Almost 30 & starting Pre-Nursing. How long is school?

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THANKS BE TO GOD FOR THIS SITE..

I AM BOTH NEW TO THIS FORUM AND ALSO SCHOOL I HAVE JUST DECIDED TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL FOR NURSING. I HAVE ATTEMPTED NURSING TWICE BEFORE, BUT DROPPED OUT DUE TO PREGNANCY. MY CHILDREN ARE SCHOOL AGED NOW, SO IT'S TIME TO FOCUS ON MOMMY. DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE IF I GO FT?? (years or quarters)? Thanks..

It does not take 5-6 years to get a BSN. You can take mini-mesters, summer semesters, fall and spring fully loaded and get done with prereqs in less than 2 years. and MOST upper level nursing courses are 2 years.

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P.S. I would suggest going for the BSN since most RN's are going back for them anyway just get it done now so you don't have to go back again in 5-10-20 years to up your pay!

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Specializes in L&D,surgery,med/surg,ER,alzheimers.

I was an older student when I got my ADN. Most of my previous college classes did not transfer because it had so long since I had taken them, back in the 70s at Texas A&M.

I took History in the spring of 1988 at HCC. Then that summer I took both A&Ps lecture/labs at San Jacinto. Then started the RN program that fall. I got a job beginning that january of 1989 as a Nurse Tech at St. Joseph's and worked every weeked two 16 hour shifts in L&D and was paid $9/hour. A student RN was called a Nurse tech and could work any dept. and be paid for following an RN around and learning the ropes. The hospital hoped you would stay after graduating.

I went to school full time and worked 32 hours every weekend and studied every other possible hour. I had 4 small children and was divorced when I did thisM

It was very difficult but I had support from my parents, I lived at their home and they helped alot with the kids. I could not have done it without them.

I graduated form San jacinto RN program August of 1990 at age 32 and took of to Mexico for a week with the pre-paid vacation the hospital gave me as part of the sign on bonus.

I just slipped into the GN position where I had been working all along in L&D. Back then we had to take the board exam in Austin in February...on paper. So I was a GN (graduate nurse) til then. Some of us took off to Mexico again the day after the boards. We did not find out if we passed for weeks. It was so different back before computers. This new generation of nurses has it so much easier now with less waiting!

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Have you checked out your school of choice to see how many pre-reqs they require, when you can apply, waiting lists?

Where I go you need 12 core classes + you have to be well versed in Algebra, Chemistry and basic Bio or you have to take those over again. So for me that is 15 classes just to put in an application. Once you are accepted the program is full time 2 years.

I know many people who have been trying to knock out the pre-req's and nobody I know has been able to get all A's going full time. They just end up taking the classes over again because you need all A's to get in the program.

I would say at least 2 -3 years of pre-req's , then another 2-3 years for the program with the lag between the application and the begining of the program. So thats about 6 years in all if you are able to stay on track and everything goes perfectly.

John Hopkin's requires a 3.0

Duke requires a 3.0 (but 3.4 to exempt from GRE)

UCSan Fran doesn't have a BSN but only asks for 3.0

UT Health Science/SON requires 3.0

The #1 ranked nursing school (debatable? not sure honestly), University of Washington SON only asks for a 3.0 in the sciences, but "minimum grade of 2.0 in ALL prerequisite courses"

Curious what school you go to that requires all A's?

As for the OP: I'm 36 and starting this fall. 12 credit hours plus a lab. I'm taking the dreaded Anatomy & Physiology this fall, and if successful, will be taking A&P 2 in the spring.

Note: I won't be working this semester if I can help it. And I intend to apply to UT's SON here in Houston for my BSN. They require that you have 8 hours of your science courses done before applying at 40 hours.

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Meesterjojo, my school only requires a C or better in the pre-req classes. I go to a community college. The problem is that they only select the top GPA students. Last year the cut off was an A- average and the GPA cutoff keeps getting higher every year. They had about 700 people apply for the 200 positions.

Now that you know the requirements of the nursing programs you can ask around and find out what the GPA really is of the students they are selecting.

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Meesterjojo, my school only requires a C or better in the pre-req classes. I go to a community college. The problem is that they only select the top GPA students. Last year the cut off was an A- average and the GPA cutoff keeps getting higher every year. They had about 700 people apply for the 200 positions.

Now that you know the requirements of the nursing programs you can ask around and find out what the GPA really is of the students they are selecting.

That's terribly stressful now that I'm entering my pre-reqs. Having to maintain a 3.7 or higher. What school are you looking to get into?

I'm interesting first in UT Health Science School of Nursing here in Houston, mainly as I'm in Houston, and it's decently ranked, plus being in the heart of the Med-Center should be interesting.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.

@Meesterjojo, I agree that it seems like most students these days say you need to get all A's to even be considered for NS. I just finished up all my prerequisites for an ABSN program I'm interested in attending. I spoke to a lot of the nursing students at the CC I was taking my prerequisites and they said as long as they passed the class with a "C" they were good. The ABSN program requires a C or better for the science classes.

To the OP: I'll be almost 30 when I'm done with my BSN (if I get in this Fall). Between prerequisites and finishing up the 15 month program, it would equal 2 years. Great thing about nursing is age is nothing but a number!

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Specializes in TCU, Post-surgical, Infection Prevention.

if you are taking everything from scratch; meaning your general education and lower level math courses - everyone is right about 1-2 years for your prereqs. But that is also contingent on your course load per semester (including that summer and winter course offerings).

in southern california; if a person were so inclined, taking a minimum 4 courses per semester @ a jc - one could be finished with prereqs in 1 calendar year. that includes a some 1/2 semester classes + full semester classes for spring, summer, fall and winter. that's if you have no life like me, lol.

I started my prereqs (anatomy, lifespan psych, micro, etc) Fall of 2009 and will be done with all of them this summer; planning to apply to a BSN for summer of 2011. I think I was done in 3 semesters due to taking English, reg psych, soc and all that jazz many moons ago.

Just stay focused and you will be done before you know it. The time will pass regardless.

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