Course load or course overload???

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Am I insane for taking Microbiology, Chemistry, Nutrition, Statistics, and World Civilization 2 all in one semester? That's only 17 hours but the choice of courses is what makes it difficult I think. This is the thing: This upcoming fall semester I am taking A&P 2, Human Growth and Development, College Algebra, World Literature, and World Civilization 1. After that, I will only have 17 hours left in my pre-nursing curriculum before I start nursing school! (I hope to begin nursing school in the fall of 2013). The catch is I would have to take Chem, Micro, Stats, Nut, & World Civ together because those are the last classes left after this fall semester. Opinions? Advice? Recommendations?

My experience was: Micro-had a lab, very time consuming but our professor wrote the text and tailored the course to medicine (skipped the environmental micro and history of micro stuff). Super great course-think I learned the most in it!

Chem is new for me- I'm taking it this semester-biochem survey (without having had basic, even in high school) so I am studying the intro book this summer in lieu of taking the intro course...wish me well!

Nutrition- again, wasn't required to have this for my ADN degree but will be taking it to transfer to the RN-BSN degree program. I can see where it would require a lot of work-memory work.

The Civ and Lit course- think READING and WRITING-papers possibly so time consuming.

My bottom line opinion: Go for it! Push yourself! Settle for nothing less than an A and you will get it! And, know that this experience will prepare you for what lies ahead in nursing school...no sleep, too much curriculum in too little time, clinical worksheets that stretch on to 20+ pages long when clinical is in the morning and you have a test the day after, special projects and research papers...and in my program it was all done in 7 weeks per class! Yes, a crash course in nursing! So, consider your current course work as an endurance building exercise...the harder you push now, the better prepared you will be to handle the stress of nursing school later.

I do agree however with the person who advised you drop a class if you absolutely CAN"T do it with a good grade ( maybe a situation will come up-illness- etc) But, again with nursing school...they DON"T CARE about YOUR health, only that you learn to care for the patient no matter what, so learn to push through the pain now!

I have to say, now that school is over and I'm a licensed RN...everything I attempt seems to pale in comparison to the difficulty of nursing school...they push you that hard all the time! And, to survive, you learn to get it done! I used to say I felt like we were contestants on Survivor- Out Wit!-Out Last- Out Play! Good luck!

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I don't know you, your life, or how intelligent you are. For me, I'd rather take it slow to insure that I get As while keeping my sanity. But again, I don't know you, your life or how intelligent you. YOU might be able to do it with all As.

I remember my sophomore year of high school. I went out for cross country. I didn't think it would be so bad. The first day of practice, we ran 5+ miles with me not having ran for months. I thought it would be impossible. Every night I cried because I thought I wouldn't make it another day. But I did! I made it all the way to the end of the season. Through all the blood sweat and tears, I learned strength and determination. I learned how strong I really was. I learned I could do anything I set my mind to. I look back at this moment in my life so much when I'm feeling low and it pushes me forward. At the time, I felt like I was goin to die. Now, all that pain helped to give me an enormous amount of strength and determination.

What I'm trying to say is that maybe this is too much. Its going to be hard. At times you might feel like you could die from the stress. But if you make it out alive, at the end you'll feel like you can accomplish anything. And that's an amazing feeling.

You can do anything you set your mind to. You can do this. Good luck! :)

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Specializes in Telemetry, Cardiac Step-Down.

I think it's doable, especially if school is your only responsibility right now! Last semester (Spring 2012) I ended up taking Microbiology, Statistics, Chemistry, and Human Development at the same time. I made high A's in each class, plus labs, so I definitely think it can be done. It'll be a challenge and lots of studying!

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

You are the only one who can decide what you can and cannot handle. Just be aware of how much study/homework time is required with each class. It is definitely do-able, but it depends on the type of student you are.

FWIW, I'm taking 4 classes this summer: Anatomy, Psychology, Phlebotomy & Healthy Lifestyles (3 weeks left to go...all A's so far!). In the fall, I'm taking 6 classes: Phyisiology, Microbiology, Microbiology Lab (our college considers this a separate course), Pharmacology, Human Growth/Development and Phlebotomy Externship (only a half semester). I am not working right now, so I'm able to soley focus on school. If I was working, I definitely would NOT be able to handle it all at the same time. Too little time in the day to devote to each subject.

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I think it's doable, especially if school is your only responsibility right now! Last semester (Spring 2012) I ended up taking Microbiology, Statistics, Chemistry, and Human Development at the same time. I made high A's in each class, plus labs, so I definitely think it can be done. It'll be a challenge and lots of studying!

You really just gave me tons of hope! I know that I can do it, if others have done it!!! Plus you have A's!! :)

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I don't know you, your life, or how intelligent you are. For me, I'd rather take it slow to insure that I get As while keeping my sanity. But again, I don't know you, your life or how intelligent you. YOU might be able to do it with all As.

