book College Algebra Demystified and I most likely will also purchase the Clep College Algebra Practice Book (Bidding for it on ebay. Won't find out if I win or not until tomorrow :)). If I don't win I'll just buy from another online website. I saw a site that had it for cheap.

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Sounds like a good idea to me. Good luck on the test.

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Sounds like a good idea to me. Good luck on the test.

Thank you! I'm definitely going to need it :uhoh3:.

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