Did you take all pre-reqs before applying?

[MommaTy]

I'm new to the site and as I look through all the threads I see some students who are upset. My advice before you apply take all required pre-reqs. It better prepares you and then they will really look at your application. Where I live they can accept up to 5 students right out of high school with no pre reqs. Everyone else they won't even look at your application until you took and passed all pre reqs. Then you have to take a pre nursing entrance exam and score a minimum score before you can even hand in your application. Good luck to you all and I hope my advice will help all those who plan to apply :) I just got my acceptance letter Saturday 4/6/13 for the fall 2013 RN program.

[runsalot]

It really does depend on your school. There is no one answer as to why people don't get in. I have pre reqs remaining. And I got in just fine. Know YOUR schools requirements. And aim for that well. Aim higher. .

[Exhaustipated, ADN, BSN]

We're only required to take the pre-reqs before applying: A&P I/Lab, A&P II/Lab, Micro/Lab, ENGL 1101, PSYC 1101. I went ahead and also took the other courses that are required for the degree. I did it because I didn't want to be stuck having to take additional classes while in the nursing program. Good thing, because now we hear that some of those classes are required pre-requisites, not for the nursing program, but for different classes within the program.

[chwcbesteph, RN]

I would be interested to see the results of the poll asking "Did you take all pre-reqs before being accepted to your nursing program?"

I voted no, because my advisor encouraged me to apply for a few seats that had opened up the Spring 13 semester because of my good-lookin transcripts, even though I had pre-reqs to do still. Those pre-reqs knocked just enough points to put me below the other applicants, which was fine, because I got an extra semester to do my thing.

But being enrolled in those classes now and having reapplied, I was accepted for Fall 13. I don't know if it has to do with the pre-reqs, but I've noticed the same thing around here, too. Folks are bummed out for being rejected, but still have so much to do, or have GPAs of 3.0 or below.

But I'm also slightly ahead of the game, having most of my pre-reqs for the BSN bridge done (the wait list for the program I was waiting for and switched from was 2 years long, so I had some time) so maybe that makes me look better to admissions. Who knows.

[x_factor]

Not every school cares if you finish your co-reqs/pre-reqs before applying. My school only requires a handful of specific pre-reqs from the pre-req list and the GPA from those in deciding acceptance. The remaining classes can be completed at any point while in the program and play no role in whether you get accepted or not if you decide to do them before-hand. It'll obviously be a bit easier to not have to take them alongside nursing classes, but it's not a huge deal at many schools acceptance wise if you have some classes remaining when you apply. Depends on the school.

[RamblingSN]

My school doesn't require every pre-req to be taken. They do require A&P, Microbio, chemistry, nutrition, psych, and English. I went ahead and took all my pre-reqs so that I wouldn't have to worry about those classes during the program.

[sjalv]

My school bases acceptance on a point system. The core science classes, which are A&P1, A&P2, and Microbiology, all count for 5 points. I applied this semester and since I'm currently taking it, it wasn't counted on my application so I was missing 5 points possible. I was still accepted for the fall semester. I don't get why would people would dare apply before finishing their prereqs. Can you imagine taking A&P while also doing clinicals, skills lab, and like Foundations of Nursing?

[x_factor]

My school bases acceptance on a point system. The core science classes, which are A&P1, A&P2, and Microbiology, all count for 5 points. I applied this semester and since I'm currently taking it, it wasn't counted on my application so I was missing 5 points possible. I was still accepted for the fall semester. I don't get why would people would dare apply before finishing their prereqs. Can you imagine taking A&P while also doing clinicals, skills lab, and like Foundations of Nursing?

Because it beats waiting an extra year or longer to apply simply because you have a couple more classes to take. I'll be done with co-reqs this year, except for A&P II which I'm taking in the summer, so if I get accepted all of my classes will be done. I applied for fall admission to my program. However, my program only accepts once a year. I have classmates who will need to take a couple classes while in the program if they are accepted, however they are willing to put in the extra effort of the added classes rather than wait an entire extra year to apply to the program. I've had friends in nursing school take co-reqs along with their nursing classes. It can be difficult, but not impossible, and they were able to get through them just fine.

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

I took the sciences before I applied (nutrition, A&P, chem, etc), plus the math and began the English Comp. I know this sounds gosh but I didn't even think about being rejected. I had no idea how many people had applied and how hard it was to get into a program. I look back at it now and bliss is better.

[princesax11]

It really depends on your school. The program I am applying to suggests having at least 7 out of the 9 pre/coreqs done before applying. I will be applying after the fall 2013 semester (with 7 done), but I will do my other 2 during the spring semester so when I start in the summer (hopefully) I will be able to just focus on just nursing courses.

[SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP]

Our program has pre-reqs and co-reqs. The pre-reqs are only Anatomy, Physiology, Psych & Healthy Lifestyles. Plus you need your BLS certification and completion of one writing course and Intermediate Algebra or above. Technically, you can then apply to the program. However, since it's a points-based acceptance system, there's no way you'd have enough points to get in unless you have a lot of paid HCE hours or over 400 hours volunteer work (4 points for the first 100 volunteer hours and 2 more points for each additional 100 hours, up to 500) to be able to get in without finishing the co-reqs first.

The co-reqs are Microbiology, Pharmacology, Human Growth & Development for an additional 40 points. If you take the lab with Microbiology, you get another 6 points. So, if you don't complete all pre-reqs, you're giving up 46 points. Considering last year's cut off was 138 points, you need every point you can get! Not finishing all reqs penalizes you in the end, because you're not as competitive as other applicants. When there are hundreds of applicants vying for 128 seats, you have to stand out in the crowd. There's no interview, entrance exam, essay or letters of recommendation. Simply district residency, GPA (pre-reqs only), paid HCE hours, volunteer hours and completion of either CNA, Phlebotomy, EMT-Basic or Intro to Health Careers. That's it!

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

The program that I'm currently in requires that you have your prerequisites entirely completed before you apply to the program. They highly suggest that you have all of your graduation requirements met before you apply also, because if you have any outstanding coursework to be done prior to the completion of your program, that will delay your ability to sit for the NCLEX, simply because you will have not graduated from the College. They also have co-requisites, and while I suggest that you have them done as well, there are certain points in the program in which you must have those done so that you can continue on in the program.

So, yes, I completed all of the prerequisites prior to applying to nursing school. They would not look at my application without having all of that complete.