Are your fellow classmates really serious about nursing?

hope3456, ASN, RN · Oct 19, 2005

I just graduated nsg school....made it through the prereqs with almost straight A's . However, I refused to judge my classmates on their grades or let them judge me for my grades. I thought some of them were way too critical of each other and it was a waste. And in the end, it doesn't really matter what your grades are as long as they are passing.

Some people are just better test takers than others, is what it comes down to. But some people who dont do so well on multiple choice tests retain the info better. In the end, all that matters is that you pass the NCLEX. I have heard of straight A students that fail the NCLEX...hmmmm....And some of the best nurses I know told me they didn't pass the NCLEX the first time. Also, none of the jobs I interviewed for asked me about my grades.

I also take my A&P I on Fri. night/Sat. morning and almost everone in there is very hard-working. There are a few girls (who are ESL) that have trouble and I don't think they're going to last. They make jokes about the work, but I think it's because they can't really understand it.
There are another two girls who work very hard, but just can't get it. One is a CNA and the other is returning to school after being home with her three kids for years. I feel bad for them because I know they study hard... but a C is the best they have done so far.

nurse2be2007 · Oct 19, 2005

What you say is so true. After so many years being in and out of school and having taught in a vocational school, I have an understanding of how to study, how to take a test, and how tests are constructed. I still have to work to get my "A"s and have found it best to keep my grades to myself unless other students bug me to find out what I get on a test. They ask after one or two tests and then stop and I don't volunteer anything. It's partly so they won't feel bad themselves and partly so I won't get bashed and ostracized. I've been re-taking the entire sequence of Algebra/Geometry/Trigonometry in order to take Calculus and have been consistently getting the highest grades in these classes and some of the other students know this. What the bashers don't get is that I spend hours working problems at home and consulting supplemental texts in order to understand the concepts we are supposed to learn, something I didn't do 40 years ago in high school which resulted in my failing Calculus before. The fact is, once I started to do well on tests it fed my ego and I wanted more and am willing to put the effort into it. Grades do not come easily without the effort. It's interesting that no one every has asked me "how do you do it?" Everyone just seems inclined to just B&M (B***h and moan).

Daytonite

Boy do I know that feeling. In high school I didnt care about anything except my boyfriend and friends. I didnt apply myself at all. After high school I got married, had my daughters and became a SAHM. Now that I am in college finally LOL, I find myself being one of those "over achievers", although I dont consider myself OVER achieving rather just achieving. I study hard for myself and nothing more. It's ironic how some people think that because I get A's on my test that I am somehow doing it just hurt them. Ok so I woke up one day and said, "I am going to start college so I can make all A's just to piss the other students off." Please!!!!!

What some of these people dont realize is that I was scared to death to start classes, I didnt know what to expect, what the classes were like or the course work for that matter. I had no self confidence because I didnt do so well in high school. I just vowed to myself that I was going to do the best I could by studying hard and not procrastinating. When all that studying paid off with the grades I was getting, yes I was excited and yes I wanted the whole world to know. Did I want to make others feel bad, NO WAY, I was just tickled pink that I actually made the grade that I had set out to do. Just remember that those that are bashing you for your great grades are probably insecure with themselves. Not everyone was like this though and so I just steer clear of those that are negative and bashers. They have issues that I dont want to be around.

Now 4 semesters later I keep my grades to myself. Last semester in A&PII it would piss people off that I wouldnt tell them what I got on a test. I told my friend but she sat next to me so I didnt really have a choice and one day she slipped and told one of the other girls what our scores were. They almost had a heart attack. I guess they thought that because I wasnt revealing my scores that I wasnt doing very good. I just let them think what they wanted, like I have said, I am not here for them I am here for me. Keep in mind not everyone is like this, most people for the most part are very compassionate and supportive. It's those select few (which you seem to get in every class) that really try to discourage you by making you feel bad for your grades. I am at a different campus now, one more in the inner city and I have found that the diversity there creates a more warm and inviting atmosphere. Everyone is so much more encouraging and supportive.

Daytonite, just keep doing what your doing and dont let those bashers get to you.

cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP · Oct 19, 2005

I think the issue really is that your so early in your pre-reqs. I am in my first semester of my ADN RN program and I am in early pre-reqs but I have tested above some of the pre-reqs (like college algebra) so the classes I am in now a good number of the people seem very serious about nursing, and yet there are some who seem to be barely skating by.