Still Frustrated with Pre-requisites. I'm sorry guys, please help me.

Students Pre-Nursing

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Okay, so I started a thread a little while back on my frustrations with community colleges needing pre-reqs before I am allowed to take the pre-reqs I need for nursing school. As a few of you so wisely suggested :bow:, I having been "shopping" around for community colleges, looking to see which ones require less pre-reqs or who allow students without the pre-reqs into the classes with instructor permission.

Newest road block: I e-mailed a lot of instructors at a couple different colleges today and many of them told me the same thing: the classes fill up fast and priority is given to students with more credits. Ummmm...how am I supposed to get "more credits" from their school if I just need to take 3 classes and they won't let me in?! I don't want to take classes I don't need just to give me more credits so I can actually register for the ones I do need!

Has anyone else had this problem? If so, what did you do? I explained that I was applying to nurisng school and only needed a few classes and this was still the response. Please correct me if I am ignorant here, but I really thought you could just..."take" the classes you needed at a community college as long as you signed up early enough....

Please help me, I am very frustrated! :banghead:

Specializes in Public Health.

the same way everybody else does....you sign up as soon as possible and if you dont get it you wait til the purge date and try again....when they say that they mean the closer you are to a degree the earlier you get to pick your classes. it makes sense though...how would you feel if you were one class away from graduating but you had to wait a semester or two because someone else took the class you needed?

before you do anything though you need to pick a school so that you can be ready to register. remember its a marathon...not a sprint.

Sarah812

39 Posts

Yep, I guess you have to wait or go on a waitlist. My school has different dates to register for classes for everyone. First it's the returning students, then the newly accepted students, the non program students, then a open registration. Fustrating, I know. I had the same thing happen to me once. I just had to wait for an openening. I had to watch the class I wanted, then wait for someone to drop right before the class starts. That doesn't happen too often. It does help to pick a school (as slinkyhead said) because then you would have a higher chance of getting what you need. Sorry I can't of more help.

Good luck!

LellyNurse

2 Posts

A lot of times people drop out of classes within the first two weeks of class. You can email the instructors of the classes you want to be in (if you absolutely cannot get in) and ask if you can sit in. Then, if someone does drop, you won't be behind and will probably get priority. I haven't done this myself although I may have to. I understand your frustrations. It seems as if nothing can be easy at a community college but you get what you pay for!

UVA Grad Nursing

1,068 Posts

Most schools give priority to their own degree students before non-students who want to take classes as electives. This is similar to a 4-year school letting rising seniors sign up for classes ahead of rising sophomores. The same holds for community colleges.

So a community college would give priority in registration to a returning student with more academic credits under his/her belt than someone who is not enrolled yet.

AJPV

366 Posts

I would keep looking to find a community college that meets your needs - even if you have to commute or possibly move. It sounds like this school has not increased its resources to keep up with the demand. There are better options out there - you may need to look a bit more. My community college has 5 campuses around our metro area. Yes, admission to the nursing program was competitive, but there was no problem finding openings in pre-req classes (A&P, chemistry, psych, etc.) And our tuition was only $80/credit. You might also look into doing some pre-reqs online from other community colleges or public 4-year universities. Some of these classes can be taken fully online, so you could do them at a community college thousands of miles away (which also enables you to shop for cheap tuition, read reviews about the quality of online classes, etc.) Just be sure to check with the nursing program you're trying to get into as to whether they will accept transfer classes for the pre-reqs and what their specific requirements are for these pre-reqs to qualify. Whatever you do, don't fall for the trap of the scam for-profit schools like U of Phoenix, DeVry, ITT Tech, Brown Mackie, Concord Career College, National American University, etc.

Our community college also lets you register according to how many credits you've earned there. Those with the most credits register first, then a few days later, the next group is allowed, etc etc. When I first started, there were many classes that were full by the time I was able to register. I've been there; I know it's frustrating!

sweetie_pie

51 Posts

Thank you for your responses! I guess I had no idea that community colleges were like 4 year universities when it comes to registration (ignorance on my part that I could just pick a class :uhoh3:) It sounds like I need to keep exploring my options even if it means to commute and then pick a school. You're right slinkyhead, I guess I have been trying to sprint in to school rather than viewing it as a marathon...oops. I guess I already feel a little "behind" because I went to school for 4 years for business and now that I figured out what I want to do I don't want to waste any time getting into a program...but I've been reading this forum long enough to know that I am hardly alone in that and just need to be patient. Thank you!!

ixchel

4,547 Posts

Specializes in critical care.

Make sure the classes you are taking to satisfy the pre-reqs to the pre-reqs are transferrable to the school you ultimately hope to attend. Not all schools will accept all classes. We have a microbiology class at my CC that is transferrable everywhere except one local school that requires micro for their physical therapy program. Many people get disappointed quickly when they try to transfer the credits and get rejected. All of that work for nothing :(

Another thought on pre-reqs. I go to a school with no pre-reqs for their nursing pre-reqs. After taking A&P, I realized I NEEDED the pre-reqs that most other schools would require to take A&P. You may find yourself thankful for those pre-reqs. Yeah, it takes longer, but ultimately, getting As because you're prepared enough is much more likely to get you into the program you want to take.

capella44

60 Posts

I can understand your frustration - I had to deal with the same situation. The first CC I went to did not have priority registration and I had no problems getting into the classes I needed. Then I had to transfer to a school that did priority registration based on credit hours, and even though I was in group 3 of 6 I still couldn't get into the section I needed. But just keep checking as most likely someone will drop due to non payment etc.. I used to check obsessively at least 10 times a day, but it paid off and I was able to grab a spot in the class I needed. And not sure about the schools you are looking at, but the one I transferred to counted my previous credits towards determining my registration priority, so I didn't have to start completely from scratch. Good luck!

Specializes in CVICU.

I took a class at a community college that I had the most units at for one semester. The class was a business contracts class and was super easy. It put me in the queue to get my class pick the following semester because I had a lot of units. Is this making sense? I hope so if not I can explain it out again

sweetie_pie

51 Posts

Thanks you guys, I feel better knowing I am far from alone in this. So frustrating.

You made a really good point ixchel, the pre-reqs might really help me get better grades in the classes, so I'm not actually taking them "for nothing."

And capella44, I'm glad your persistence paid off for you. I will have to do the same and hope for the best (eeek! makes me nervous!). I think I'm going to have to look at a lot more community colleges than I was originally anticipating!

Confusedstudent_88, I think I understand what you're saying...were you a business major at one time? It sounds like you took a class you didn't need and were able to get credit and build your status as a current student so that you could have a better registration slot for the classes you needed?

It would be just so lovely if I could find a CC that didn't have priority registration. I would just die if I got accepted into my first choice nursing school and was dropped for not being able to get into the last few prereqs or something before matriculation. This "marathon and not a sprint" is starting to feel a lot more like a crawl :(

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