Most Challenging Prereq?

justjohn · Jul 16, 2013

Make sure you really know everything in the first few chapter of A&P I. The rest of A&P I and A&P II builds off the first few chapters. You will notice that you will use that information throughout both semesters. I would take Chem before Microbiology and I would try to take A&P II and micro together. Chem comes up in A&P and micro so have chem first will definitely help. I took A&P II and micro the same semester and had no problems with either one. The prereq I found to be the hardest was Nutrition. It has tons for information that you just have to memorize.

norlns24 · Jul 16, 2013

Chemistry. Definitely. My professor used canned, unedited test questions from the textbook test bank and the questions were often very unclear. I have an English degree from a while ago and I was continually pointing out questions that were ambiguous based on how they were worded. As a chem guy, it was obvious to the professor what the questions were asking, but when I actually showed him the faulty/ vague construction in some of the questions, he understood what I meant.

Also, it never failed that a question or two would pop up that actually was material from the following chapter (presumably because he was using old tests and the text book was a newer version with slightly revised chapter content), and there was always one question (at least) that most of the class would miss or have to guess on simply because the question was expecting more knowledge from the test-taker than was given in the chapter. I don't mean that it was an application question that required inference or deduction, etc., which definitely can be tricky in its own right. I simply mean that one or more of the answers would be unfamiliar terms from the material covered, even though the question itself was pertinent to the applicable chapters, again possibly due to the actual test being much older than the text. Annoying!!

Oh, and lab was nerve-wracking because a lot of them involved receiving all or partial/ no, on-the-spot credit. If your results came out okay (within an acceptable range), you received full credit. If not, you either got half or sometimes no credit at all, and there was no chance for re-dos! My lab partner was a sweetheart, but I had to watch her like a hawk. I caught her numerous times almost adding the wrong substrate to something, or mixing up directions (measuring wrong, going out of order, etc.). In practically every instance, if she had gone ahead with her intended action without intervention, the results most assuredly would have been messed up and we would have lost credit. I was a puddle of sweat by the end each lab, trying to keep track of everything. We sat furthest from all the supplies and the hood sinks, etc., and so, always got a late start and we were therefore always the last to leave each night. I did not enjoy that class at all!

sjalv · Jul 16, 2013

norlns, I had a similar experience as far as the lectures went. My professor would use old powerpoints provided by the publishing company of the book that had a lot to do with theory, but little to do with application/formulas/states of change. 90% of our test questions involved application of formulas with some science reasoning thrown in, and despite attending every 5 hour lecture (it was a summer class), I barely scraped by in the class. It didn't help that I hadn't had chemistry in high school, and he did little to introduce any basics despite it being a general chemistry class. I was so glad when that class was over.

meeep, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2013

Chemistry. Definitely. My professor used canned, unedited test questions from the textbook test bank and the questions were often very unclear. I have an English degree from a while ago and I was continually pointing out questions that were ambiguous based on how they were worded. As a chem guy, it was obvious to the professor what the questions were asking, but when I actually showed him the faulty/ vague construction in some of the questions, he understood what I meant.
Also, it never failed that a question or two would pop up that actually was material from the following chapter (presumably because he was using old tests and the text book was a newer version with slightly revised chapter content), and there was always one question (at least) that most of the class would miss or have to guess on simply because the question was expecting more knowledge from the test-taker than was given in the chapter. I don't mean that it was an application question that required inference or deduction, etc., which definitely can be tricky in its own right. I simply mean that one or more of the answers would be unfamiliar terms from the material covered, even though the question itself was pertinent to the applicable chapters, again possibly due to the actual test being much older than the text. Annoying!!

That's exactly how my current A&P 2 teacher tests, and it's an absolute nightmare! He swears the test bank goes with our book, but I suspect he is incorrect as there have been quite a few questions that were definitely not from the book. What's most frustrating is how ambiguous the wording of the questions is. I just hate feeling completely prepared on the material and then getting the test and wondering if its for a completely different course! He let us have one online test out of our 4 exams, and the highest grade in the class was still only in the 80s. Quite a departure from my A&P I teacher who wrote all of her own tests.

sjalv · Jul 16, 2013

That's exactly how my current A&P 2 teacher tests, and it's an absolute nightmare! He swears the test bank goes with our book, but I suspect he is incorrect as there have been quite a few questions that were definitely not from the book. What's most frustrating is how ambiguous the wording of the questions is. I just hate feeling completely prepared on the material and then getting the test and wondering if its for a completely different course! He let us have one online test out of our 4 exams, and the highest grade in the class was still only in the 80s. Quite a departure from my A&P I teacher who wrote all of her own tests.

My A&P1 teacher let class out early a few times, but still tested us over material he never taught as a result. So on the final, there were probably twenty questions concerning the nervous system and cranial nerves that we never went over in class. He must have skipped at least two chapters. I hate that professors get away with stuff like this.

meeep, BSN, RN · Jul 16, 2013

Ours does the same thing. For lab too. He will skip models, but we are still tested on them. Same in lecture, he will skip half the PowerPoint but we are still tested on it. We are also tested on anything in the book that hasn't been lectured on. I would say about 60% of our tests are on material that hasn't been lectured on. It's torture to study for!

Tinker88 · Jul 16, 2013

All were very interesting and I loved learning the content, but I would have to say A&P II. I took A&P I during a regular spring semester (which was my favorite pre-req), but II was cut really short in the summer. I had a lot of reading in such a short time frame. If I could go back I would have a) taken a break in between courses or b) took it in the fall because it would have been longer. I feel that the material was rushed and I didn't get to learn thoroughly like I did the 1st class.

realdream · Jul 17, 2013

Chemistry 1, 2 and up... got As on 42 credits, including micro and ap2, but chemistry i keep dropping off and then couldnt take online course with no teaching... now scared to sign in again... ughh

RNnewbie2014 · Jul 17, 2013

Definitely micro, ap1 & 2 were the most difficult for me. I made B's in all those classes. A & P was just so much material, and I had really difficult teachers!! It's hard remembering all those muscles and stuff!! I did not study much for those classes though. If I knew then what I know now (I am currently in a BSN program), I would have probably done a wholeeee lot better in those classes!! When I was applying for nursing school, I applied to two BSN programs and actually one of the requirements for one program was either philosophy or a foreign language. One day in that philosophy class did it for me!! I dropped that thing because I knew it was going to be ridiculously hard. My mind is deep but uhh NOT THAT DEEP! Lol I decided to enroll in a Spanish I class and absolutely loved it!!! It was fun and easy. The pre-reqs really have nothing on the nursing courses though for real!

catman88 · Jul 17, 2013

I found micro fairly easy compared to anat and phsl, bio and chem totally doable. Physiology was hard, but for me, Anatomy was the hardest. It was just so much memorizing - it was hard for me to adjust to. I also took physiology, microbiology, and anatomy all at the same time. It was wild but i got through it and start nursing school in september!

Way to go!! So far I haven't struggled much but I also haven't taken micro or a&p 2 yet!! We will see what I have to say next semester :)

VampyrSlayer, CNA · Jul 17, 2013

So far it's been a&p1 ( I'm halfway through it now) and nutrition. It wouldn't have been so bad but my teacher was a little too earthy for me (and I eat organically so that's saying something) and was all around condescending. I didn't do well in it so I'm retaking it next semester online so I won't have the same professor.