Didn't do to hot on my first exam.

Simplistic · Jun 15, 2017

It is a bad start.. But theres nothing you can really do at this point unless you decide to withdraw from the class and take it again next semester. Just keep your head up and study harder for the next couple of tests.

xxstarrynitesxx · Jun 15, 2017

While not an ideal score for you, 73% is not a bad start! Even though it seems to me like you know where you went wrong, I would recommend going over the exam with your professor and having him or her give you feedback on where you can approve. This shows that your education matters, that you want to improve, and that you want to succeed in the classroom. The majority of professors out there do want to see you do well in their class. Professors will sometimes give your grade a little boost at the end because they saw you putting forth effort.

I would also recommend you really take a look out how you studied the last test and see what you can improve on. Perhaps you ran out of time to study and should start studying earlier. It might even be that you need to form a study group or change how you study. It may just be that it really was a goof on those questions and nothing more. I personally have to tweak how I study for every class I take because there is not one set way that works! It might even look great if you brought your findings to your professor and see if you could get advice from them. Now that you have seen the first test, the others probably won't be a surprise.

Do not let one grade plague you the rest of your life or A&P career. I took my A&P 1 over a six week winter term. I maintained a high A throughout the entire course and even approved every exam. I sought advice from students who already took the course and the professor before I started the course and throughout as well. Yes, you got a 73% this time, but channel your feelings towards rocking the next one and the one after that! You have room to improve and show any NP program that you're capable of success.

See how you feel after talking with your professor, making any changes to your study habits, and taking another exam. If you feel the need to take the course another semester then so be it, but getting an A then is not always guaranteed.

NYCNative21 · Jun 15, 2017

Well from what I heard its worse to withdraw from a class cause it makes it show like your a quitter and I heard its better off to stay in the class and see what grade you end up with and just retake if its not the grade your looking for. Im just worried if I end up with a C or B in this class the first go around and then an A on the second go around will that first attempt still follow me and be viewable or does that A change out the grade for the first go around. Im just pissed cause my teacher sucks and I'm not using that as an excuse but he is horrible. His grading system is messed up as well. How is it out of a 70 question test I get only 3 multiple choice questions wrong and two written questions wrong and end up with a 73. Thats wrong that the written questions are worth 10 points each. On top of that I did do it right but not to his standards so instead of giving me half credit he just marked it all wrong. Plus when you go to ratemyprofessor.com. His rating is a D. All i know when I take this class over again Im not choosing him again he's horrible.

xxstarrynitesxx · Jun 15, 2017

I would recommend staying personally and working hard to get a B. Even if you have to repeat the course because you failed (absolute worst case scenario here), you will have seen everything once already. You will have to check with your individual school to see if the grade gets replaced altogether, if both grades can be seen, and how it will impact your GPA. See if you can meet with a school counselor.

I can definitely understand peeing ticked off. If your professor truly does suck, you have to teach yourself. Crash course or Khan Academy can help out so much with understanding the lecture portion. Lab, you just have to put in the time with the models if they are available. You really do have to be cautious of things the professor may want done a certain way. They can be "gimme" points or "I hate myself for missing this right now" points. I've wanted to kick myself over some obvious mistakes before.

I know my A&P professor had about 60 points alone of essay questions for every exam. Our multiple choice questions were also pretty tough, but they were geared to what we'd experience in nursing school. They had varying point values, but I felt like this was done in order to see how well we truly knew the information and were able to apply it. My friends currently in the nursing program all told me the classes and the NCLEX are all about choosing the best possible option out of options that could all work. It is no longer being able to memorize and regurgitate information. Fortunately for me, I thoroughly vetted them for professors I should or should not take because 1) they were people that were similar to me and how I approached school so I could trust that the info was good 2) I wanted professors who would challenge me and get me through nursing school/the NCLEX. I will never take the easy A because it'll usually come back to get you.

Some professors do stink out there. Just try not to give up because you might be pleasantly surprised.

haleyannsn · Jun 16, 2017

Though 73% isn't an A, it is still passing. It means you know 73% of the material! A&P is hard. It's honestly harder in some ways than nursing school classes. I would say stick to it. Don't drop. You've got this. You recognize where you went wrong, so now all you need to do is focus on what you can do to better you test taking. I would talk with the professor and ask if they have any study tips!

PrereqTaker89 · Jun 16, 2017

If it were me I'd withdrawal and do it during the full semester. A&P is core to nursing school.

nurselili30 · Jun 16, 2017

100% do not withdraw. My first ANP exam I got a 63% on the exam and finished the class with an 85% mostly due to working full time and having English 109 and college algebra my nemesis. this is the first part of the exam so that means you still have the identification part, right? well that's your"low hanging fruits" right there. Try to score 100% on the Identifications. Basically eat, breath, and sleep those pictures plus their names. I used to take pics of all my figure on my phone. Once home, I use the book and internet and label all of them in skitch (download this for free in app store). So everywhere I went, I had those pictures with me to look over. As for the physiology part, I read the book, followed unit objectives, and watched this guy named Armando Hasudanga on youtube to understand concepts. The guy is an absolute genius in ANP. This fall I will start Nursing school. If I had withdrawn like 5 people in my class did. I would have to wait another year to start nursing school. I am so glad that 63% didn't stop me.

