I just had my first class of Anatomy & Physiology 1 this morning. The class looks to be challenging, but not impossible. I felt confident until the professor said that we should not attempt to take either A&P along with Microbiology because both are back-loaded courses, meaning that the most difficult material will be at the end of the class. I am very nervous now because I planned to take Micro and Human Development along side A&P1 this semester.
I have a fairly strong background in biology, I took the Biology CLEP test to test out of the biology prereq. and scored very high, and I have a prior degree in Anthropology and took Physical Anthropology which gives me a leg up on bones and a little bit of other anatomy terminology.
However, I'm coming at this after almost 12 years of being out of school. I have 2 kids now. I'm not attempting to work while attending school, at least not at first, but I am considering it for later if money gets very tight. My husband has a great job and makes enough for me to go back to school as long as we are careful.
I am eager to get through school (again) quickly and start working. I just don't want to mess this up. It would be more expensive to drag out the classes another year (there are only certain times of the year I can apply to nursing school), but if I get low grades then it would certainly be even more expensive to retake the courses. I'm in a fairly competitive area, so getting As on all 5 of the prerequisites to the nursing program is essential.
There apparently is one person who made it into this nursing program and had taken A&P 1, A&P 2, and Micro all in the same semester. I know other people have done this, but I have no idea if their experiences are typical or if they are just brilliant.
So is this realistically feasible to take these two classes at once? Am I being overly optimistic in thinking that I can do it concurrently?
Specializes in Oncology (Prior: Ortho-Neuro, Metabolic Surgery).
Thank you all so much for your insight. I really appreciate hearing from others who have taken these classes together. I spent this week talking to the professors teaching the classes, and both urged me to drop one of the classes. They said that generally when a student that started off well ends up with a B or C, it is because the other class ramped up and they just weren't prepared for it. I also spoke with other students at this school, both nursing students and pre-nursing students. There were a few that said that I could try taking the classes together, but consistently these were students that were making solid Bs and not likely to get into the nursing program without retaking the classes. There are other healthcare programs at this school that aren't as competitive that also require both A&P and Micro, so maybe for those students a B here and there isn't as big of a deal. This nursing school uses 5 prerequisite classes for the GPA calculation of ranking for application, then they only take a set number of students each semester from the top of the ranking. This spring the lowest accepted GPA was 3.8.
So in short (or not so short), I did drop the class. I feel really good about this decision. I reworked my plan and it is looking much more manageable with 2 kids at home. I will have to apply to nursing school in the Fall rather than in the Spring, but it is only 6 months later, so not as long as it seemed. I was really worried about the money, and I still am worried, but at a slower pace we will likely be able to cash flow it a bit better and avoid student loans until I'm actually in the nursing program. Also with this lighter schedule I can go back to work and do some home care CNA work and pick up a little bit of money and keep my CNA cert active. I know I'll have to take on a tougher schedule in nursing school, but there are 3 classes that I can take early: Pathophysiology, Math for Clinical Calculations, and Nutrition for Health Professionals. If I'm going slower then I can easily fit all of those in along side my prereqs. The nursing students I spoke to said the courseload at this school isn't too bad, just very time consuming.
I'm currently taking A&P 2 and Microbiology at the same time and I can definitely tell you its no walk in the park. You probably should take it one at a time, especially if you want A's in both. I believe I'm very good in Anatomy and the only reason I'm really struggling is because I'm taking Microbiology, a class that is challenging just like Anatomy and needs a lot of focus and time to study.
I have no clue whether they do or not but I'd hope that admission committees are on the lookout for students who are trying to space their classes so that they take only one challenging class at a time. Success in that fashion is hardly predictive of success in a more rigorous program.
Ioreth, BSN, RN
184 Posts
Thank you all so much for your insight. I really appreciate hearing from others who have taken these classes together. I spent this week talking to the professors teaching the classes, and both urged me to drop one of the classes. They said that generally when a student that started off well ends up with a B or C, it is because the other class ramped up and they just weren't prepared for it. I also spoke with other students at this school, both nursing students and pre-nursing students. There were a few that said that I could try taking the classes together, but consistently these were students that were making solid Bs and not likely to get into the nursing program without retaking the classes. There are other healthcare programs at this school that aren't as competitive that also require both A&P and Micro, so maybe for those students a B here and there isn't as big of a deal. This nursing school uses 5 prerequisite classes for the GPA calculation of ranking for application, then they only take a set number of students each semester from the top of the ranking. This spring the lowest accepted GPA was 3.8.
So in short (or not so short), I did drop the class. I feel really good about this decision. I reworked my plan and it is looking much more manageable with 2 kids at home. I will have to apply to nursing school in the Fall rather than in the Spring, but it is only 6 months later, so not as long as it seemed. I was really worried about the money, and I still am worried, but at a slower pace we will likely be able to cash flow it a bit better and avoid student loans until I'm actually in the nursing program. Also with this lighter schedule I can go back to work and do some home care CNA work and pick up a little bit of money and keep my CNA cert active. I know I'll have to take on a tougher schedule in nursing school, but there are 3 classes that I can take early: Pathophysiology, Math for Clinical Calculations, and Nutrition for Health Professionals. If I'm going slower then I can easily fit all of those in along side my prereqs. The nursing students I spoke to said the courseload at this school isn't too bad, just very time consuming.