A & P with no science background?

[GreenMagus87]

Hello All!

I am hoping to begin nursing school in the next couple years and have been comparing potential schools' prerequisites. A & P appear to be the core of the prereqs as everyone asks for them but I've noticed most of the places that offer them list bio and chem as "strongly recommended." The school I'm looking to take these courses through offers A & P but no introductory bio course (I could take Chem I first though). How unreasonable is it to take A & P cold and catch myself up?

Other info that may or may not be relevant

- I want to take my courses through Portage, so they will be at my own pace.

- Decent student (3.7 undergrad, seminary masters) but virtually no science background.

- Ultimate goal is PMHNP

Thanks in advance!

GreenMagus87

[Jeff G]

I teach Chemistry and physics at a community college so I have a unique perspective. When I advise students, I recommend they take no more than 2 science courses per term. I mention this because some advisors load up their students with 3 science courses (with labs) per term and that is a recipe for academic disaster.

You will want to dedicate a good amount of time each weak for your courses. Read that last sentence again.

I should mention to be cautious about online courses from "brand-name" schools. You could spend over $2,000 for one course! Most of your tuition $$$ goes to overhead such as advertising, the athletic teams, the rock-climbing wall, etc. and not to instruction. Also, be aware of the book costs (sometimes $340 per course). For my online Introduction to Chemistry and General Chemistry courses, I use a free textbook.

[KWLE]

I made it through A&P 1 and 2 with no science background other than what I took in high school 20 years ago and made A's in both. One with an excellent teacher and one with a not so great teacher. I'd say it might be nice to have an intro to Chemistry class beforehand so you understand certain things a little better but it's totally doable without. That being said, I'm not sure if I would have been as successful if I'd taken them online. I attempted Microbiology online and it was miserable but I got a very high A when I took it in a classroom. Now I'm taking Chem 2 and we have switched to online due to coronavirus and its a struggle to keep up. It's hard to figure out how to pare down the vast amounts of information on your own without a lot of guidance

[Guest1142305]

6 hours ago, KWLE said:

I made it through A&P 1 and 2 with no science background other than what I took in high school 20 years ago and made A's in both. One with an excellent teacher and one with a not so great teacher. I'd say it might be nice to have an intro to Chemistry class beforehand so you understand certain things a little better but it's totally doable without. That being said, I'm not sure if I would have been as successful if I'd taken them online. I attempted Microbiology online and it was miserable but I got a very high A when I took it in a classroom. Now I'm taking Chem 2 and we have switched to online due to coronavirus and its a struggle to keep up. It's hard to figure out how to pare down the vast amounts of information on your own without a lot of guidance

You might want tot are a look into Aleks ($20 a month). Most people are familiar with it for math, but they also have a Chemistry section. I’m using it to study first semester Chemistry and so far it is great. It teaches you exactly what you need to know to pass common Chemistry questions, and nothing more; focused information. I’m using it as a supplement to my Chemistry reading. They have a second semester Chemistry program and an organic Chemistry prep course. You take an initial knowledge assessment and afterward it custom details your learning plan based on what you already know. It might make a nice supplement for getting the parred down information you need in Chem II.

[botmann]

First off, where ever you take your prereqs, make sure it is an accredited institution. Most nursing programs, it is required and will disqualify if not, which would then make it a waste of time and money. I recommend your local community college since you're almost guaranteed to be accredited.

I also suggest looking at whatever nursing school you're interested in attending if they have any recency requirements on any classes. You may be relying on a class you took twenty years ago, but there is a five year recently requirement, which would disqualify you.

Lastly, you need to make sure the nursing school you apply to will allow you to use online labs. A lot of the schools I looked into, it had to be in person; the theory part could be online.

As for anatomy and physio, it going to depend on the class. If it's just an anatomy class, you should be able to survive without Chemistry. It's mainly learning the body parts and some functions. Physio, on the other hand, is all about functions and chemical reactions. It may not be as detailed as Chemistry, but it really services a base understanding. I would suggest taking intermediate Chemistry; most people struggle with stoichiometry, which if understand and do it well, you should be able to pull off a B with not a lot of effort; you still need to do some work. I would suggest taking intermediate algebra because of nursing schools what statistics, which you'll need intermediate algebra to take it and be able to do the work that is not computerized.

