How will someone like me do in nursing school?

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I'm very worried. I have never been one who studies very much. I have all my prereqs (other than micro) taken care of. I have a 4.0, and made/make high A's in A&P. What concerns me is that I rarely study and don't feel I'm all that good at it. The classes are just ridiculously easy, imo. I'm not all that smart. I wonder how I will do in nursing school having to memorize huge amounts of complex information. I usually test pretty well, made a 93.6 on the hesi. It is really likely that I will get an acceptance letter to a highly competitive, high ranked community college in the next few weeks. I'm just really apprehensive. Are there any of you guys who are in nursing school now that would describe yourself to be like me? I've heard horror stories of A students flunking out. I am 32, homeschool my 3 kids (which has really helped keep lots of quick forgotten info fresh and I'm sure has contributed to my success thus far) live on a farm and feel like my situation is ideal for success. I have a supportive husband and my kids are pretty self sufficient. I read over some nclex questions and cannot ever imagine knowing all the information required...

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Nuring school is not hard at all. What is hard is dealing with the sheer volume of work...especially the busy work.

So that being said, just make sure you have lotss of time available. You have to be dedicated and driven to make it.

Academically it sounds like you will be just fine.

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I agree, that you wll need lots of time. This time will be spent on memorizing the RIGHT information and remembering how to apply it. Its not like A & P. Yes you need to know A & P and micro, but every test question, clinical situation, skills lab check off will be about applying what you know. As long as you're willing to change your thinking and put in the time, you can get through nursing school. You have to take it one day at a time. You can't do all that worrying and stressing out. That will really mess with your psyche. Time management is of the utmost importance, especially since you have a family.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

The toughest part is the sheer volume of stuff you will have to learn and learning how to apply it to the situation.Everything is not cut and dried information.You have to develop critical thinking skills and professional judgement.It sounds like you will be fine.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

The toughest part is the sheer volume of stuff you will have to learn and learning how to apply it to the situation.Everything is not cut and dried information.You have to develop critical thinking skills and professional judgement.It sounds like you will be fine.

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Specializes in Neuroscience.

Nursing school is easy to fail out of because the bar is set high for "failure." Anything below 80%. In a regular college program, 80% is yippee skippy, but in nursing school that little round two digit number creates fear and anxiety. The tests are also not 50 question tests where you can get quite a few wrong and still pass. Nope, about 30 questions, MAX, so you do the math. Six or more wrong = FAILURE for that exam. When your entire class total is about 200 points, it's not hard to see why many people crack, especially on tests with ambiguous questions and answers. You can study for days and be an ace, and have your ass kicked by nursing school.

Add lab tests/quizzes, check-offs (which are even more nerve wracking than the actual clinical!), disorganization and wasted time by lab instructors, 150+ pages to read in a week before the lecture while trying to study for the upcoming test (are they freakin' serious with that?!), tedious care plans, group projects, and clinicals that are approx 16 hrs out of your week and UGH. I'm tired.

Not for the feint at heart.

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You managed to get a 4.0 gpa without studying a lot?!! I would say you are pretty smart/ great test taker ( the opposite of what you said). Don't worry about memorizing, nursing school is all about critical thinking/ applying the material you have learned. Memorizing every PowerPoint slide will not help you at all. Of course, you are going to memoize labs, some signs and symptoms etc. There are barely any straight forward questions such as : what is the normal range for potassium ? Something like that. Learning how things work and what causes what, will help you remember things longer. You will feel comfortable eventually, you just have to know what study method works for you.You'll be fine :)

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Specializes in Med/Surg, OB/GYN, Informatics, Simulation.

Honestly you have to try it and see. I used to make straight A's (I had a 3.8 gpa when I transferred to my nursing school) and with the amount of work we do I'm grateful to make B-C.

I have to agree with QuarterLife88, the bar is set very high, which grade wise might not seem so bad but when you have a million things to do it really is. I have never taken the Hesi entrance exam but for my school our finals are the Hesi sections and they are ridiculously hard.

The major point is if you really want this, you need to go for it because life is never going to get any easier. I don't believe in a 'perfect' time to do anything. If you think nursing is a job you'll love don't let the worries get to you and go for it. Even though I'm terribly stressed and can't have a social life, I know I'll hopefully be a better nurse for it.

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Specializes in L&D.

If you can handle lots of information coming at you at once, you can handle getting straight A's. I was an A student in A&P and micro, and it's a little more difficult to get A's in nursing school because it's not just memorization. You have to know how to critically think about the questions, because two answers will be correct....you just have to pick the answer that is first priority. It's a lot different than just knowing facts. It sounds like you will do great, though! :D

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Thanks for all the replies. They were all really helpful. I've remained really calm about everything up until now. These past few days, waiting for that stupid letter, has gotten me worked up.

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Specializes in ER.

I am a lot like you. I'm married, have a supportive husband, and we have 3 kids. I came into nursing school with a 4.0 and earned very high A's (like 98%) in all of my sciences. I never killed myself studying the information, it just seemed very easy to grasp it (and there was usually some leeway, like dropping questions or curving grades - which does not exist in nursing school). Nursing school is totally different. For one, the information comes at you very fast and there is a LOT of it. Not only are you learning theory in the classroom, but you are also practicing in the skills lab and putting it to use in clinicals. Knowing the information isn't enough; you have to be able to apply it to different situations. All of the answers on a multiple choice question can be correct, but you have to choose the best one. And sometimes the instructors tell you one way, the book says something else, and you're expected to do it at the hospital another way.

All of that said, I spend an average amount of time studying. I don't kill myself but I do make sure I have a firm understanding of things before I take an exam. I just finished my first quarter and I got a 92% in Fundamentals and a 96% in nursing theory. The 92 was the highest grade in my class but it was still barely an A. IMHO, in order to succeed in nursing school, you have to want it very bad and be willing to put in the extra effort. Some people need to study more than others, but I don't think it's possible to get through it while not studying at all. Sometimes it feels like I am just jumping through hoops but I try to keep a smile on my face and have a positive attitude. It's working well for me so far!

If you want it, do whatever it takes to achieve it.

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