Nervous about college!

[futurenurse1248]

i am a senior this year and was recently accpeted to my number one college choice. i was only accepted into their prenursing program though. to get accepted into their actual nursing program as a freshman you need about a 1600 on the SAT and a 3.0 GPA. i only got a 1550 on the SAT and have a 3.3. i have been thinking and i really want to go into nursing but i dont know if i would be smart enough to get accepted into the nursing program after my freshman yesr. (to be accepted i need a 3.0gpa). I am soooo nervous that i wont be able to make it through! what can i do?

[astronomia]

Just get as close to a 4.0 in your first year of college and your GPA should boost with no trouble. I'm a little confused though, since you said your school requires a 3.0 to get in, but you have a 3.3?

[futurenurse1248]

yes but you need a 1600 on the SAT as well. i only had a 1550

[astronomia]

You're only 50 points away! Why not retake it? Most students' scores improve when they retake it. Mine increased by 250 points the second time around.

[Saysfaa]

Astonomia, she got into the college, she needed a little higher score to get an early acceptance into the nursing program. As it is, she will need to apply to the nursing school later. Or "he" instead of "she" in all of the above.

Futurenurse, things you can do.... spend the rest of this year learning how to study effectively - whether you need to for your classes or not. Do things like set up cues that THIS is seriours study time. You can do this with things like certain background music reserved for only those times (Pandora.com classical maybe) or certain settings or certain flavor of gum or whatever that you do only then.

Learn how to take good notes, make flashcards (often making them effectively is more useful than using them), pull info from textbooks, memorize lists. Develop good test taking skills.

Before next year, make a plan. Maybe set aside 8-9 hours of sleep time, adequate time to eat and exercise, and 2 hours of study time per credit hour and commit to leaving that time blocked off before you start adding jobs, social life, and so on to your schedule. Spend some time thinking about how you learn best - if in the morning, then do your classes and/or your studying in the morning.