Just Starting off with my prereq's

LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

That's awesome! I did those for a couple years and I would tell you one thing I wish I had done. If I followed my own advice I would probably be in year two of the nursing program already instead of just starting (RN) school next month. I would take it 100% seriously and get the best possibe grades I could right from jump. In order to do that, I would have had to minimize my distractions (like an elderly parent, rescuing dogs, and I would have sold my huge house so I didn't have four acres of land to maintain and three horses.) It was HARD doing all that. Therefore my grades suffered when I first started pre reqs. I got control of the situation, made alot of sacrifices and did what had to be done, so my grades ended up really good. But if I had started out that way, I would be in my second year of nursing school and not just starting. Good luck!

jinglebellrocks25 · Jul 23, 2013

Stay focus and never give up. Hard work pays off.

A&P is a must in nursing, try to understand the systems pretty well. It will be beneficial when studying pathophysiology. Good luck!

dove01 · Jul 23, 2013

Study hard! And remember that everything will pay off at the end :) good luck!

Cheripk, RN · Jul 23, 2013

Work hard to get good grades, especially in your sciences most schools look at those courses such as A&P, and micro hard. Start off strong in those classes also and try to keep the momentum. Learning about the body and being familar with the systems will be helpful even more so when you go into depth in a&p. Focus, try to have a little fun and enjoy its a fun process doing your pre reqs because it leads up to the anticipation of getting into nursing school.

jabshire · Jul 23, 2013

I was in your very shoes one year ago to the month! Well, sort of :) I started out at my local community college toward my associate degree in Information Systems. Close to the end of my first semester, I decided to make a BIG change. Prior to IT, I used to work in law enforcement and I enjoy helping people and making a difference. Since I was already enrolled at my local community college, I decided to change my major to nursing. I've never turned back! Luckily, only one of the courses I took my first semester didn't go towards my nursing degree.

I graduated high school in 2002, am married, work full-time 40-50 hours per week, have two kids, and go to school part and 3/4 time. It is tough at times! As lorirn2b mentioned above, you have to minimize your distractions. You also have to hard-code study time in your schedule and stick to your guns. When school is in session, I make a schedule for myself. I schedule work time, class time, study time, and even time with my family. I hard-code time with my family so I know I don't give too much attention to work and school and not enough to my family. That's not all the time I spend with my family, but I know I at least have that time.

I have four pre-reqs left now. I'm taking A&P I and philosophy this semester and will be applying this fall for admission into the 2014 clinical component. Next spring I will finish up my pre-reqs with A&P II and sociology and I'll be all set. I've tried everything I can do to maintain good grades, since that's one of the main things they look at. I'm also currently studying for the entrance. At my school, you only get one shot on that test, so you have to make it count.

Currently my GPA is 3.94 and it's been tough, but it will pay off soon. Best of luck and congratulations :)

TexRN, BSN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

Is there pre reqs for the pre reqs of nursing school? I keep thinking there is, but then I see that 2 of the 4 years of BSN are dedicated to the pre reqs... and if I have most of my pre reqs done will it still take 4 more years to get my degree? Sorry to hijack, still getting the jist of things here!

madelynsmom · Jul 23, 2013

Is there pre reqs for the pre reqs of nursing school? I keep thinking there is, but then I see that 2 of the 4 years of BSN are dedicated to the pre reqs... and if I have most of my pre reqs done will it still take 4 more years to get my degree? Sorry to hijack, still getting the jist of things here!

For BSN, at least in the schools near me, 4 years includes the 2 years of pre-req's. The 2 years are almost exclusively nursing courses and clinicals.

madelynsmom · Jul 23, 2013

For the OP- I too am starting next month with pre-req's. I will be 28 in September so I am about 10 years late to the show. I received the same advice with some nurses I have encountered over the past few months- minimize distractions. For me, it's a little hard to do since I have a father with Parkinson's who doesn't have much family other than my brother and I, I'm a wife, I'm a mother to a 1 year old (next week) daughter, and I work 7:30-4:30 M-F. I had a VERY demanding job where they expected me to also take my laptop home and work from home a few hours every night and weekend. I finally decided that couldn't work for me, my family, nor my nursing education so I applied for another position at my company and I got it. It is *much* more laid back and flexible. Even though I have a million other things, it's one less thing to stress me out.

LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

Is there pre reqs for the pre reqs of nursing school? I keep thinking there is, but then I see that 2 of the 4 years of BSN are dedicated to the pre reqs... and if I have most of my pre reqs done will it still take 4 more years to get my degree? Sorry to hijack, still getting the jist of things here!

I thought........ pondering here, but I was under the impression that your BSN is the same two years of core nursing courses as if you were getting your ADN, plus your clinicals (as with ADN), plus an additional two years of the Arts and Humanities. I think you have to do pre reqs for your BSN same as you do for your ADN, one to two years, which puts your degree at five to six years. I may be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

Is there pre reqs for the pre reqs of nursing school? I keep thinking there is but then I see that 2 of the 4 years of BSN are dedicated to the pre reqs... and if I have most of my pre reqs done will it still take 4 more years to get my degree? Sorry to hijack, still getting the jist of things here![/quote']
In some ADN programs, YES.
That is a main reason why I turned my back on my ASN program MANY years ago. I had horrible yes anxiety, and was 1 grade away from passing. They wanted me back in for the next year, but I had two years of nursing classes to take-they Were not "all together" in those two years...it's nearly impossible to do that for some (if not most) ASN programs...I say back and started looking at the structure of the BSN programs and saw the similar setup...I thought, "why don't I just go for the BSN??" I went through PN school to get through to be eligible to a BSN program...if I could have did it all over again, I would have dropped out as soon as they said in class it "will take another two years..so it will be a total of four years" and I would have been a BSN nurse sooner rather than later (3.7 GPA at the time)...still glad I got there (class of 2012 ) and I have made an interesting career, so not too shabby, lol.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Jul 23, 2013

I thought........ pondering here, but I was under the impression that your BSN is the same two years of core nursing courses as if you were getting your ADN, plus your clinicals (as with ADN), plus an additional two years of the Arts and Humanities. I think you have to do pre reqs for your BSN same as you do for your ADN, one to two years, which puts your degree at five to six years. I may be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Same amount of time as the ADN...if I went straight through, total 4.5-5 years vs the 4 years of ADN. Was my preference to school for four years and end up with a four year degree instead of a two year degree. :yes: