Micro, Chemistry, and AP I (two in one semester)

awhitt001 · Dec 16, 2009

I actually took AP I and Micro at the same time. I didn't find it to be too difficult. The first couple of weeks were actually almost identical (cell structure and general biology). Although Micro spends the rest of the time covering non-human cell structure, I think it is very complementary to what you'll be studying in AP. I can't speak to Chem.

Good Luck !!

Remi · Dec 17, 2009

WOW! That sounds like a very heavy course load. Not to discourage you, but the English and Math, even if you don't find them difficult, are time consuming. A&P requires some investment of your time (lots of memorization), and it's important that you get good grades in your science courses.

With that being said, if you feel confident that you have the time, best wishes!

I took A&P II, micro, and another class, in one semester. I found general chem to be very different than the other "nursing" science courses. Organic chem is a good class to take as a pre-req to micro.

HTH and good luck =)

Dakovich · Dec 17, 2009

Last Spring I took: API (lec and lab), Micro (lec and lab), Statistics, Nutrition, and Pathophysiology all at once...and having done all of it together I'd say that I agree with the earlier poster who said AP and Micro kind of overlap in places. To me they overlaped in a way that made it interesting to take them together. Plenty of "a-ha!" moments in one class that would lead to reinforcement of concepts/etc in the other class. I'm not sure you'd get that with Chem and either of the other two courses. Also, I can see taking two of those classes together along with other coursework as being very challenging for many people...be sure you can handle it, don't want to mess up that GPA. I was "lucky" to have been on unemployment last Spring so I was able to really focus on all those courses.

Sand_Dollar, BSN · Dec 17, 2009

I took Chem with AP1 (+nutrition) last spring and AP2 with Micro (+psych) last summer. I spent tons of time on both APs... I had lab reports in AP2 that took me 20 hours to write!

I'm taking 18 credits this spring, just stats and 5 social sciences... I sure do miss my pure science classes! Your load seems kinda high with two sciences in there. I never took more than two sciences plus one other class just to maintain my 4.0 That's why I have more classes now (but they are a snap in comparison). Can you lessen the load by one or two classes maybe? You sound like a hard worker, just think it through. I found I spent lots of extra time on Algebra, but it was 20 years since I last took it!

Here's a trick I learned last semester when I was taking 16 credits, the number of assignments was overwhelming, even when I had them in my daytimer. What I did was put them all into a spreadsheet by due date, assignment name and class. Then did a date sort and now have a list of every assignment due in order. That list saved my bacon on numerous occasions. And when I didn't feel like doing anything I just plugged along using the list. It worked like a charm and will use it next semester (and I think throughout nursing school too). There is no better motivation when a slump hits to look at those assignments that have been scratched off (BIG black sharpie line through them!) and knowing what's left to get to the end.

Good luck on your classes, sounds like you are doing great!!

QuarterLife88, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 17, 2009

Just finishing up this semester, I had A&P 1 and chemistry together (with nothing else) and I felt like a lot of my time was occupied. Not so much for chemistry, but for anatomy. I could go a few days without looking at chemistry and still end up with an A on the exams, but Anatomy, I had to look at everyday for at least 2 hours, sometimes as much as 5 hours a day (but that's because at the very end of this semester we had tests back to back to back and there is SO much info to know). I'll end up with an A in both, but damn it was hard work. I'm not so good at math, and I know math takes time to learn as well as practice 1,000 problems a day, so I would cut that out, keep the English and do Micro and chemistry as well. Good luck.

Guest 360983 · Dec 17, 2009

I'd take A&P and Chemistry. I had an easier time in Micro than most of my classmates because I have a significant chemistry background, so it might be helpful to have the chem before micro.

vcurrin02 · Dec 18, 2009

I took A&P 1 and Mirco in a mini summer semester, and Chem and A&P2 in the fall semester. I took other courses along with those. It really just depends on you. Study, Study, Study, and when you get tired of studing, remind yourself of your goal to get into nursing school. That should keep you focused.

Study24/7 · Dec 19, 2009

During the summer prior to being accepted I took AP2 with Micro, it really wasn't that difficult. It helped that I had two great professors. Be sure to look at http://www.ratemy professor.com, I used this as a source when choosing my courses and was not disappointed with any of the instructors I chose.

Good Luck

Ciale · Dec 19, 2009

Everyone's situation is different. For instance, I wouldn't be able to handle that course load because I work full-time. I just think it all depends on what kind of student you are. Do you grasp concepts fairly quickly with a normal amount of studying (ie not having to spend every waking second studying)? If so, you can probably pull all that off. It also depends on how good you are at time management because that's basically all it is. I didn't find these intro science classes to be too challenging intellectually but require a mass amount of TIME especially if you're planning on taking all those classes at once. I highly recommend speaking with each professor and telling them what your course load is and then asking for their opinion. That's what I did this semester and they were very honest and said more than half the students end up dropping their classes. They ended up being right. You just have to get in your mind "I'm not going to be one of those students!" If you set your mind to it, you can do it!

At my school, they don't combime anatomy and physio. We have to take a separate class for each and I just got done with Anatomy. It was very demanding. We had human cadavers and I had to spend at least and extra 6 hours in lab a week which meant I stayed after lab until 10:30 pm 2 nights out of the week and was there every weekend. I took chemistry and math along with this class (while working full time so that's probably comparable to your schedule) and it was intense but not impossible. Got an A and two B's.

Anyway, sorry to be so long-winded. Bottom line, you can do it, honey! If you have to drop a class, don't feel bad about it but at least try. Good luck...keep us posted.

amojo99 · Dec 19, 2009

i just finished a similar semester. i take classes at the comm college here in pittsburgh, and i took chem 1, micro, a&p 2, and growth and development. i also work full time. it was hard as heck, no life, just studying and stress, but i ended up with 3 As and a B in micro.

it was hard with the work and the school, but i figured it was practice for an accelerated nursing program.