High School Classes That I Should Take

[sone]

I'm a junior this year and I'll be a senior soon. I know that I want to become a nurse but my counselor is not really helping me and she scares me. This year I took

AP Lang

AP Chem

AP Calc AB

and those classes that's required and stuff

and my grades are OK, not that good in my opinion but just enough.

Next year, I don't know whether I should take Calc BC or drop it and take AP Stat. I have a B- on the first semester,and I might fail BC. My teacher is also pushing me for an AP Physics C! I have no background of physics at all. Should I just take AP Bio? Oh, and also, will AP Pyscology help me at all? Or am I taking hard classes for no reason? Because my friends said I do too much 'just' to become a nurse.

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

Good day:

AP Biology would be helpful for when you take A&P I/II and Microbiology; personally, I would put that as a priority class especially since you've taken AP Chemistry. AP Psychology would also be helpful as nursing programs typically require 1 to several psychology courses; and you would have a good foundation (AP Biology would rate higher if you had to narrow things down). I'm not sure of any nursing program that requires physics, but since all of the sciences use physics as a foundation, it might be a good course to take; also, if you ever want to switch to ultrasound or related fields, physics is often required.

In terms of a priority list, personally I would rate AP Biology as #1, AP Physics as #2, and AP Psychology as #3. Mainly because I don't see too many people having trouble with psychology classes even if they never had any before come college.

Thank you.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I would recommend taking a bit of a different approach... if your goal for AP classes is to prepare you to CLEP some college credits. I would urge you to take AP English, History, or any other general education courses. Then, go ahead and CLEP out of them - this will save you time and money - which will enable you to put more effort and focus into the 'harder' pre-nursing courses like A&P, Chemistry, Microbiology, and Statistics. Heck, I never took any college English courses & also CLEPed out of history and government. Sociology is also very CLEP-able.

Best of luck on your future education. Work on developing your study skills because 'learning how to learn' is an essential skill for your success in nursing.

[CDEWannaBe]

AP Biology and AP Statistics may help you test out of college classes or will at least help you be more familiar with these classes when you have to take them as prequisites for nursing school. Physics isn't required for most programs.

Does your high school let you take classes at a local college or community college while you're still in high school, to get advanced credit? If so, consider doing this. Most programs pay your tuition and you have to pay for books. If that's the case, you can often rent your books from chegg.com or other similar sites so it's not so expensive. Starting college with a headstart is a big advantage.

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

I would see if you could do dual classes next year. Spend half of your day at your high school and the other half at a community college working on your credits. Also I would see if your AP classes will transfer into credits at the college you want to go to. If I remember correctly you have to score at least a 3 or a 4 on the final test to even get college credit and the tests are expensive. Contact an advisor or admissions counselor at the colleges you are looking at to see what you can do.