Just started my pre-req's!

mrsmurtaugh · Oct 14, 2010

i took developmental psy online at DCCC.

it was not bad and math i took an accerelated course.

PacificRim · Oct 14, 2010

Beyondtrouble, I fully understand your situation. I lost my job in July and just wanted to complete microbiology, anatomy and physiology. I wanted to just take those three classes this fall semester, but couldn't accept find a school to accept my previous biology courses as prerequisites. I looked (and continue to look) at numerous scenarios at getting these just three courses done. I finally decided Rio Salado was the best solution, as they have accelerated eight-week classes, starting with intro biology Its going OK, but not great. I may be one of those people who aren't great online learners. I also figured the tuition incorrectly, so its costing more money than I had anticipated. I'm moving forward, but not as the pace I would like. Had I began my planning two or three months prior to my lay-off, I could probably have completed everything during the past summer school. One of the situations I had not anticipated was the difficulty of getting into classes. Because of high unemployment, many people are enrolling and the popular pre-nursing classes fill quickly.

kh321 · Oct 14, 2010

Good luck to you!

At our local community college I was able to take my Psych classes, math classes, English classes, & humanities electives online. Since you already have a BA you may not have to take these classes. I had to go to class for any thing that a lab attached to it like Chemistry, A&P, and Micro.

Hope this helps a little.

kdrose01 · Oct 14, 2010

Good luck! I took nutrition online at Montco, but have done my sciences at Ocean County College in NJ. You do the labs at home, so keep that in mind. I had to dissect a dead cat in my living room and store it, so that's something to consider if you have small children around. I really like OCC. Hope that helps! Bucks CCC offers something similar, but you have to go to campus for the exams; OCC doesn't require that and allows you to take them online.

caliotter3 · Oct 15, 2010

Look at taking one class at a time as an advantage. There are many people who do this on purpose to insure a 4.0 GPA, which puts them in a better position to be admitted. Good luck on your journey toward graduation from nursing school.

beyondtrouble · Oct 21, 2010

thanks so much for your helpful replies! for some reason i had not gotten any alerts that let me think that someone responded. my eyes bugged out when i went on this site today.

@kdrose01 i cannot imagine having to dissect a dead cat in my living room and store it. i don't think my 2 cat's would enjoy it either! :crying2:

i spoke with an advisor at montgomery county community college today and they said that it would take me like.. 2 and 1/2 years to complete my pre-reqs. i left the appointment feeling pretty bummed out.

@caliotter3 i really thank you for the "one class at a time" pep talk. i keep telling myself that but 2 & 1/2 years seems like a killer wait.

i am running into "3 snags"

one - i need an chemistry with an organic component and they only offer it once a year during the day (which i just cant do). every college/university around here considers that to be a chem 2 class. so i need to take the in-organic as a pre-req before being able to take the class that counts. *sigh*

two - they do not offer pathophysiology so i need to find a place that soes and doesnt break the bank at the same time.

three - i need to take a statistics class and my community college is making me take a pre-req for that. booo.

montco is only charging me a little over $350 per class and i would like to find an online option to help me out with the three above.

and one more thing.....

this may seem like a silly question... but i am dreading having to dissect an animal for any of these classes. are there options out there that let you do a "virtual" disection? i'm one of those strange girls who has never emotionally been able to handle seeing a hurt or dead animal.. but have no issues when it comes to humans. something "shuts off" in me and i'm able to dissociate.

kdrose01 · Oct 22, 2010

Hi beyondtrouble,

Dissecting an animal really isn't that bad, and this is coming from an animal lover. I'm a cat lover, have had several cats, and cried when I opened the box with the dead cat and cried when I had to put her out for the garbage collection. But I got through it. I told myself that it would help me understand my own cats, and I thought about what my biology professor told us before we dissected our first fetal pig: she told us to have reverence for the body of the animal, to respect it as we dissected it and to realize it once had a life. That really helped me. You're not abusing the body, but learning from it.

As for the 2.5 years, I cried when I first realized how long it was going to take, but it's actually worked out to my benefit. It gave me time to consider if it was really what I wanted to do. I started off with nutrition, since it's something that's useful anyway, and it gave me time to explore what I really wanted. Also, I work full-time, so taking one class at a time has allowed me to keep my job, so that I have income (no loans), health insurance, and a constant reminder why I'm changing careers in the first place! Not only that, but I've been able to save enough over these 2.5 years that I won't have to take out living expense loans when I return to school full-time next year (I'm doing an accelerated program and won't be able to work). Lastly, it's 2.5 years of your life. If you really can't see yourself in your current career for the next 25-30 years, what's 2.5 years to do pre-reqs? What will you do in the meantime in a career that you don't want? I've been working on my pre-reqs since January 2009, and the time has flown by! I don't know where it's gone, but I look at where I was when I first considered the career change and where I am now, and I realize what a difference this choice has made in my life. So if it's what you really want to do, do it and don't worry about the time. :-)