NYCNative21 · Jun 16, 2017

Hello Nurselili30,

Im not planning on withdrawing cause I know that looks bad on your transcript. It basically shows that your quitter and you gave up when the going got tough. Yeah I am working full-time as well while also taking a medical terminology online class. The medical terminology class right now I have a 99.8% which is awesome. Well believe it or not our first test consisted of the first three chapters which were Chapter one: The human body, Chapter 2: Chemistry comes alive & Chapter 3: Cells The living units. Chapter one was beyond easy for me cause it was basically EMT school all over again and it was just building upon what I already knew but see the chemistry and cell chapters is what required majority of my attention cause I never took a chemistry class before and I had to teach myself the basics before really diving into that chapter but still when it came to test time I was very well equipped. I know I got majority of everything right expect those two stupid written questions.

The reason why I am so irritated is cause on his study guide he gave us the option to choose which covalent bond we wanted to draw. So i learned the double covalent bond C02 but when I took the test he wanted something completely different so I just drew what I knew. Then the second option was to synthesis and dehydration synthesis either an amino acid or carb. So i learned the carb one but on the test he told us to do the amino acid. SO those two questions right now basically lost me 20 points so I was already down to an 80 cause of two stupid questions.

Im really happy for you getting accepted into nursing school and I wish you the best of luck! My plan right now is to get in the high 80's for this class now cause I cant get an A. I feel like if I can land a B then I would be off to a pretty good start.

NYCNative21 · Jun 16, 2017

Hello PrereqTaker89,

I understand your concern and I agree that I should of took this class in the regular semester and now the summer cause its way to fast but withdrawing makes me look like a quitter and I just cant have that on my transcript.

flowirgyrl · Jun 16, 2017

Hello Nurselili30,
The reason why I am so irritated is cause on his study guide he gave us the option to choose which covalent bond we wanted to draw. So i learned the double covalent bond C02 but when I took the test he wanted something completely different so I just drew what I knew. Then the second option was to synthesis and dehydration synthesis either an amino acid or carb. So i learned the carb one but on the test he told us to do the amino acid. SO those two questions right now basically lost me 20 points so I was already down to an 80 cause of two stupid questions.

Sure you don't want to hear this but maybe it will help you with the rest of the semester- the study guide is just that- a "guide" it is not a guarantee and it does not mean your professor sucks when you choose to learn only one of the two things on the study guide (carb vs. amino). Either don't use the study guide or take the time to learn both when things are like that in order to be prepared. My API class- I used the professor study guide for the first test and got an 80%- after that I never even looked at the study guide just did the questions at the end of the chapter and the quizzes that came with the on line code for the book and pulled out a mid range A for the class. Study guides don't work for everyone- I know they don't for me.

Gangsteroids · Jun 16, 2017

My advice for A&P will always be this: MAKE YOUR OWN STUDY GUIDES BEFORE EVERY EXAM- hopefully at least three days before the exam, but sometimes that's not possible. It takes more time but you really can't assume that everything on a given study guide will cover your lectures and tests even if it is from the prof, and it's another good way to study! It takes at most 15 minutes if you type your notes, maybe 45 if you don't. Also, practice practice practice! You will have a really hard time memorizing everything in a short term. You really need to spend time on filling in diagrams (muscles, bones, organs, whatever). Use a page protector and a whiteboard marker so you don't have to print two dozen. Fill in everything you need to memorize at LEAST ten times if you remember things quickly, many more times if you don't. Honestly, in A&P the first part of the course is most likely the easiest. It gets harder now. You will need to put in a lot of time and effort to make the A (or B if you're okay with that grade), which I know you know... Just want to reiterate that so you know that this class is your #1 priority this summer. If you have other things to do aside from coursework and work, get a family member or friend to do it. If it's cleaning, put it off. I'm not kidding. My house was a mess when I was taking A&P and it was because I knew if I didn't spend most of my time on studying when I was home, my grade would have been at least 15% lower.

My other tip is to re-write your notes and make drawings as you can (whatever is on the lecture slides or handouts works) so you can be more familiar. Use different colored pens and pencils for all of your notes (ex: Blue for terms to memorize, red for important things to remember that the prof stresses, pink for secondary terms that you already know but need to add to notes, etc). Once you get used to your system of making notes studying becomes MUCH easier, as well as making your study guides.

I really can't stress enough how important filling in diagrams will be for you this term. Seriously... go to the store ASAP and get page protectors and whiteboard markers, and if you don't have it get a cheap printer, ink, and paper so you can print your own blanks. It will save you all of the time and pain it took for me to learn how to study A&P efficiently. Also helpful is the huge number of practice quizzes and chapter guides you can find on the internet. You can go on pretty much any textbook site you can find and they'll have sections of quizzes, study guides, and other helpful things. I used these a lot. For example, this site is a pretty well known and widely used textbook.