Published Oct 1, 2014
Leonardsmom,LPN
367 Posts
My school started registration for spring semester today, and signed up for my classes. It is going to be a busy semester, but I do believe it will be doable. Was interested in others opinions of what this schedule looks like. I will be working full time also at 30 hours a week, the minimum for full time at my place, along with a 15 credit hours. I will be taking microbiology, lecture and labtwo separate classes, pharmacology which I know is going to be a lot of memorization. An early American history class that I am sure is going to have a heavy reading load and a college algebra class online. The other classes are traditional lecture classes. I have done well in math in the past, my college math classes I have always taken in a math lab style in which it is self paced and pretty much self taught with help available if needed. Both of the math lab classes that I did I finished early by midterm and ended with a 4.0 in the classes, so I am not too concerned with the online setting for this class, especially since there is tutoring available through the school that I can use if I run into any problems.
Spliting the classes into another semester is not really an option since micro and pharm I need to take in the spring to be able to have the best chances of getting into the nursing program for 2015. Also I am trying to get prereqs done for a program that is done with one of the universities and my community college which would allow me to work on completing my BSN while working on my ADN. This summer semester to finish up the required prereqs for the university I will be taking a chemistry and lab class, along with a statistics and probabilities class, this way when I start my ADN program I will also be able to apply for the co-op program with the university.
As I said I know that the next couple of semesters are going to be busy, but to get everything done I do believe that this would be the smartest way to go.
Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this plan? It will be busy and probably hetic but with good time management would it be doable?
xoemmylouox, ASN, RN
3,150 Posts
Anything is doable. I work 50+ hr a week and I am taking 13 credit hours (one class only counts as one). I'm exhausted all of the time, and have my phone calendar programmed so I know where I need to go daily (otherwise I would be at school instead of work or vice versa). Good luck!
AspiringNurseMW
1 Article; 942 Posts
I was actually doing my spring semester planning right now. Im am taking both A/P 2 & Micro because I want to be done with sciences before I start the nursing program next fall (in my school you dont HAVE to be done with them as a pre-requisite, go figure, but it looks better when applying that you are enrolled).
I am also taking Advanced English Comp & Developmental Psych. Most likely I will be taking those two courses online although I am debating taking Psych at school.
School is condensed into 2 days and I work from home about 20-24 hours the other 3 days. I also have 2 girls, 3.5 & 10 month old. A lot of make ahead and crock-pot meals and time management anything is doable.
I was going to add Sociology to it so I can work on BSN requirements during nursing school once class at a time buuuuuut I might take that over the summer, I think 2 sciences is enough for me. As is my schedule puts me at 14 credits.
I am currently taking 17 credits right now with the same type of schedule and its not so bad but I want to give myself breathing room with 2 sciences.
dorkypanda
671 Posts
Sounds like you have a lot on your plate there! If you put in your hard efforts and time to study well I'm sure you will do fine. Perhaps the busy load will prepare you for what NS will be like in the near future(I'm thinking it's going to be quite busy ).
good luck :)
Thanks for the feedback. I was kind of thinking the same thing that you mentioned dorkypanda about it preparing me for the intensity of the Nursing program. This semester I have really been working on getting into the habit of planning my week ahead of time of when I am going to study and what I am studying. I think that getting into the habit of doing this now will definitely help come spring semester. That and trying to become more efficient in my studying. I am getting excellent grades right now, averaging over 100% in my physiology class and a strong 4.0 in my human development class, but my class load is light this semester allowing me to spend a lot of time in studying, not a bad thing but there is room to improve in my methods. It has been awhile since I last did such a full course load, but I think with good planning and making sure to get help early when and if needed I'll be fine.
USMCRN2015
186 Posts
I did the same thing! People told me I was crazy but I loaded up on my pre reqs and pushed through Spring/Summer before I started Nursing (my Mum died in the middle of summer semester too) but I was one of the few that had every class done before Nursing started and I was SO relieved! It's so much easier to just focus on one thing! Because between clinical, lab, class, papers, it feels like you are juggling 3-4 classes. Trust me when I tell you, push through! Oh and the crock pot meals are genius! I do them too! (Pinterest? Haha)