FRUSTRATED !!!!! How do you know which prereqs to take w/o knowing which school????

roseglasses · Jul 18, 2009

I heard the same thing about the community college I am attending. I took all of there required pre-reqs and got a/b on everything. I applied this year and got accepted. I was very scared I would have to sit out and wait, because moving is not an option and the only other college I could go to is over an hour away, (again not an option) So I will start my nursing classes this aug. Find out what you need to stay competitive.

nevergonnagiveup · Jul 18, 2009

Most nursing programs require A&P 1 and 2 along with Microbiology. So you could start off with those. Also most require psychology (general and/or developmental) and a semester or two of college level english.

I think your best bet would be to compare the pre-reqs for both programs and see what courses they share in common and make that your focal point for the courses you are going to take.

Hopefully, by the time you complete the pre-reqs, you will be in a better position to apply and get accepted. Just study hard and try to maintain good grades so your application can stick out like a sore thumb.

Good luck!

nsrs2005 · Jul 18, 2009

If you can ace all your classes then do that but if you can not (like me)lol then if possible keep your options open. For me I looked at several colleges in my area rather all the colleges. I took the prereqs that they all had in common. If you ace all your classes and score high on the exam then you really do not have much to worry about. But if you have the option of looking at other schools in other states or couties that were about an hour drive then do that especially when your in a town with limited resources. I was looking high and low in states where I knew someone who would be able to help me out. But I ended up in a school that was an hour drive away. So just evaluate all the schools available and make sure they dont have waiting list if thats not a choice of yours. Cause I know that was not a choice of mines so. But then match the requirements up along with the deadlines and then make a choice. They are all pretty similar with the A&P, Microbiology, Chemistry, Math, English. You also want to find out which classes they use the GPA for because many colleges are just using the science and math classes to add the GPA so if thats the classes they are using then you wanna ace those classes. Good luck it is a job trying to get into nursing school. You also want to make sure you speak to the nursing faculty only when you do call for info because so many different information you might obtain which may not be right. And collect names when they do in case you need to refer back to them.

Elizabeth K. · Jul 18, 2009

i'm in hawaii and there aren't a lot of options as far as schools go. :crying2: to give an example to illustrate my confusion, here are the prereqs listed by the community college :

[color=#262626]eng 100 composition i (3 credits)

[color=#262626]famr 230 survey of human growth and development (3 credits)

[color=#262626]math 100 survey of mathematics (or higher level math) (3 credits)

[color=#262626]zool 141 human anatomy and physiology i (3 credits)

[color=#262626]zool 141l human anatomy and physiology lab i (1 credit)

[color=#262626]chemistry: one year of high school chemistry or one semester of

[color=#262626]college chemistry

[color=#262626]here are the prereqs required by the university:

[color=#262626]satisfactory completion of 16+ prerequisite credits below to include 1 phyl lecture/lab, and 1 other science lecture course. all remaining prerequisite coursework must be in progress at the time of application:

[color=#262626]1- *fw course (i.e. eng 100)

[color=#262626]1- *fs course (i.e. math 100)

[color=#262626]1- *fg course (i.e. hist 151)

[color=#262626]2- *ds courses (i.e. psy 100 & famr 230)

[color=#262626]1- *dp course (i.e. chem 152)

[color=#262626]1- general elective (i.e. *da/dh/dl or chem 151)

[color=#262626]micr 130/140

[color=#262626]phyl 141/l

[color=#262626]phyl 142/l

[color=#262626]the ones in bold are the ones that don't match. i haven't taken a college class since 1994 or 1995, so i'm very confused! i'm not sure if zool and phyl are equivalent to each other ???

[color=#262626]also, it looks like the comm college doesn't require that i take psy before applying where the university does. this frustrates me because i want to concentrate only on those classes i need to take before applying for a nursing program, kwim?

[color=#262626]

[color=#262626]but, if i end up not getting into the comm college, i might have to apply at the university instead ... which means delaying application until i take the other courses they require before applying. *sigh* this is such a frustrating experience! i wish i could just fast forward time and be done with my prereqs and at least be in a nursing program already !!!!!

tfleuter, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2009

I was in a similar situation when I started my pre-reqs. It seemed that every school in my state had different requirements for their nursing programs. I decided to focus on my top choice school's pre-reqs, even though it was highly competitive and at the time I didn't think I had a shot at getting in. I also made alternative schedules in the event that I needed to consider less competitive programs and I would switch my focus towards their requirements instead. I'm very happy to say that I did well in all my pre-reqs and am starting NS this fall at my top choice school, but throughout the process, I always had a back up plan.

I say make a plan of action for one school, but also make a list of the additional pre-reqs required at other schools too. If sometime throughout "plan A" you don't think you will have the grades to be competitive for that school, start considering your other options. Plan for the worst, hope for the best! Good luck!!!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2009

I would plan on transfer to a community college and take the highest possible levels of the sciences you will need. There is, unfortunately, a lot of frustration associated with transfer between any schools since each school has different requirements. I eventually transferred to a university for my BSN with a load of lower division credits from 3 different community colleges combined and here's what you need to know about universities that you may not have even realized yet (your frustrations will have only started). .

They will consider every thing you took at community college as lower division credit
They will only accept a specific number of transfer credit hours. They have limits at which they stop accepting the number of transfer credit hours they take
To earn a bachelor degree requires a lot of credit hours per their requirements. They will detail how many of them have to be upper division credit hours and a certain number of the upper division hours must only be taken at their school and from certain categories of study (EX: math, science, fine arts, etc.)
Even with all the transfer credit hours I had, I still had to spend a year taking classes at the university to fulfill requirements to qualify me to receive their bachelor's degree before getting into their BSN nursing classes. They were very funny about not permitting anyone into senior nursing classes unless all lower division general ed credits (the university's definition of general ed requirement, not your community college) had been completed.
Even though you took some classes to fulfill a pre-requisite for nursing in another school it may satisfy a university requirement for one of their categories. One of my computer classes counted as a math credit at the university. However, the university had a 6 unit upper division social science requirement that all their students had to fulfill and the classes could only be taken at their university.

NC Girl BSN · Jul 18, 2009

I agree with others. Take the prerequsites needed for the community college first and make good grades. If for some reason you don't get in, you can continue to reapply and work on classes for the university. Does your community college have a college tranfer program? Basically her in NC, you can take all the classess needed for university in 2 years and then tranfer into the upper division. It took me 4 yrs to get my ADN. Hang in there.

yesdog, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2009

In California, we have assist.org

You can look up classes on-line and see if they fulfill prereqs etc.

You probably have something like that in Hawaii. Have you spoken with a counselor? Good luck! Make sure you get good grades! :)

gillytook · Jul 18, 2009

Go talk to the advisors at each school you are looking at. They are the best ones to tell you what classes are the same and to help you develope a plan of action. At our local community college we even have an advisor for the local 4-yr who knows the CC catalog. She advised those who were doing there 2 years of prereqs before there BSN and those of us getting our ADN and entering the bridge program. Only a representative of the school can tell you what they will accept.

okilokiRN · Jul 18, 2009

I started out going to Community College, then ended up transferring to University. Most of the pre-reqs are the same (I transferred mine into university, except my Chemistry because of a difference in the course, which happens).

General pre-reqs are: Anatomy and Physiology I and II, Basic/Introductory Chemistry, Microbiology, College English I and II, and Intro to Psychology. Generally these pre-reqs are the same whether you go to community college or university.

Transferring is always an option! Best of luck - wish I could be of more help!