High School Pre-Nursing

RNshy · Jul 28, 2015

I would take the Biology and Statistics courses. Good luck!

Tumbler · Jul 28, 2015

While in high school ,you should be taking what you really "feel," and if that's Project Lead the Way, go for it. If competition is super steep, you want a course you can do well in and get a high grade. AP bio won't look good if you can't pull out an A due to a super busy home life.

Stats and Calc are two completely different kinds of math. Nurses need stats, and if you,re not strong in math or don't like it, take stat. Personally, I took AP Calc and scored high enough on the test to get college credit, but I like math, and then, yes, I took stat in college. One thing to consider: some grad programs will make you retake stat if it's taken longer than 5 years before the start of your program. It may not be the course to rush if NP is your ultimate goal.

Pharm tech sounds like a great certification to have and a good way to find work during nursing school!

i am not aware of any other degrees that would allow you to sit for the NCLEX and practice as a nurse. I'd say cast a wide net with your college applications. Apply to many schools that offer nursing, including a few ADN programs.

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jul 28, 2015

I plan to attend Sacstate and their nursing program is impacted so competition will be high and they recommend also going for other degrees that can land one a job as a nurse. What alternative degrees are there that I can take if I can't get into the nursing program?

First, congratulations to you on planning ahead and preparing for your future! If only more would do this.

I just wanted to address the part of your post I quoted, and specifically the bolded part: there IS no other degree that you could earn that could get you a job as a nurse. Only someone who is licensed as a Registered Nurse or a Practical Nurse can legally work as a nurse. And only if you have graduated from a recognized nursing program would you be eligible to take the licensing exam, the NCLEX-RN or the NCLEX-PN.

The only exception to this rule would be for military personnel who have been trained as a medic; they are able in SOME States to take the licensing exam....that is not your story, I only mention it as an "fyi". :)

While there are certainly degree programs that are useful when working in the healthcare field, you will need to gain entry into a nursing program in order to get to your goal.

Good luck!

ThatOneDude822 · Jul 30, 2015

I took AP Bio in high school during my junior year thinking it would be super helpful. That wasn't the case for me. It didn't exempt me from any prereq courses, it simply gave me credits toward gen ed (which i didn't really need either, because the microbiology prereq fulfilled it). If you think Biomed would better for you, then I would go for it.

The AP classes that will exempt you from nursing prereq courses at most schools are AP Stats and AP English. Also, AP Psych should exempt you from intro to psych (a cognate course).

If you can only take ap stats or ap calc, then stats would be better for you. I took them both during my senior year, and calc isn't really helpful for nursing, but if you have the opportunity to take both then I would go for it if you enjoy math.