I remember my sophomore year of high school. I went out for cross country. I didn't think it would be so bad. The first day of practice, we ran 5+ miles with me not having ran for months. I thought it would be impossible. Every night I cried because I thought I wouldn't make it another day. But I did! I made it all the way to the end of the season. Through all the blood sweat and tears, I learned strength and determination. I learned how strong I really was. I learned I could do anything I set my mind to. I look back at this moment in my life so much when I'm feeling low and it pushes me forward. At the time, I felt like I was goin to die. Now, all that pain helped to give me an enormous amount of strength and determination.

What I'm trying to say is that maybe this is too much. Its going to be hard. At times you might feel like you could die from the stress. But if you make it out alive, at the end you'll feel like you can accomplish anything. And that's an amazing feeling.

You can do anything you set your mind to. You can do this. Good luck! :)

Thanks!!! I know I can!!

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Just because school is your only responsibility, does not mean that you will be able to successfully tackle everything with the end result being a 4.0 GPA. Why put yourself through all of that? Spread things out a little by design and give yourself some breathing room. Imagine getting a hum dinger respiratory illness 2/3 of the way through the term. That could very well sink your A's. Dropping courses at that point will result in W's, or might not even be possible. You have to hope for the best and plan for the worst.

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Just because school is your only responsibility, does not mean that you will be able to successfully tackle everything with the end result being a 4.0 GPA. Why put yourself through all of that? Spread things out a little by design and give yourself some breathing room. Imagine getting a hum dinger respiratory illness 2/3 of the way through the term. That could very well sink your A's. Dropping courses at that point will result in W's, or might not even be possible. You have to hope for the best and plan for the worst.

I completely understand your perspective! I do not know what the future holds but I should most definitely plan for it! However, people are doing increasingly difficult tasks each day and are SUCCESSFUL in completing them. Sure, I need and have to prepare for the worse but life is about taking risks and doing what you think is best. I know what I am capable of and what I can achieve with the will of GOD. This past semester I passed with incredible grades that til this day I do not know how I was able to do it. I'm going to take a chance. I'm walking on faith!

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What is your GPA now and can you keep it (or get it) close to a 4.0? Also, are you strong in math and science? Statistics is a TON of homework (at least at my school). The fact that you have no other responsibilities, you shouldn't have a problem. Just make sure you really manage your time wisely. Good luck!

I will use my time VERY wisely! I think I will be able to handle it! I'm very strong in science! I have a 3.8 science gpa. But in math, I have to practice, practice, practice! I always do well in the end though!

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I think that's a bit much when it comes to.studying. micro is a lot of science word memorization and chemistry is a lot of equations. Stats involves a lot of practice to catch on. Nutrition requires focus because u will really be needing to know it once the nursing classes start. West civ. I never took so I don't know what to say about that.

I think it would be too much. Can u save some for summer session? Also many loans and scholarships require u to be a full time student with credit hours but the nursing classes aren't enough hrs. Just something for u to think about.

Hope this helps!

SandanRNstudent

The nursing school that I REALLY want to go to starts on May 30, 2013. So I have to be done with my pre reqs by the spring semester of 2013!

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I think you can do it! As long as you don't burn yourself out by the last couple weeks of the semester, you'll be fine. Stay motivated, once you begin to lose that motivation, you'll begin to feel a lot more pressure. The pressure is definitely normal just learn to deal with it in a healthy way (I run several miles a week in the morning to keep me leveled).

I think it's great you're overloading on hours. . .many students can't handle it. Someone in your position should take advantage of all the time they have. Good luck on your future semesters!

Thanks Jessbird. I think I can do it too! You're right. I have to stay motivated! If I lose motivation, the semester will seem impossible!!

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My experience was: Micro-had a lab, very time consuming but our professor wrote the text and tailored the course to medicine (skipped the environmental micro and history of micro stuff). Super great course-think I learned the most in it!

Chem is new for me- I'm taking it this semester-biochem survey (without having had basic, even in high school) so I am studying the intro book this summer in lieu of taking the intro course...wish me well!

Nutrition- again, wasn't required to have this for my ADN degree but will be taking it to transfer to the RN-BSN degree program. I can see where it would require a lot of work-memory work.

The Civ and Lit course- think READING and WRITING-papers possibly so time consuming.

My bottom line opinion: Go for it! Push yourself! Settle for nothing less than an A and you will get it! And, know that this experience will prepare you for what lies ahead in nursing school...no sleep, too much curriculum in too little time, clinical worksheets that stretch on to 20+ pages long when clinical is in the morning and you have a test the day after, special projects and research papers...and in my program it was all done in 7 weeks per class! Yes, a crash course in nursing! So, consider your current course work as an endurance building exercise...the harder you push now, the better prepared you will be to handle the stress of nursing school later.

I do agree however with the person who advised you drop a class if you absolutely CAN"T do it with a good grade ( maybe a situation will come up-illness- etc) But, again with nursing school...they DON"T CARE about YOUR health, only that you learn to care for the patient no matter what, so learn to push through the pain now!

I have to say, now that school is over and I'm a licensed RN...everything I attempt seems to pale in comparison to the difficulty of nursing school...they push you that hard all the time! And, to survive, you learn to get it done! I used to say I felt like we were contestants on Survivor- Out Wit!-Out Last- Out Play! Good luck!

Thank you for your advice & honesty! I'm going to go for it!

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