Nursing Prerequisites.....How Hard?

Justanotherday · Jun 25, 2010

I just started prereqs in January of this year. The science classes are hard to wrap your brain around at first, but the more you become familiar with the chapters the more it sinks in. I can only handle two classes at a time and keep up with my part time job and family responsibilities. The hardest thing so far is just carving out study time. It takes a lot of commitment and motivation. At my school you have to be done with prereqs before you can apply for the nursing program.

Do you not need a math credit?

Mommy2010 · Jun 25, 2010

I just started prereqs in January of this year. The science classes are hard to wrap your brain around at first, but the more you become familiar with the chapters the more it sinks in. I can only handle two classes at a time and keep up with my part time job and family responsibilities. The hardest thing so far is just carving out study time. It takes a lot of commitment and motivation. At my school you have to be done with prereqs before you can apply for the nursing program.
Do you not need a math credit?

Oh yeah I have to take statistics. Sorry forgot that one. How do you find time to study with 5 boys? Yeah there is a 2 year waiting list and these classes don't have to be met in order to apply to the nursing program. I may have to take some other courses, depending upon my ACT scores from high school (which was 7 years ago)!

Justanotherday · Jun 25, 2010

Well, three of my boys are taller than I am (18, 19 & 20) and can fend for themselves, so I just have my 8 and 5 year old to care for. I take my classes in the evenings, weekend, or online so child care is covered. Other than that I just get my homework done. For my classes so far where I really needed to concentrate to study, I just worked on those from about 9-11 pm each night so the boys wouldn't be running around or needing my attention.

So the way your school works, do you apply for nursing school and then just work on the prereqs while you are on the waiting list?

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Jun 25, 2010

i'd say, the prereqs are not hard but are time consuming to learn all of the material.

i'm in my 2nd semester of prereqs and there is just sooooo much material. and every professor isn't a great teacher. if you have a background in medicine at all, it will help.

i don't, so this stuff is like learning a foreign language.

i have 3 kids 15, 11 and 5. the 5 year old was home with me last semester and i barely worked. i got a b in chem and an a in english. right now, they are all home for summer and that is proving challenging, especially since i'm working more. but, i know i can do it, with commitment - a commitment to not sleeping - haha!

english comp: easy for me! i took online

general psychology: little bit harder, i dropped but was taking 2 other classes at the same time. will retake next term.

sociology: easy for me and fun!

a&p i & ii, lots of material, not as "hard" as chemistry, imo.

microbiology: ?? would assume no harder than chem, which is do-abale

growth & dev. of child, adolescent & adult: fun, easy for me

problem solving for health care prov: we dont have this. i don't know

drug therapy for health care prov: not taken, if this is like pharmacology, i heard easy.

intermediate computer apps: never took

principles of nutrition: i'd think easy, but i heard is kind of hard?

many people work and go to school or have kids and go to school. i think it would be a little harder (but do-able) to have both work and kids.

if you have more specific questions, let us know!

RebeccaV · Jun 25, 2010

I know its not very helpful, but I think we all have our own strenghts in different subjects, so whats easy for one may not b easier for another. Alot of people struggle with chem and math, I love chem and math and it comes easy to me, but I struggle a bit with bio. A&P is hard because it is very time consuming and alot of memorization. Just set aside enough time to study and get everything done and you'll be fine, just try your best.

tryingtobeanurse · Jun 26, 2010

The science classes will probably be the more difficult classes. The psychology and sociology will be more fun. Especially the child development. Nutrition was very easy for me. If possible get your strongest subjects out of the way first. So that you will have a strong GPA. Then you will be able to concentrate on your harder classes. Try to take some things online such as your english and sociology classes. I would say take your general psych class online also but some people have a hard time with general psych.

valzRN, ASN, RN · Jun 28, 2010

My suggestion is that if you have older kids, I would recruit them to help you with the younger ones while you are studying. My program didn't have all those pre-reqs though. I can tell you that the pre-reqs were not nearly as hard as the nursing program itself.

I had to take...