beyondtrouble · Oct 22, 2010

hi kdrose01 :)

i cannot say how much your response helped me. everything from the fact how your are an intense animal lover (like me) and what helped you get through it...to how you work full time and are taking a class a semester... to how your going into an accelerated program and won't be able to work (like me!) your outlook on the whole thing just... really helped. thank you :)

it's been a hard day and i've just been driving myself crazy with all of this. i'm registering for the spring semester of bio tomorrow but just now figured that i should add an online developmental psy. class as well. i figured that the online developmental psy class wouldnt be that hard to tackle with general bio. well, at least i hope not!

how was the online nutrition class for montco? i think i might try to take that at the same time as another science if it's not that difficult.

what program are you working towards getting into? the bsn express program at villanova is 14 months and expensive as heck but i heard from two friends that they loved it. i also heard that the hospital's really respond to villanova nursing students and just gobble them up. figured that it would be worth the extra money if it opens up more doors.

kdrose01 · Oct 23, 2010

You're very welcome, beyondtrouble! I know exactly how you're feeling as I went through the same thing just about 2 years ago. I was devastated when I heard how long it will take, but enjoy the journey and don't rush the process. It will happen as it's supposed to.

I posted on the other page about the CLEP, so look into that. I loved my online nutrition course. Stacy something-or-other taught it. It wasn't as time consuming as my A&P courses, but it wasn't exactly something you brush off either. I think we wrote a paper per week, but I really enjoyed it. Of course, I'm a fan of nutrition in general, so it was fun for me.

Two of my classmates from college did Villanova's ABSN program and loved it. I spent my last semester of college at VU and have no desire to return. I'm a city girl, so going to VU isn't an option for me. I'll attend Jefferson's FACT program next year. I really wanted to do NYU's program, so I don't have to leave NYC, but it's twice as expensive as Jeff's program, and I think Jeff's program is every bit as good. Plus, I'm from the Philly area, so it'll be nice to be home for a year. Maybe I'll stay afterwards, maybe I won't. I've learned I only have so much control over things, so I'm just enjoying what comes my way. I applied to Drexel too and was set to go there, then some things happened and I wound up applying to Jeff, which I preferred over Drexel anyway, so that's where I'm going. Of course, anything could happen between now and then, so I suppose I could wind up at Drexel afterall. I don't even care anymore. Wherever I go, I'll be fine. I've made it this far, so that's all that matters. You'll be fine too. :-)

Oh, and yes, having VU on your resume for a nursing job does help. My friends have said that. My mom's a nursing professor and agrees they have an excellent reputation.

beyondtrouble · Oct 23, 2010

Hi Kdrose01!

I posted on my other page about what my plan is with you and everyone's helpful suggestions. If I had a little paper umbrella I would totally celebrated with putting it in my coffee cup this morning.

Good luck with your application to Jeff! I was going to look into Drexel but I was told to stay away.... a old HS friend who I recently connected back up with on FB (who just so happend to graduate from the Villa BSN express program told me that in terms of Drexel's 11 month program...."people totally freak out during that thing and lose their minds. Totally bonkers. Unbelievably intense, you don't want it even if the 11 month timeline is seductive!"

That was enough to scare me back on track with keeping VU as my #1. I dont want to rush the actual program... I want to learn as much as I possibly can there to be the best nurse I can be. It's these pre-reqs that I need to have the same additude towards :)

Do you know what area of nursing you want to go into?

I have two totally different areas of interests right now...I would love to be on the mom and baby unit and am also really interested in working with people living with AIDS/HIV.

But I know that could ALL change when I get into the program and do clinicals and whatnot.

kdrose01 · Oct 25, 2010

I'm so glad you're feeling better! There's definitely a light at the end of the tunnel and it's a bright one! I'd heard similar things about Drexel's program from this board and from my friends who did VU's program, but when I asked a friend who did the ACE program, she said it really wasn't all that awful. So I guess it depends upon the person. At this point, I'd be happy anywhere! Or almost anywhere that's in a city!

I'm really interested in mental health, pediatrics, and possibly HIV/AIDS too. We'll see what I do, though. Like you said, who knows at this point? Anything can happen in clinicals to change my interests. That's what's so exciting about nursing! You can go in so many directions and have endless opportunities!

Just keep in mind that your prereqs will help you be a great nurse too! They're important! That will keep you motivated!