is biology really necessary???

MvbRn, ASN, BSN · May 13, 2008

My school also recommed this course, but I didn't not do it. I took AP 1 and 2 and did great! You can do it, no worries you can do it!

coolpeach · May 13, 2008

My school required it prior to A&P1 and 2. I remember taking Biology and thinking it was hard (my first major science), but I am glad I did take it. We revisited a lot of those hard topics in both A&P's. The A&P professor expected you to already know a lot of those topics. She would say remember such and such. I won't go over it again here since you should know it from Biology, but you need to understand it to get what we are about to learn etc.

karen230 · May 13, 2008

hi everyone! i'm new here and have a question. i am currently taking prereqs for the adn nursing program and my school says biology is strongly advisable before anatomy. is it possible for someone to do good in a&p without bilogy or should i go ahead and do biology? any advise helpful.. thanks..

how were your biology grades in high school? just because they "strongly advise" it doesn't mean that you can't go right in to a&p. if you feel that you are strong enough in biology then go for it, take a&p and continue on, you will do well. if you don't feel that bio is a strong point for you, then take a biology over the summer to help you prep for the course.

personally for me, i didn't have a valid enough bio to get accepted into the nursing program at my school so i had to take a bio and get a "c" or better before i could even apply. i could have gone right in to a&p and had intended to do just that but my girlfriend is going to ns w/me and she really wanted to take human bio before jumping in to a&p. i'm glad we took human bio first but have wondered all semester if i would have done just as well going right in to a&p, kwim? at any rate, i'm signed up for a&p for fall and i'm looking forward to it!!!

donsterRN, ASN, BSN · May 13, 2008

My school required Biology in high school (for me, that was several decades ago!) I can honestly say that I don't remember one thing from that course. When I took A&P 1&2, I studied hard from the books and notes, and paid attention in class and did well. I do not know that Biology played a huge role in that. I guess I feel that it might help, but I can't imagine that it would be mandatory!

JettaDP · May 13, 2008

At my school Biology is a pre-req for A&P so I ahd no choice but to take it. But I definitely don't think it would have been necessary. We didn't revisit much of it in A&P. You learn about cells in Biology and you revisit it in A&P but you will probably learn the same thing. You will do fine if you skip Biology.

dallet6 · May 13, 2008

The school I'm applying to (eventually) requires you to take bio along with all the other normal sciences to apply to ns. Biology is also a prereq to even get into micro or a&p

I don't see how it can hurt to take it, but if you are a recent high school grad who just completed biology, you are probably ok. If your like me and returning to school after having graduated from college 15 years ago, then take it.

rn2bnwi, BSN, RN · May 14, 2008

i don't think its necessary

Dream2BANurse · May 14, 2008

It's required before A&P at my school also. I just finished up with it (regular bio) and I now have my new book for AP1. The first 2-3 chapters of my AP book talks about exactly what I just learned out of my bio 103 class.

coolpeach · May 14, 2008

I guess it depends on each class. For us Bio was required before A&P, and we skipped the sections about biology in the A&P book because the professor said we should already know it.

Then we learned the Anatomy of the sytem for example bone names and location. Next we would learn the physiology of the system all the way down to the structure of each cell.

I also remember each system had a histology component.

I don't think I would have made an A without Biology, but again that was just my school. Maybe since its not required it won't be that way at yours.

butterflies135 · May 14, 2008

thank you everyone for your help.. it l;ooks like the consisous is to go with biology.. i am just trying to get through this as fast as possible.. but i still want to keep a great gpa.. thanks again for the help. :nurse:

naide88 · May 14, 2008

I didn't take Biology or chemistry before I took Anatomy or Microbiology and got A's in those classes. I did take, however, two classes called Natural Science 1 and 2. It covered a little bit a chemistry, biology, and other sciences. My college accepted those classes as the prereq for biology and chemistry. It took a LONG time before they finally agreed to accept these classes and they made a huge exception for me.

If it is just strongly advised and not a prereq, I would not take biology or chemistry. You can buy a biology text book and study from that while taking the anatomy and/or microbiology if you need extra help. If it is a prereq for the program, take the biology class.