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Discussion

Imortance of Order of Prereqs

I am beginning my prereqs at our local community college this spring semester. It will take me 2-3 years to chip away at the list as I am only taking one class per semester. There are several classes required to get into their RN program that don't have anything to do with nursing, such as an art, English 101 & 102, and PE credit. I was thinking maybe since I will be taking classes for so long, that it would be a good idea to get these types of classes out of the way, so that when I finally go into the nursing program it won't be two years since I've had the more science-type classes and I've forgotten everything I learned. I admit I am more inclined to just get the more difficult classes over with right away, but that may not be the best approach. Any thoughts? Thank you!

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    The first classes ~I~ would take would be the ones that are basic prereqs to get into real prereqs. Like let's say you need English 101 to get into Psych 101 (which is an actual nursing prereq at most schools), then I'd take English 101 ASAP. Same thing with Math or Intro Biology. Let's say Intro Biology and Math is a prereq for Anatomy and Physiology. I'd take the Intro Bio or Intro Chem as soon as I could arrange it.

    Sprinkle the "fun" classes one per semester while working towards completing all the prereqs. This is just my 2cents. Taking that gym class the same semester you take Microbiology and A&P2 would be a nice, easy (but required) stress release that semester.

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    • Author

    Sounds like very good advice, thank you for the reply! I am taking a "crash course" in January (3 hours/day for two weeks) for Human Growth and Development and then an intro to Biology class this spring.

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    • Expert

    It is a good idea to take the classes like English, etc. first, because you, for the most part, never have to take these classes again. They don't "age" like anatomy, physiology, and micro. Take the science prereqs last so that you get the longest use of their time limit (five [or other] year time limit). This is while you are waiting and waiting on a waiting list. If you are aware of different circumstances (such as no waiting list, or a short one, or maybe the school has a ten year age limit for the science prereqs or you are jamming up classloads because you don't have money to drag it out) you can adjust accordingly.

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    To get into our nursing program, you have to have all your pre-reqs and core classes done. So, what I did was look at which classes those ended up being. Then, I went to see an adviser.

    It ended up that I could take my science core classes over three semesters (well two and a summer) and work all my other classes around them, without having to double up on any sciences (and I had one extra summer too without any core science courses). The important thing is to figure out what you need to take before you can take something else. As a previous poster indicated, you might need Eng before Psych (I did not) - but those are the things that will be helpful to know in laying out your plan of action.

    So, look in your course catalog. Look online. Make a basic plan. Then go see an adviser or counselor to see if you're really on the right track.

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    Just so you know, even if you finish all the non-nursing classes first, you may not be able to finish the program in less than 2 years.

    At my community college, you cannot finish in less than 2 years because you cannot take any of the nursing classes early. For example, if first semester you only have Nursing 101, that doesn't mean you can just add on Nursing 102. Nursing 102 cannot be started until you've completed and passed Nursing 101.

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    • Author

    Yes, that's how it is at my community college, too. I'm in no hurry to finish (hence the snail's pace of one prereq per semester) as my youngest children are only 5 and 8 and we homeschool. I really don't have time for more than one class at at time (I also work part-time).

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    If you're homeschooling, you might want to consider taking online classes yourself.

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