When I decided to pursue nursing, I did not have a lot of science courses. Most were for non-science majors. Thus, I had to start from zero, which was introduction to Chemistry. I went through general Chemistry, which is beyond what nursing school requires. I had already recently completed two-thirds of the calculus series. I took intro to Anatomy, which I took the anatomy that schools want then followed up by physio and micro-chem. It took time since I would take one class at a time; sometimes I would take a second class but they were lighter subjects.

With all the that work I did at the local community college, I was able to get into Johns Hopkins direct entry masters program. I start in the fall.

On 3/30/2020 at 5:05 AM, caliotter3 said:

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

I remember when it was $11/unit. Right before I started college, it was $9/unit.

[Jeff G]

On 4/9/2020 at 4:48 PM, anewmanx said:

You might want tot are a look into Aleks ($20 a month). Most people are familiar with it for math, but they also have a Chemistry section. I’m using it to study first semester Chemistry and so far it is great. It teaches you exactly what you need to know to pass common Chemistry questions, and nothing more; focused information. I’m using it as a supplement to my Chemistry reading. They have a second semester Chemistry program and an organic Chemistry prep course. You take an initial knowledge assessment and afterward it custom details your learning plan based on what you already know. It might make a nice supplement for getting the parred down information you need in Chem II.

The Aleks software is good and there are equivalent ones available, such as Knewton Alta. Each term, I give students an opportunity to purchase/use Knewton Alta, if they choose.

[Jeff G]

On 4/9/2020 at 10:09 AM, KWLE said:

I made it through A&P 1 and 2 with no science background other than what I took in high school 20 years ago and made A's in both. One with an excellent teacher and one with a not so great teacher. I'd say it might be nice to have an intro to Chemistry class beforehand so you understand certain things a little better but it's totally doable without. That being said, I'm not sure if I would have been as successful if I'd taken them online. I attempted Microbiology online and it was miserable but I got a very high A when I took it in a classroom. Now I'm taking Chem 2 and we have switched to online due to coronavirus and its a struggle to keep up. It's hard to figure out how to pare down the vast amounts of information on your own without a lot of guidance

There can definitely be an information overload in Chemistry classes. From my standpoint as an instructor, I avoid this by making the quizzes/tests/final open-book and open-notes where students are encouraged to collaborate with others. I have found this approach gives better learning outcomes.

[Guest1142305]

5 hours ago, Jeff G said:

The Aleks software is good and there are equivalent ones available, such as Knewton Alta. Each term, I give students an opportunity to purchase/use Knewton Alta, if they choose.

Thanks for the tip. I’m 30 hours into Aleks Gen Chem 1 with no background in Chem and I still have about a hundred topics to go (at 151/253). Maybe I’ll give Knewton Alta a shot. Aleks is getting a little sporifice on the explanations.

[HandsOffMySteth]

When I decided to go to college, I had been out of school for 30+ years. I love science but hate math so I used Kahn academy to help me catch up there. I went to my community college for my program and they will not accept any non CC courses. so far I have taken...

math 91,92,99,146 (all algebra and stats)

biology 160,241,241,260 (general,A&P1and2, micro)

medical terminology

physics 101

English 101,102

chem 121

psychology 100,200

computer IT ( Microsoft Office)

intercultural communications

And I still have others before I can even apply!! Of course I changed my major and was originally going for radiologist technologist.

[kdcanter]

Look at Edukan. I took Fundamentals of Chem and Microbiology. I took Algebra and Statistics with Aleks. No problem with transfer to my local community college. Very good programs!

[Guest1142305]

1 hour ago, kdcanter said:

Look at Edukan. I took Fundamentals of Chem and Microbiology. I took Algebra and Statistics with Aleks. No problem with transfer to my local community college. Very good programs!

+1 on the Aleks. I never could grasp college level mathematics until I discovered Aleks.

[izzybelle]

Hello!

I took A&P I and II, as well as Microbiology cold. I took it with only high school biology from 5 years ago on my back. It is hard but it can be done. I took A&P I and Microbiology together along with the lab and other classes, and A&P II over Summer. Got a B in A&P I and Micro (an A in both labs), and a A in A&P II and the lab. In the beginning of the course they briefly go over basic chem and bio (obviously suspecting that its just review), study that like crazy, otherwise you'll be lost all semester. In the end you're still saving money by not taking those extra classes and you only need to learn a few fundamental topics from each.

[northmississippi]

I took it and passed and I havent had a science class in many years. pay close attention to anything they say about the heart and lungs, and endocrine system.