Help - How to approach science courses

juliaann · Jul 4, 2010

Does your school not have a recommended sequence? At my school, Chem I and Bio are pre-reqs for anatomy, physiology, and micro.

I took mine in this order:

Bio and Chem I the same semester

Anatomy & Micro the same semester

Physiology

Chem II (not required for the nursing program, I'm taking it now in case I decide to apply to a PA program)

I didn't have any problems with that sequence. You might want to ask an adviser at your school for input.

staphylococci, NP · Jul 4, 2010

First of all, check with your school to see if Microbiology and A&P have any prerequisite courses. I would go as far to say that 100% of schools require General Biology prior to taking Microbiology. Many schools require General Biology before enrolling in Anatomy & Physiology as well.

As to what order to take them, take Biology and Chemistry I first. This will lay a solid foundation upon which to build and on which to extrapolate when you take A&P and Microbiology. The concepts and material will become clearer to understand and easier to relate. This especially comes in handy when instructors assign critical thinking questions in A&P and Microbiology.

Chemistry II was not required for my BSN program, but I did take it while I was a Biochemistry major for a very large part of my academic career. The areas of importance in Chemistry II will be gases, equilibrium, pH, and acids & bases. Thermodynamics and electrochemistry aren't all that essential to what you'll learn in other science courses but are pretty cool to know. They also may or may not cover topics in Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry. Professors in the biological sciences typically discuss the important biological molecules in their classes. So either way, you'll learn what you need to know about biochemistry.

As for the the math course (College Algebra, I assume?), take it before Chemistry II. The math becomes a little more difficult but not impossible. They should go over natural logarithms in College Algebra, which is important when calculating the pH of solution. That is something you'll have to do in Chemistry II.

If you have any questions about your science courses, please feel free to shoot your questions my way. I'd be more than happy to help. In the meantime, good luck on your endeavors! :)

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Jul 4, 2010

If you can take courses one at a time, this is the order I recommend (being that I have taken all of these already and am familiar with the content):

Biology

Chemistry

A&P

Micro

Does not matter when you take math, the math that is used in any of these courses is not very demanding to require college math as a prereq, unless your school requires it, then I would take it before anything.

Anne36, LPN · Jul 4, 2010

I would do

Math

Chem1

Bio, Chem 2

Micro

A&P

Im in A&P2 now and have taken all those except Chem2.

Streamline2010 · Jul 4, 2010

I would do
Math
Chem1
Bio, Chem 2
Micro
A&P

I agree with that. Get the math, one or both chems out of the way. I took my nursing prereqs from 3 different schools, to cram them in on time. One school had A&P as a pre requisite for microbiology, but having taken all the classes you listed, I don't see any real reason for that unless that school teaches a more rigorous micro than most. I took micro at Penn State. General biology was not a prereq. General biology (some of it) is helpful for A&P, though. Items from general biology and human structures are on most of the pre-entrance exams for RN programs, though.

fromwny · Jul 5, 2010

In my school A&P has a prerequisite, you can't take A&P before you are done with bio. Also, it might be hard to learn anatomy and physiology if you are not familiar with the biology. The same is with chemistry, A&P requires you to have some knowledge of chemistry.

So, I would recommend to take Bio and Chem first, and A&P and Microbiology after that.

Math can be taken any time, but since some math is used in Chemistry, it would not be a bad idea to take Math before Chemistry.