A & P with no science background?

Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 29, 2020

It is unreasonable to take A&P cold because that class or classes (at some colleges, Anatomy is offered on its own as is Physiology and not combined) usually have a prerequisite of an Intro to College Biology class that you must take in order to register for Anatomy. I know the Physiology class I took actually had both Anatomy and Chemistry as a prerequisite for it along w/ College-Level Algebra. In order to take Anatomy, I had to take an Intro to Biology course. If you actually found a college which doesn't require a pre-req for A&P, then you could probably get away w/ it for Anatomy, but Physiology does circle back and bring in a lot of information from both Chemistry and Biology so that portion or course might prove to be difficult for you.

Also, be aware that many schools DO NOT accept science prerequisites from Portage Learning. You really need to check with each school you plan on applying to, to see if they will accept a completely online science pre-req. Portage is completely online (and overpriced) and there really is no policing how you are doing tests and labs (a.k.a everything open note and copying tests from anybody else who has taken the course). Nursing Admission offices know exactly who Geneva College is (Portage Learning), so there is no skirting around that issue.

Your standard pre-reqs for most nursing schools are: Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology. 80% of them will also include Chemistry and Statistics. Nutrition is hit or miss as probably 25% of schools will throw this into the mix. What do they all have in common? They all typically will need you to have taken an Intro To Biology course in order to even start on your nursing journey and eventually move through all the courses.

Always, always, always, check w/ the colleges you are applying to to see what they require. Then look at the college where you plan to take these courses to see what the pre-reqs are for those science courses and get those done ASAP.

Good luck!

futurernihope · Mar 29, 2020

Hi there! Long story but I basically did not have time to take bio before A&P and I had already taken chem. I took A&P 1 and 2 with labs in the Summer in ten total weeks. That alone was beyond brutal; I had no life and was living and breathing anatomy. I made an A in all classes without taking gen bio BUT it was a struggle, I had to teach myself a lot of basic topics and knew I had to overcompensate with other areas. The real difficulty is taking Microbiology without general biology. Hope this helps!

GreenMagus87 · Mar 30, 2020

6 hours ago, Mergirlc said:
It is unreasonable to take A&P cold because that class or classes (at some colleges, Anatomy is offered on its own as is Physiology and not combined) usually have a prerequisite of an Intro to College Biology class that you must take in order to register for Anatomy. I know the Physiology class I took actually had both Anatomy and Chemistry as a prerequisite for it along w/ College-Level Algebra. In order to take Anatomy, I had to take an Intro to Biology course. If you actually found a college which doesn't require a pre-req for A&P, then you could probably get away w/ it for Anatomy, but Physiology does circle back and bring in a lot of information from both Chemistry and Biology so that portion or course might prove to be difficult for you.
Also, be aware that many schools DO NOT accept science prerequisites from Portage Learning. You really need to check with each school you plan on applying to, to see if they will accept a completely online science pre-req. Portage is completely online (and overpriced) and there really is no policing how you are doing tests and labs (a.k.a everything open note and copying tests from anybody else who has taken the course). Nursing Admission offices know exactly who Geneva College is (Portage Learning), so there is no skirting around that issue.
Your standard pre-reqs for most nursing schools are: Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology. 80% of them will also include Chemistry and Statistics. Nutrition is hit or miss as probably 25% of schools will throw this into the mix. What do they all have in common? They all typically will need you to have taken an Intro To Biology course in order to even start on your nursing journey and eventually move through all the courses.
Always, always, always, check w/ the colleges you are applying to to see what they require. Then look at the college where you plan to take these courses to see what the pre-reqs are for those science courses and get those done ASAP.
Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. I was surprised by your saying Portage was over priced. Their 4 credit units are $800 (Johns Hopkins which I also looked at was $1400). If you know some place cheaper (and with a less dubious reputation) let me know!

5 hours ago, achangh said:
Hi there! Long story but I basically did not have time to take bio before A&P and I had already taken chem. I took A&P 1 and 2 with labs in the Summer in ten total weeks. That alone was beyond brutal; I had no life and was living and breathing anatomy. I made an A in all classes without taking gen bio BUT it was a struggle, I had to teach myself a lot of basic topics and knew I had to overcompensate with other areas. The real difficulty is taking Microbiology without general biology. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the reply. I think I will try to sneak it in somewhere. Was thinking of A&P and forgot microbio ?

Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 30, 2020

7 hours ago, GreenMagus87 said:
Thanks for the reply. I was surprised by your saying Portage was over priced. Their 4 credit units are $800 (Johns Hopkins which I also looked at was $1400). If you know some place cheaper (and with a less dubious reputation) let me know!

I live in overpriced California. As costly as we are, the price per unit at a local community college is $46/unit. Your main science pre-req classes are typically between 4-5 units for the complete class (lecture & lab). That comes out between $184 - $230 per class. Community colleges are very affordable when you need to take classes such as these. Always look at your community colleges first!

Books, on the other hand, are always an arm and a leg. You can turn to places like Chegg or Amazon Book Rentals to save tons of money renting books too!

$184 - 230 OR $800+? I don't know about you, but I'd go w/ the cheaper option.

caliotter3 · Mar 30, 2020

Remember when CA community college tuition was $13 a unit? Now there was a bargain!

Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 30, 2020

1 hour ago, caliotter3 said:
Remember when CA community college tuition was $13 a unit? Now there was a bargain!

@caliotter3 Sadly, yes....I'm that old. ? I don't know if this was just at my community college, but I recall they also had a maximum amount or, flat fee, you paid if you took 12 units. At least at my college it worked that way. It was either you were charged $13/unit if you took up to a certain amount of units or you just paid a flat fee if it was like 8 or more units. That only lasted a few years until they got smart and figured they could milk you (and financial aid) for every unit. I suppose it was an incentive to get people to really get an AS or AA degree quickly and/or transfer onward if you took more units.

Ahh....back in simpler times..... ?

dreamgarden · Mar 30, 2020

I also went from no science background to taking prereqs for nursing school. The Cell Bio class I had to take before I could enroll in A+P was a brutal awakening that actually, even though I was always an honors student and did well in undergrad, and even had a masters degree, I had not been rote memorizing facts for a very long time. Go somewhere that requires a cell bio class. I would not recommend A+P online, you will miss out on the best parts and it will be way harder to study for many topics.

GreenMagus87 · Mar 30, 2020

WOW!! You guys got a great asset in your CCs... community college tuition for my locals CCs is 190 per credit hour even for residents.

I respect people saying that in person is better. It probably is in some ways (labs). I literally do not have a bloc of time to make that work though. I am finishing my masters/thesis and joining the national guard (active army from 2012-2018) which may very well activate me given the odd times we live in. I will check out online options in California though. That is an amazing tuition rate.

dreamgarden · Mar 30, 2020

Sounds like you're super busy! Expect each A+P to take 20 hours a week, maybe more since you don't have the benefits of in person classes and have to teach yourself more. Hope you can make it work so you can get to your dream!

Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 30, 2020

California tuition is for CA residents only. It goes way up if you are from out of state taking classes. It's like this in most states.

Good luck!

Guest1142305 · Apr 1, 2020

Ironically, we have a similar educational background and the same goal.

I recommend you use ALEKS to teach yourself Chemistry. $20 a month and a great system. It’s mostly known for it s math program. I used it to learn college algebra and statistics. My school accepts straighterline so just tested out of those classes after studying on aleks. Going to do the same with general Chemistry.

then study up on biology in your own time. I started out with biology for dummies (don’t knock it!) then a study guide for the biology Clep. Clepped out on the first try.

then pour into a good A&P book like seeley’s. You could teach yourself using something like straighterline and then be better prepared to knock out the classes at an ra school on the first try if your prospective school requires that.

if you decide to use straighterline to brush up on any topic, you can usually find a code to get the first month free. If you can’t find one you can use liberty50 on a purchase including a months membership to get $50 off. Buy the second course in another transaction and use a coupon code like take50 to get another $50 discount. I got statistics and Chemistry this way for about $100. I plan in finishing both within a month. So I only pay the monthly fee once. That’s why I studied statistics ahead of time through aleks.