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Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Specializes in ICU.

Hi everyone!

This post is not really a question but a statement of shock about how hard a pre-req can be. Currently, I am taking Inorganic chemistry to get into the accelerated nursing program in my area. At the beginning of the semester in January, we started with a standing only room class of about 50 people. Now, we are less than a month away from the end of the semester and there are only about 20 people left in the class.The last drop day was yesterday so we may down a few more people. I am in shock about chemistry weeded so many students out.

Has that ever happened to anyone? You start with a huge class only for it to trickle down to a few?

Specializes in Psychiatry.

Yep, my A&P I class was so full there weren't enough seats for everyone. Now with 2 weeks left, there's maybe 10-15 people left in the class out of 46 or so.

I remember in my Anatomy class, we started off with about 35 students plus about a 100 students trying to petition into the class during the first week, at the end we had about 12 students left! Nursing Pre-reqs are not for the faint of heart, nor is nursing school though!

a less physical version of the Navy seals or Ranger school.. LOL

Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

Yep, my Pharmacology class last semester. Started with 50 and ended up with 17 left by the end. Most people failed out on medication math. It was the hardest earned A I've ever had!

My chemistry class I took a year ago started out with 150 and ended with 72

Specializes in Oncology, Critical Care.

My nursing program started with 90 and we were down to about 60 at the end of the semester. Only 46 moved on to the next semester. Many people aren't prepared for nursing school. Inorganic chem probably does the same thing, since it's a difficult class.

My A&P II class started off with 36 people. 10 challenged it and tested out. 2 transferred to another class. About 10 people dropped. So we have about 14 people in the class now, but only 10-12 show up on any given day.

Wow, interesting to see how many people don't make it through the prereq classes... I am on a wait list for Anatomy for this summer, I am going to be bummed if I don't get in and then people end up dropping out!!

When I took chemistry at my university I struggled to keep a C. My class was taught by a research professor who was brilliant, but notorious for failing his students. In the end, only about 40% of the entire class had a passing grade or higher. A few years later I heard he was put on probation for failing too many students.

My friend who was in Anatomy class with me kept failing each exam and had to drop. He retook the class the following semester and is earning an A+, apparently because the teacher is much better.

I also think some classes are just innately more challenging than others. Then there are other variables such as the professor and how prepared most students are at that particular school.

Microbiology was the ONLY pre-req I took where the class ended with nearly full attendance (I think only 1 dropped). In all other classes, at least half were gone by the last drop date. That was true in all of my general ed courses as well and I just chalked it up to "normal" college behavior --- at least for the classes in which you have the option to repeat.

Specializes in Emergency Department.

Aside from all of the knowledge necessary, the core prerequisites for nursing school are hard for a reason: they serve as weeder courses to filter out those students that are/will be unable to handle the rigor of nursing school, from an academic standpoint. It kind of is unfortunate, but that's one way that they're able to ensure that only the students that are known to handle rigorous coursework make it into, and are likely to get through, nursing school... successfully.

We lost a third of our Microbiology class. The professor was very difficult. Over half the class failed the first exam. I'm in Organic Chem now and find it difficult but holding a B. It's my last pre-req!

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