Which Prereq is Harder: A&P or Microbiology or Chem?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.

Curious to know what the consensus is with regards to the difficulty of these nursing school science prereqs. I personally have not yet taken micro (will do so Spring '10) so I don't have a basis for comparison but I am fearing it quite a bit. I did manage to excel at A&P this past Summer, completing the I and II sequence in 12 intense weeks, so my vote right now until I take it would have to be micro :clown: ... chem was really not all that bad.

What is your opinion? Feel free to explain your answer and if you're so inclined, feel free to also indicate if you thought A&P1 was harder than A&P2 or vice versa (IMHO, A&P1 was harder than 2).

Looking forward to all your responses!

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Good question. I have not taken Micro yet (starts in less than a week), and I am a little nervous about it.

I took sort of a "general" chemistry class, some intro, some organic, basically for nursing students, though I don't know if all colleges have that. I thought it was a little easier than A&P, but A&P was more interesting.

I also thought A&PI was harder than A&PII, but that's probably because by the second semester, I was used to my professor and the subject matter. A&PII was more interesting since we actually got into the different organ systems (repro was my fave).

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I think all three courses have their own challenges, but I don't think any one course as a whole is more difficult than the other. For example, I struggled with the urinary system in A&P II, nothing too bad, just took a little more effort on my part. Micro is no harder than A&P, but there might be a chapter or two that you need to spend a little more time with. I just took Micro last semester and really enjoyed it tremendously! If I had to pick one of the three as most difficult I would pick A&P II, but not by a long shot more difficult, just that some of the material was slightly more challenging.

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

IMO, Chemistry. If only because I find it an incredibly dull subject.

That's how school is for me. Subjects that bore me to tears are always incredibly hard for me. Even if a subject is perceived as dfficult (AP/Micro), I do well and find it not as hard because I have an interest in it, thus I learn it and retain it better.

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Specializes in L&D.

I found micro to be very interesting and thus, quite easy! Yes, you will have to take the time to memorize the Krebs Cycle, Photosynthesis, etc., but it is not too difficult. If you excelled in A&P, you'll be just fine.

Chemistry for me was not a breeze...I struggle with math a bit. I think that would be the only part that might trip you up - but only if you are not a number cruncher! :)

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Specializes in Hospice & Palliative Care, Oncology, M/S.

Excellent question!

I found chemistry tougher, especially the organic stuff, but still managed to squeak an A out of it.

Anatomy I found easier since it was like a roadmap, but had problems with my second exam (panic attack) and ended up with a B+ in the class.

If I'm able to tell a "story" about things, like the travel of a blood cell through the kidneys, I have an easier time. Chemistry was like trying to figure out where to put the carbon. *laugh*

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Specializes in Public health nursing.

Loved Micro & Anatomy, liked Physio, but hands down thought Chem was a complete nightmare :banghead:! I took General Chem & O-Chem, and swear I never had to study so much in my entire life. Ugh, so glad my Chemistry days are done & over with...

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I haven't taken the APs yet, but I'm taking mirco right now. I like it, but my teacher is making us concentrate on chemistry simotaneuosly as well, which makes absolutely no sense to me. Which reminds me, I need to get off this keyboard and go study. BYE!!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Clinical Documentation Specialist.

AP2 was the hardest class I have ever taken, way harder than chem, micro or even AP1. I loved it, but it was a lot of work. I got an A, but I definitely worked for it.

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I took General Chem I (not the intro Chem course) so I really can't comment on that nursing pre-req in particular. But as far as Chemistry in general, if your course dabbles into Moles, Conversions, and calculations than it is the hardest of the three, by far. If your course only deals with atoms, bonding, states of matter and stuff like that I would say that Micro would be harder. I have not taken Micro yet but at my undergrad I minored in Bio and took Genetics (where a large part of the material focuses on Microbiology--so Micro will probably just repeat a large part of that course) and found the subject of Microbiology to be more challenging than A&P.

It really just depends on what your strengths are. If you're good in math and memorizing formulas, Chemistry would not be that difficult. If you're really good at grasping concepts and memorizing than A&P would be fairly easy. But the converse is true as well. Whichever subject you're weakest in skill-wise will likely be the course that will be the most difficult for you. For me, Chemistry takes the crown---but for you it may be a different situation.

~Melanie

formerly "Adams_Mommy_07"

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Specializes in Float Pool, acute care, management/leadership.

Chemistry is the bane of my existence.

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For me it's A&P, because of all the memorizing and such a short time to do it in.

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