HELP me! Im Lost! I need college advice please!

TriciaJ, RN · Oct 14, 2016

1. You can try to find a nice diploma mill school that will accept and graduate anyone. Unfortunately, you may have trouble passing your boards, getting employed or paying off your massive student loans.

2. Best bet is to start researching your local community colleges and universities. Please do talk with advisors and recruiters. They are the only ones who can give you accurate information on requirements, costs and wait times.

3. You are likely going to have to be on a wait list and take prerequisites.

4. You might look for a CNA training program in the meantime. It'll be a start at getting some healthcare experience and finding out if that kind of work is really for you.

Not too many shortcuts, I'm afraid. Good luck.

cleback · Oct 14, 2016

You mention not wanting to take the prerequisites for a school and then be denied... sorry, but that's just what students hoping to get into nursing do. Way back when I was applying, I picked two nursing schools that had similar prerequisites and worked towards applying to both. I knew I could still be wasting my time, but at least I was increasing my chances by applying to two schools. So as the PP said, keep doing your research. You are on the right track.

Cat365 · Oct 14, 2016

This was my process. I gathered a list of potential schools. Then I made sure that they were regionally accredited anyone not got crossed off. Then I pulled up their tuition and number of credit hours required. Two left my list that way. Then I set up meetings with their nursing advisors and discussed prerequisite classes, and their acceptance criteria for the nursing program.

I asked how many applied to the program vs how many accepted. What was previous years lowest points/gpa/whatever they use as criteria and decided if I could meet those. Both of my schools required the TEAS test so I went ahead and took it. That way I would know where I stood on likelihood of acceptance.

Then I started prerequisites with the goal of A's in all classes at the school I thought would work best for me.

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Oct 14, 2016

You need to look at different schools you want to go to. Then, you apply to the college. The best thing to do is go in person and talk to admissions officers. You need to talk to financial aid. They will most likely want your high school transcripts and SAT or ACT scores.

Oncr accepted, you declare a major. Then you do the prereqs. The are called prerequisites because they are required before applying to the program. Pre=before, requisites=required.

Once you complete the prereqs, you apply to the program and complete the entrance exam. Are you positive that Michigan schools have waitlists? Who has confirmed this? Don't listen to rumors. MI is not the same as CA or NY. But, you need excellent grades to get in. Cs won't cut it for nursing school.

The actual program is 2 years. Then, you graduate, take NCLEX, and if you pass, you become a nurse.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2016

It sounds as if you are a first-generation college student. Please click on the link to read the piece below on the rationale for completing prerequisite coursework prior to applying to nursing programs. Good luck to you.

https://allnurses.com/online-nursing-schools/faqs-for-first-918245.html

Subvers658 · Oct 15, 2016

Hello, I have just been accepted to a BSN program so I suppose I will try to speak with some experience including corrections to stuff that I messed up on. It can take up to 2 years to finish your pre-reqs before you can be accepted into a BSN program.

The first thing that I would recommend is to take a look at 3 schools of your choice and look at their pre-reqs. After you have done that and write them down, you will have to complete all of them to qualify. And yes, different schools will try to get different pre-reqs out of you but never fear because as you go to school... You will notice that you will always have slots open to add in those extra courses that different nursing programs want. Always be weary when you have a semester that seems like you did not take all the courses you could have because chances are that you could have spent all that extra time completing another pre-req... (but to be fair, I had a great time with so much free time lol...) .

Every Nursing program will ask from you: an algebra course, a statistics course, an introductory chemistry course, both anatomy and physiology, microbiology, and English. For more specific requirements that particular schools you look at want, you'll probably find some common variations. Some schools want a second English course, some want an organic chemistry course, some want developmental psychology, some want nutrition, psychology, sociology, a general biology, etc. All of this can be inserted into open slots in your semesters so you can compete them all within good time. Make sure you write these down when you look at your 3 schools of choice.

