Number of classes?

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Hi, I am starting nursing school in the fall and I have noticed on some other threads people referring to taking more than 3 classes at a time being too difficult. I am scheduled for around 7 classes (18 credit hours) just for the fall semester. I also have a one year old son and a husband. Is this possible? I thought it wouldnt be a big deal until I noticed the discussions on other threads. Thanks! :)

Im not in a hurry this is the schedule of classes that my school lays out for all incoming freshman. Even with this schedule I have 5 semesters total. All of my semesters are 16 hr semesters so If I keep moving classes I wont ever finish. I have a friend that only does 9 credit hr weeks and shes on her 5th year with 2 more to go for a 2 year radiology associates degree. I would rather work my butt off and be competitive than spend 6 years on a ASN degree. I think enough people said it was do able that Im gonna go for it. Thanks! Oh and I have a very supportive husband that is more than capable of helping in every way with daily life and our beautiful son :)

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Specializes in ED.
Im not in a hurry this is the schedule of classes that my school lays out for all incoming freshman. Even with this schedule I have 5 semesters total. All of my semesters are 16 hr semesters so If I keep moving classes I wont ever finish.

They are most gen ed classes; algebra, chemistry, english, A&P, Microbiology, psychology, human nutrition

Ok, If I'm adding correctly, these seven classes will total, at minimum, 24 credit hours. At most schools, each class is a 3 hour credit class and labs are an hour. Even though you are in each lab at least 2 hours that is a lot of time each week.

Can 24 hours be done? Sure. Like I mentioned in my previous post, our first semester of NS was 24 hours BUT the difference is that NS teachers are usually more in sync with the other teachers. I think 3 science classes in one semester is WAY too much. Are you sure this is not what they suggest for the whole school year? That would make a lot more sense to me.

m

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I know in my first yr of nursing school we had probably 6 or fail b/c they were taking to many classes. It just depends on you stamina, mostly the people who failed were taking A+P w/ the nursing classes. Also, I think it depends on what nursing classes you will be taking. Most people failed because we had so many clinical hrs and one of the hospitals required we be there by 5 am making it so we had to leave around 415 in the morning! So, ask around see what some of the second level nursing student say! They are usually always willing to give advice, and if it was too hard for them I guarantee they will let you know! :)

Good luck!

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Do incoming freshmen at your school take what is laid out? They don't at my school. Ever. They have to have a (theoretical) way to do it in two years because they are a two year school. They add all the prereqs in with the nursing classes, making up to twenty credits some semesters. It would be insane to actually try to do it that way.

Yours isn't quite that bad but you might check into whether the school really recommends their sample layout or how many students successfully follow it.

Spreading it out a little won't make your degree take six years. You can have a (very) heavy but (sort of) reasonable schedule by adding just one semester.

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I would never take that many classes and I do not have children and I don't work. However, I get straight A's and intend on keeping it that way.

I'm taking 17 credits, and we're on quarters, so that's a lot for quarters. The normal is 12. However, 6 of those credits will be finished in 3 weeks, and 1 is online.

algebra - Never been a fan of math. I'm good at it, so this wouldn't be a problem for me, but I know many, many smart people who struggle with college level Algebra.

chemistry - Chemistry is a pre-req for A&P at my school, so I'm not sure how this will be.

english - Easy for me, but takes a lot of time. Lots and lots of papers to write.

A&P- I'm in the last portion of the A&P courses, but I did not find A&P difficult. However, I have a great teacher. If you have a bad teacher, it may be a problem. It is very important to learn the A&P material, not just get through it.

Microbiology - I'm starting this Monday, but my mom took it and got an "A." However, there were LPN's in this class with my mom who failed this course.

psychology - I found this easy, however, it took at least 4 hours a week of my time with 3 assignments and 1 test per week (online class.)

human nutrition -This class was a piece of cake for me. We didn't have much homework either, but again, that depends on the teacher.

You don't have to do 9 credit hours to cut back. If you cut back even one class, that isn't going to reduce it to 9 credit hours. And who knows what pre-reqs your friend had to take to even get into the college level courses. My mom had a take an entire year of classes that I did not have to take, since mine transferred from high school. Plus, she's in a different program.

