Going back to school after 9 years

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I have all pre-reqs from my other course-work (health promotion). Should I be taking all of my math and sciences all over again? It's been a while & can't say I've used any of it over the years. I do remember way back in school -asking myself - When am I ever going to use this stuff!? Well, I never used it & here I am needing to use it ... AGAIN. I'm only interested in applying for an ADN. In my area, my GPA isn't the biggest concern. I really want to do well in the program, haven't taken the HESI yet. Just need some advice. Have you taken all of your math/science again after an absence or just forged ahead??

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I can relate! I'm back in school after 10 years. My first a&p & micro classes are both almost 7 years old. Luckily the director of the nursing program made an exception to accept them both so I didnt have to retake them. (They normally had to be less than 5 years old)

Honestly if yours are a few years old, you may want to think about retaking them. I wish I had retaken them! I was surprised how little I know! Either way, it can't really hurt.

:)

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If you're really worried about your math/science courses,then redo them. I know that some colleges might require students to redo certain courses if they're "too old". Some colleges, too, have assessment tests to see where applicants are at academically, so you might want to consider taking that (if available) and see how you do in them.

I'm currently finishing up a microbiology course that required high school biology - I was worried about this because the last time I did the biology course was 5+ years ago... so I probably forgot much of what I learned. It turns out though that the content of the microbiology course contained a bit of review on biology and chemistry. I didn't feel more "lost" while doing the course compared with students who were fresh out of high school. So, it all depends on how you feel about it. I'm glad I didn't have to take biology again because that would have been quite expensive for me.

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I redid all of my sciences. I didn't redo Math and English. I took them all a long time ago. I really enjoyed the science classes (other than Chemistry torture), and I learned so much. It really is helpful to have learned the A&P as close to starting a nursing program as possible. Good luck.

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Well I really have a lot of thinking to do in addition to all the planning. I think that I may have resolved to re-do the sciences, but still on the fence with Math. Testing where I stand may be a good option. Truth is, I really do not know how well I may do. Was there any particular reason that you made the decision to skip re-taking math?? I really want to give myself the best shot at succeeding in the program, all while showing respect for my pocketbook.

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I went back to school after almost 20 years. My new school said I could go directly into College Algebra due to my past courses.....however, I didn't remember a thing and chose to start at beginning algebra (which wasn't even a credit class). I am SO glad I started over, I'm now in Chemistry and had I not re-taken all the algebra I would be lost.

I would recommend if you took A&P 9 years ago, to re-take it. If you have to take an entrace exam for nursing school you'll be glad you did!

I recently took my entrance exams and got accepted into a BSN program but I would have bombed the tests if my expereinces hadn't all been fresh! Good luck!

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You may have to redo some of those sciences - They have an "expiration date" for many schools. At my school it was 10 years. I'm glad I took A&P again though because I had forgotten a lot of things and we went much further in depth than I did the first time I took it.

I wouldn't retake the math- if its college algrebra level math, its not the type of math you need in nursing school. As long as its a good grade, I would not retake it. Though you might want to brush up on some concepts for the entrance test you have to take. But trust me, as someone that struggled with math, nursing math is a breeze. Simple arithmetic and conversions. Can you add, divide,subtract,multiply, work with decimals,fractions, - use the metric system - and oh yeah we do use calculators when we do our medication calculations. I use a calculator ALWAYS when I'm doing dosage calculations. Even if I'm doing 2+2. LOL! - Why? You'll find out about the 3 checks and 6 rights when you get to nursing school. I always do more than 3 checks and use the calculator to check myself even if I'm just adding 2+2.

You really don't need to redo a college algebra level math class to be successful with the math you need for nursing school.

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Definately look into your schools policy... my school had a five year limit on A&P classes and a seven year limit on math. While you may only need to know basic math for nursing, some of the entrance exams require a little algebra. (I took the TEAS, not the HESI) Go to the book store/library/online and find some math and science problems to work. See how you do. Maybe you will only need to kick some of the dust bunnies out of the way and it will come back to you!! If you find yourself having a hard time, it might be worth it to consider repeating the classes. I ended up having to re-take my algebra class because it had been eight years since I last took it and I was glad I did - math is my nemesis!!

Don't forget that most nursing programs require A&P I and II WITH LAB. If you took A&P without the lab portion, you may have to take them again.

Good luck with your endeavors!

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Not to one up you, but I'm in nursing school at 40+ years old. As for math, in my fundamentals class, we got all we needed to know via "Calculate with Confidence." Though a math class was not officially taught per se, the book covered what we needed to know for all dosage quizzes, & the school offers "math for meds" led by a math tutor on Monday's before every Thursday dosage quiz. I did not take any math classes prior to nursing, & was never good in math. I've made all A's & B's on my quizzes, & an A on the dosage mid term - all thanks to the text mentioned above.

I did however get all the pre & co requisite courses out of the way so that I'm taking only nursing courses. I cannot imagine trying to take those along with the nursing core courses & actually, most in my class who are attempting that route are sinking.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

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To the OP- Save this site in your faves now! - Khanacademy.org

It is the best source out there for math and science help. Their vids break down things so simply.

For A&P, go to youtube and look for Professor Marian Diamond.

If you don't have to repeat these courses and need some brushing up, these sites do a fantastic job. Wouldn't have made it thru my pre-reqs without them. Shoot, at times I learned a lot more from them than the prof at my school

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