Ivy Tech Thread- NOT in program yet (taking pre-reqs)

Hi and welcome!

I took APHY101 online and found it pretty much brutal. The Prof warned us (somehow I missed the warning, or I might have chickened out) that the fail rate was something outlandish...or that might have been her little way of motivating us. On the other hand, I've talked to people who took the class "live and in person" and had problems with their Prof, and they wished they'd taken it online. Go figger.

The labpack we had to order with our books came with dissection tools and some preserved animal pieces-parts we had to carve up. It also contained my new friend George who is staring at me as I type. (But by the structure of some of the bones, I'm not sure if the name should be Georgina.) I felt handicapped by doing "simulated labs," but no one else in class mentioned any regrets. We had to visit a campus twice for proctored exams; everything else was done online.

I can say the course is tough. My impression is if you work and worry your tail off, an A is possible.

Hope that helps at least a little. God luck!

I took Aphy 101 online and am currently taking 102 online. The only times you have to go to campus for either of them is for two proctored exams for each class (at your closest campus, you don't have to drive to whatever campus the class is out of). The labs for 101 were a mixture of videos to watch, simulated experiments on the computer, looking at slides if you had access to a microscope (not required, but I have a kid's microscope, low power, that I used), and dissecting. Honestly I did not do any of the dissecting for 101 and it did not matter to my grade at all. I got an A in that class, but had to put in a lot of time to read the chapters (at least twice each, sometimes more) and do the practice activities and quizzes. In an online class you basically are teaching yourself the material but can post questions to the prof if you need to. But, you have to be the type of learner who can learn well through reading on your own (and you have to be very disciplined to put in the time). If you are the type who learns best with lecture and following along taking notes, then in class might be better for you. Oh, also, online classes will have Discussion boards every week that you have to write up a post about some given topic. These will depend on your prof as to how involved they are, how much research you have to do for them, and how 'hard' the instructor grades you on them. In my 101 class, we had to write up longish posts with internet references and he graded them pretty hard. However, in my 102 class with a different instructor, all she wants apparently is for us to regurgitate the textbook and we'll get all the points. It's hard to know beforehand how your instructor will be about the discussion boards but just know that they might be something that takes up a good couple hours at least to do. I used to spend probably 3-4 hrs doing my posts in 101, but in 102 I've learned with this particular instructor that you can do it in an hour by just rewording the text material.

I also took Med. Terminology online last fall. It wasn't too bad. Again you have to read the book and teach it to yourself but it isn't that hard, just a lot of memorization. Plus weekly discussion boards again. There were 2 proctored on-campus tests and weekly quizzes over each chapter. I think the knowledge I learned in that class has helped me in Anatomy just because I already know a lot of the prefixes/suffixes.

Anyway good luck to you as you decide where to go from here!

Hmmm... thanks for the feedback. I wonder if I should just start slowly and take Med. Terminology this semester and maybe ANP in the spring. This would leave more money to upgrade my desktop to a laptop, (so that I can take my studies with me and not be tethered to my desktop if I have a paper due or research to be done, etc.) So many choices of classes..it is like a fricken smorgasboard! I don't want to lay it on too heavily but it just seems like a lot of the "cooler" classes have ANP, Med. Term., etc. as prereqs.... so the sooner I ace them and put those notches in my proverbial belt..the better! However, I know it is very important knowledge to have for my future, so I want to make sure I RETAIN all of the lovely tidbits.. so maybe slower is better..med term first,..absorb.. then ANP.. absorb.. etc.

I wouldn't mind having a "georgina" and a microscope for homeschool and also...who knows when it would come in handy.. I am a dork like that

Also...would anyone here know why most fall classes begin in August but some do not begin until October 19, yet still end around the same time at the end of December? They all state that they are worth 3 credit hours but I want to be certain it doesn't mess up my financial aid. It may be nice to ease back into the studies with half my classes beginning in August and the remainders starting up mid October..and all ending in December. Thanks for any wisdom here.

The reason some begin in August and some begin in October is that your classes are 8 week long classes. There are some that are 16 weeks, but some classes are 3 credit hours in 8 weeks.