Hunter College Pre-reqs: Genetics

[FutureNurseInfo]

So,

Hunter College was my only option to apply to its accelerated BSN. Obviously, there were a lot of the pre-reqs to take, but when I found out genetics was one of them I was a bit worried. In any event, in my first semester I was taking genetics, general chem lecture, and general chem lab. Three weeks into the semester I had to drop genetics, because:

1. The professor and his assistants (who taught most of the time) were very ineffective in teaching the difficult content. The assessments were not designed effectively; in short, they did not produce the valid data.

2. This class did not feel like it was designed for non-majors, students with no science background.

3. I feared I would fail the course so I could not afford getting a bad grade, thus not being eligible for nursing program admission.

Therefore, as low as my chances were of applying to Hunter Nursing before I took genetics, now, they were non-existent.

I just wanted to come here and vent, that is all. I will be considering other schools but Hunter, sadly.

One more thing, before anyone decides to judge (who knows?), let me tell you I have been a teacher for 7 years and worked as a standardized test designer for a few, so I know exactly what effective teaching looks like and valid assessments are.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Sorry you are having to deal with this roadblock, but the educational pathway to nursing is not an easy one. Nursing is a "science" major with high expectations. The big difference is that nursing still attracts a people from all walks of life.... maybe because our profession is seen as more welcoming than, say, computer science or engineering. But the flip side is that nursing education continues to have fairly high attrition rates - frequently triggered when students discover that their initial perception was far from reality.

Unlike typical majors, nursing education is a "program" based upon a cumulative curriculum that can be arranged in many different ways. Some programs have integrated content that is listed as a pre-requisite for others. That's why it's advisable to explore several "plan B" educational options. I wish you much success in finding one that will work well for you.