It appears your pretty set on doing this, so good luck to you. If you get into it and realize you cannot, try to withdraw early before it affects your GPA.

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A lot of people dont take the Human Nutrition until second semester but other than that most people take those classes and everyone that I know has graduated. My school is very competitive and I recently found out it only has a 30% graduation rate. I intend to put in as much work as humanly possible and I do think I will put off Human Nutrition. I am scared to drag it out because I want to apply to BSN as soon as Im done with ASN. Thanks for the advice I will defiinatly go over the schedule with the advisor soon!

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Specializes in ED.
A lot of people dont take the Human Nutrition until second semester but other than that most people take those classes and everyone that I know has graduated. My school is very competitive and I recently found out it only has a 30% graduation rate. I intend to put in as much work as humanly possible and I do think I will put off Human Nutrition. I am scared to drag it out because I want to apply to BSN as soon as Im done with ASN. Thanks for the advice I will defiinatly go over the schedule with the advisor soon!

That 30% grad rate sends up a red flag for me. That is not a very good percentage. I don't care how competitive a program is, if only 30 people out of 100 graduate, something isn't right. Sounds to me that burnout may be an issue. If they are expecting students to take THAT many classes in one year of pre-reqs I can't even imagine what the work load is for the nursing program. It would really frustrate me if I spent that much time and money on a program and I only have a 30% chance of passing.

I get what you are saying and wanting to apply and get done as soon as you can. In all reality, is one more year gonna really be that much longer? A lot of people have given you some good advice but it is ultimately up to you.

I truly think this is too much to tackle with a baby, soon-to-be-toddler, on your hands.

Think about it. They say that for every hour you are in a classroom, expect to spend at least another hour (really 2) outside the class on homework and reading. That makes your seven classes and three labs about 50 hours per week. Do you have that kind of time to spend away from your family?

I'm totally not trying to bring you down or discourage you in any way but I truly think you are setting yourself up for a LOT of stress a lot of sleepless nights. You can't ever get the time back that you miss with your family.

meredith

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A lot of people dont take the Human Nutrition until second semester but other than that most people take those classes and everyone that I know has graduated. My school is very competitive and I recently found out it only has a 30% graduation rate. I intend to put in as much work as humanly possible and I do think I will put off Human Nutrition. I am scared to drag it out because I want to apply to BSN as soon as Im done with ASN. Thanks for the advice I will defiinatly go over the schedule with the advisor soon!

Have you checked their NCLEX passing rates?

My school doesn't have a high graduation rate, but the NCLEX passing rate is high. It's a community college and has many degree programs, not just nursing. People go there to take advantage of the price and then they transfer to finish their degree. It doesn't take transfers into consideration. Half of my A&P class is transferring.

If your school is just a nursing school, that graduation rate would be a concern to me.

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I'm with KeeperMom, 30% is a redflag. If it's a private school, then they are practically forcing you to take this clasess and in affect, contributing to the 70% failure. Any good school would reaevaluate this situation and change the courseload to raise their grad rates. Is it doable? Well, if 70% failed, then NO it is not doable. Again, any good program is designed to be challenging, not be unattainable.

I would seriously reconsider this school. At the very least, ask questions. Ask them to explain why the low pass rate and what do THEY plan to do to change it.

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Ok I could have sworn that on the FAFSA website it said graduation rate for my school was 30% but the schools website says for the Nursing program the graduation rate is 80% and the NCLEX pass rate is 92%. Thats good right? I am SO nervous and SO confused.......I keep telling myself if everyone else I know could do it, I can do it.....but they didnt have kids either? Im a stay at home mom so I am used to not having a life at all, If I can spend 16 hours a day cooking, cleaning, organizing, watching tv, and playing facebook games I should be able to spend that much time on school...or is my logic all wrong?

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Kim,

what the name of the school? Does it have regionally or nationally accredidation?

Ask them how many people move on to the second semester with that kind of course load.

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The School is nationally accredited. I was a little off about the schedule, The schedule I was going by apparently was incorrect. The schedule for first semester is: Intro to College Education, Algebra, Chemistry, English, Human Anatomy and Physiology, A&P Lab and Psychology. I was originally enrolled in the Surgical Technology Program and somehow got the schedules confused the microbiology was for ST.

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