Bad mix of courses

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Hello all,

I am fairly new to the site and this fall, I will begin to complete my pre-requisites for the nursing programs at El Centro and Moutain View College. I wanted to be proactive and try to make plan of the courses that I will take each semester up until they are satisfied and I am ready to apply. Just to give a little background about myself, I have 2 kids (6 and 1 yr old) and I work full-time as of right now. My question is what are some common nursing pre-reqs that should not be taken together in the same semester based on level of difficulty and/or amount of information to retain? I would like to make sure that I am creating a realistic and manageable class schedule. Thanks in advance!

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Specializes in Hospice.

A & P I and II are very information intensive so you may want to consider a light load while you are taking them. But I think you have to have a couple of BIO courses down before you can take them.

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Yes. I plan on completing Biology for Science Majors I and Nutrition before taking A&P I & II.

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Specializes in Hospice.
Yes. I plan on completing Biology for Science Majors I and Nutrition before taking A&P I & II.

I suppose it depends on you and what you excel at. For example, I am horrible at Math, it takes me longer to do the homework and study for math, so I wouldn't want to take Math while taking A & P. I took Math for Allied Health at the same time as Nutrition and Student Development, and got an A in all three. BUT, I wouldn't want to take Math at the same time as Chemistry or A & P. I can take any English course with any other course(s) because I excel there. Have you seen an advisor? My advisor mapped things out for me early on and I only strayed a little from that plan, and managed to get all pre and co reqs done so that when I start the nursing program this month I will only have the core NUR courses.

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day, diamond.emmy:

I struggle with the same question on a regular basis; so, it is good to read you are looking at the same issue.

In my case, here's what I did to "ease my mind"; maybe it would work for you as well.

First, consider that a minimum study time is two hours for every hour of lecture. A quick way to do the math is that is to take the total credits you might take for a semester and double it for the minimum hours of study. Then take that number, add in your round trip commute time, lecture time, family time, work time, errands and other time, and hopefully allow yourself eight hours of sleep time.

Roughly plan it out on a calendar; and ask yourself how realistic does the schedule look in terms of keeping it the overall majority (high 90%) of the time.

What I've also done is asked instructors of courses that were on my short list for an early copy of the syllabus (where I'm going, the syllabus is free); and most of them are happy to give either the current one or last year's one (if they've not completed this years) so I could then preview what type of work load the course will require. Then adjust the calendar as necessary. Once more asking myself if I could keep to the plan.

Once I did that and worked out the courses I would take, I then double checked with my program adviser as to the course load and combination being doable for what cost. I.e. in most cases, the course grade and GPA matter a lot.

Thank you.

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You can do anything you set your mind to. I worked full time and took two courses a semester and have two kids. I made A's. Last spring took chemistry and microbiology and made As. Only setback is no social life. Just time for family work and studying. Study during your brraks or whenever you can.

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