Algebra: that took 2 trys, I am not very good with math, but the dosage/calculations for nursing were easy for me.

English comp I and II: very easy for me, but english is also my fav subject.

Literature: again, another easy class for me

A&P I & II: I passed the first time, but they were very difficult for me. I studied a lot for that one.

Micro: In the beginning it was hard, but I came though that pretty good.

Sociology: this was a breeze

Psychology: i LOVED this class! It was easy for me and very interesting.

Nutrition: with the many diets I have been on, this was easy too. I was the only one in the class to actually make an A.

Humanities: I chose Eastern Philosophy and I really liked it.

To me, the pre-reqs were the easy part. It doesn't get hard til your 2nd term in nursing school. It's a little easier if you already have some experience though. Good luck, and just a word of wisdom... make a schedule and stick to it. IT's the only way I made it as far as I have. ;-)

Mommy2010 · Jun 28, 2010

Well, three of my boys are taller than I am (18, 19 & 20) and can fend for themselves, so I just have my 8 and 5 year old to care for. I take my classes in the evenings, weekend, or online so child care is covered. Other than that I just get my homework done. For my classes so far where I really needed to concentrate to study, I just worked on those from about 9-11 pm each night so the boys wouldn't be running around or needing my attention.
So the way your school works, do you apply for nursing school and then just work on the prereqs while you are on the waiting list?

If your ACT scores in math, science, reading, etc. are at a certain level, then yes you can be put on the waiting list. If they are lower, then you have to take some beginning courses for these to get your education up to their standards for the RN program. Then once you get on the waiting list, if you are in like the top so many for GPA, you may be able to get into the actual nursing classes sooner. I don't think that will be a problem for me though. I may have passed 6th in high school with a GPA of 3.7 and a 3.8 at my former college, but I do NOT expect to get anything better than a 3.0 since #1. I haven't been in school for 6 years and #2. It's nursing and we all know it is a very tough area!

Mommy2010 · Jun 28, 2010

So in everyones opinion then, how many hours per day/per week is good for studying and when is a good time? The only reason I ask is because I have 2 kids (2 year old & 6 week old) and it's hard for me to find time to study. My oldest goes to bed at 8:30pm and my youngest....well we really haven't found her sleeping schedule yet! My husband is here, most of the time, but he is very busy too (farming, working, etc.). I have to constantly watch my toddler because she is always trying to wake the newborn up. Since I will be working 3 days per week, this gives me 2 full days where I would hopefully be able to get some study time in (while the kids are napping). I would say when my toddler goes outside to play I could take the newborn in her car seat and just sit outside and watch my toddler play, but she always wants to go out to the pond or play on the swing set. If that happens, I have to watch her every single second because she'll either want me to push her on the swing or she'll want me to play with her at the pond. Trust me........I have no problem playing with my kids. I just want to make sure I set aside enough time to study. Sometimes if I didn't have enough sleep the night before, I would just crash on the couch while my newborn was out (while I was on maternity leave).

AddisonLawrence03 · Jun 28, 2010

All of those classes depend on the teacher you take. Some professors can make an easy class like Nutrition and Sociology very hard. Same with a&p

racquetmom · Jun 28, 2010

As RebeccaV pointed out we all have our strengths and weaknesses and same goes for study time of how much and when. I like to get up very early to study and have a hard time at night when others burn the late hours and are sleeping in the early hours. Some students claim to cram study and it works for them while others try to keep up on subjects everyday. Only you know how much time you need to study for each topic. Someone mentioned that math and micro was a favorite for them and came easy while I would say you need a lot of time to study for micro and some of this is to do with the instructors which was alread mentioned too. You may be given extra assignments for an easier class and now the easier class is consuming all your time that week as opposed to say micro class. You may set a block of study time but then baby is not tired and is hungry or has wet diaper then your block has been altered and you have to adjust. You really won't know what works for you til you sign up and actually take a class. I found studying without interruptions from kids and husband is best and so I did have to adjust and I wake up extremely early while they are asleep. Sometimes we have to change our own habits if it is something important to us.