Usually, pursuing an associates degree in nursing satisfies these requirements but you want to make sure that the courses completed for your ADN match the courses you need for your specific schools by reviewing everything. This is where your counselor comes in because they can help you pursue your goals by setting up your semesters with all of the courses you need. It will take about 2 years. So once you have the complete list of required courses needed for your 3 programs of choice, you have to begin planning when you will take them. For best results if you are new to the college thing, you should probably show the list to a counselor and let them format it into semesters for you but make sure that you proofread it.

Once you have completed most of your courses and have your last courses in progress, you can begin looking into nursing schools either through NursingCAS (an online application system) or through your schools of choice directly (if they do not participate in NursingCAS). You can start applying to your programs and then wait for the results. Try to get the best grades you can, having experience/volunteer hours will help a lot, and trying to use your free time to do cool things you can put on your resume. Some people also go for their RN license so that they can apply to RN to BSN programs instead of the non-licensed traditional BSN programs.

joslynmh · Oct 16, 2016

Hello everyone, Thank you for commenting on my post I appreciate all the advice. I have read the comments and I still have questions lol. okay so I would like to earn my associates degree in nursing. I have never been to college. My question is once I have gathered the 3 top schools of my choice. do I apply for admissions to all of the school just to do the pre-reqs? I know this may sound crazy but I have no clue what I am doing. say if my three top schools are Henry Ford, Oakland, and U of M do I apply for admissions to all the schools then whoever approve me first then go talk to a admission representative then go take my pre-reqs at there school? while I'm in school and almost finished then I start applying for nursing programs then I'm placed on a waitlist? can I apply to the nursing programs at the beginning once registered for pre-reqs because of the waitlist? I was looking at going to school to become a lpn but some schools want you to do pre-reqs for them as well and I thought it would be better just to school for rn since both require pre-reqs but am I wrong? p.s don't mind the bad grammar and punctuation etc. it is just the internet and I am rushing to get back to work lol. should I go to school for lpn first then apply to the nursing program? also if I do go to a school and there tuition is about 30k does that mean I will use all of my fafsa and I can not go back to school unless I pay out of pocket or pay off my first student loan debt? sorry a lot of questions.

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · Oct 17, 2016

As soon as possible, go to the FAFSA website and review all the information on student aid. File your FAFSA as soon as you can - pay attention to the deadlines for your state & college. This website has a lot of information on financial aid that will be very helpful for you.

Then, go the the website for the schools in which you're interested. There is generally a wealth of information listed under the "prospective student" section. You'll be able to get specific information about the application / admission process. It will have information about all of the steps you need to take. In a traditional (not for profit) school, when you begin the admission process you will usually be connected with an "advisor" - this person's job is to help students figure out what courses to take.

You can also look on those (traditional school) websites to get information about the nursing programs, including the application process - which pre-requisites must be taken before you can apply, entrance tests that need to be taken, forms that have to be filled out and submitted, deadlines, etc. There will also be phone numbers you can call if you need help.

NOTE: Commercial (investor owned, for-profit schools) are different. Their "advisors" may be focused on selling you as much tuition as possible, even if they have to push you into sketchy private loans. The websites are frequently designed to force you to enter personal information that will result in an unrelenting sales pitch from that school. They can be very persuasive.

Always do your own homework. Don't base these important decisions on information you receive from strangers. You can do this.

joslynmh · Oct 18, 2016

*********POST UPDATE******

Hello everyone thanks for the comments and advice!! I did apply to a community college online and I was accepted into the school. I should be receiving my acceptance letter via mail soon to move forward with the process. I have done lots of research on colleges in my area and I know this may sound crazy but I only really like one nursing program close to me. The schools I looked at had different pre-reqs expect human anatomy and biology. I am still actively looking for a school I can possible start now or in the upcoming winter semester. The college I was accepted too said online I would have to start in the spring but I am not sure about that I will call down to the office so they can actually confirm that date.