Am I totally out?

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I'm apologize if this isn't the right forum! I know getting into undergraduate nursing programs is difficult. Throughout my high school career I've taken chemistry and biology and 4 years of math, but no physics or advanced science courses because I didn't intend to go into nursing until my grandfather got severely sick with cancer and I realized that it felt right to take care of him. I've always wanted to help people, but this year I've realized that nursing could be the way to go. I'm not unintelligent, I'm in the top 10 of my class, have a high gpa, and take advanced language, english, and history courses. Would not taking many science courses bump me out of consideration for a nursing undergraduate program? Thanks for your thoughts :)

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The blunt answer to this question is yes.

You can't graduate from nursing school without the four required science courses.

The vast majority of nursing schools won't even look at your admission application without grades from the four science courses (anatomy, physiology, chemistry, microbiology). Because of the competition, you will want to try very hard to avoid too many grades below A- on those four courses. Many places calculate GPA based upon just the prerequisite courses alone and couldn't care less if you have straight As everywhere else.

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You just have to take the prerequisites like everyone else: Chemistry, Microbiology, Anatomy & Physiology. There are others as well (nutrition, human development/lifespan, psychology, speech, etc...)

You sound positioned very well to be successful in those courses. Go ahead and go for it!

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I'm a senior in high school. I want to get into an undergraduate program...I'm not in college yet, but colleges make you indicate that you might want to major in nursing in the future. My high school doesn't offer microbiology and all of that. Maybe you misunderstood my question?

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Specializes in Gerontology, nursing education.

Just to clarify, OP, you're still in high school, right? Getting good grades in high school will help you get into the college of your choice. Getting good grades in the science prerequisites will help you get into the nursing program of your choice. You may find the college-level science courses a bit more challenging if you didn't have a strong science background in high school, but that doesn't mean you don't have a chance. You may find that you need to take a few lower-level college science courses to make up for what you didn't get in high school.

If you are still in high school, I strongly suggest you speak to your counselor to get some ideas about which college might be best for you. There is no reason you cannot be successful!

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Yes, I assumed you were already in college.

Just about the only high school class, in my experience, that they don't make you repeat in college is sometimes Chemistry. It depends on the school. I think the best thing to do in your situation is to find out what the requirements are for the schools you want to attend. Check out their websites, and meet with a counselor if that is possible.

In some areas of the country, it sounds like there are programs that can take you straight from high school. That's not the way it is in CA where I am, however.

Good luck! You have a lot of time ahead of you, and if you really want this, you can do it.

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Ah.... I think it really depends on what each school wants. Most of them will put you into something like pre-nursing which isn't really the nursing program. They want to see grades in college courses before they'll give you a real seat.

One advantage you may have is that you could get admitted into the nursing program directly from high school. One example I can think of is UCLA School of Nursing. But you needed to apply back in November for UCLA as a high school senior.

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Thank you! The school I want to attend says there are no high school courses you need to specifically take in order to get into their Entry Level Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. However, I know that some admissions like to see that you have taken advanced sciences courses in high school because it's competitive, so I'm worried they might not look twice at me.

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I saw the link once and now there is a glitch somewhere so I can't get to it now but I'm sure they won't throw your application out because of what you've taken in high school.

They recommend strong sciences in high school because they make the college classes easier (and perhaps because a lot of people ask what they can do in high school). If you had the bare minimum of sciences in high school, you would still have a chance although it would almost certainly take you longer. It might also limit the paths you are elgible to do. Some schools have direct entry, where you are guarenteed a spot in their nursing program as long as you keep in good standing, those programs might have more requirements than others. Even schools that offer that allow others to apply also.

If you think you are light on the science, you might consider being more careful about how you schedule your classes by doing things like not more than one or two heavy science classes per term, taking them early in the day (if you are a morning person), take them three times per week instead of two, check out the profs if you have a choice of profs, be particularly careful to allow enough study time (when you are alert), and so on.

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High school credits don't count towards anything related to nursing programs. You will start attending college, with pre nursing as your declared major. Then you will take prerequisites. These are going to be the required college classes that you need in order to be accepted into the actual nursing program (this will most likely be your anatomy, microbiology, stats, general English classes, etc). The nursing program will decide to accept you or not based on those classes. They will determine your GPA, and your high school experience doesn't count for anything. The only thing that looks at your high school GPA is when you apply to a college. You apply to "Georgia State University" and get accepted. THEN you apply to whatever "school" you want: nursing, business, education, etc...

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Thank you! The school I want to attend says there are no high school courses you need to specifically take in order to get into their Entry Level Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. However, I know that some admissions like to see that you have taken advanced sciences courses in high school because it's competitive, so I'm worried they might not look twice at me.

If you are a little "light" on the sciences, then I'd recommend also focusing on acing the SAT and/or ACT!:clown: High standardized test scores will not hurt your cause.

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