Confused about how this all works...

[Sammar23]

Hey, sorry if I come off as a little bit juvenile in my post but I'm pretty confused about some stuff and just wanted to know more from people who went through the process. I'm extremely interested in becoming a nurse, have been since I was little. I just wanted to know

- can I go to nursing school right out of high school or do I have to take pre reqs first then apply?

- my grades in high school weren't the greatest so how do I make a good impression when applying for schools?

- should I go to community college first then go into nursing school to get my grades up? Or would doing that make it harder to get in? I'm really not interested in being on 3 year waiting lists ( extremely common in NY)

Thanks!

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

I would suggest looking at the schools admission requirements for the nursing program at the schools you are interested in attending. I think you'll find that most of the nursing programs want certain classes taken prior to applying to the nursing program. Many also want a certain GPA for their applicants.

I personally took quite a few community college classes that I knew I needed for my chosen nursing school. It was far cheaper for me to do the non-nursing (english, math, sciences, psych, sociology etc) at the CC than to take them at the private school I am attending. It helped get my GPA up. It won't hurt to do CC classes nor does it make it harder to get into a nursing program. Actually it tends to help as you are getting out all the needed classes, much cheaper, and you are getting your GPA up to where the nursing program wants it (if you do well in the classes).

If your grades in HS weren't the greatest the best way to show you are now ready to buckle down and become a better student IS to go to a community college and take classes and do well.

[carbon86]

What science classes did you take in high school? Also are you more interested in the BSN route or the ADN route? Also do you want to go go away to a school, or are you ok with community?

[szeles23]

Generally you have to take pre-reqs before applying to any nursing school or college of nursing/health sciences within a university system. With that being said, you need to look up the specific admission requirements for every school you are thinking about going to. I think every nursing program requires both the anatomy and physiology series, also microbiology, and many require chemistry. Some do accept a high school chemistry though.

Try to apply to 4 year universities but I will tell you this... CCs are great for pre-reqs because they save a ton of money and the classes are pretty much on the same level as the 4 year universities (not always, but generally speaking). You really need to just research the schools you are looking at. See who accepts what credits from where and who requires this class and so on and so forth. HTH

[sandanrnstudent]

Seeing that you are fresh out of high school, my advice would be to take a CNA course. It will let you get a feel for working in a clinical setting before you spend too much money. (your only out $150 or so in case you decide it's not meant for you after all)

If you like CNA, it can only help you (pay is higher than minimum wage if you have to work during schooling AND it looks GREAT on a nursing school application!)

Other than the above advice I think the other posters are right on target. It is extrememly important that you do your research first! Know what your ultimate goal is and what schools can best get you there, then strive to reach it!

Best wishes,

sandan rnstudent