Nursing prerequisites vs. nursing school - degree of difficulty?

norman1 · Oct 16, 2009

if organic chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, A & P, and microbiology are all required prereqs for you (as they were for me @ my school), then i would definitely say that prereqs are harder.

IHeartPeds87 · Oct 16, 2009

"harder" is a relative word. I know a lot of people say that the prereqs seem harder sometimes because the connections aren't as obvious as they are in nursing school. For example, it is hard to understand organic chemistry when it is the first class you take. Later in nursing school when you take, for example, pharmacology you'll understand why you needed organic chemistry....to understand the mechanisms behind everything. So in some ways and to some people, pharmacology might be considered easier than organic chemistry...make sense?

mard688 · Oct 17, 2009

For me, taking these nursing classes are way harder. Probably because on top of the nursing classes, we're going to clinicals... which adds onto the stress of the exams, homeworks...

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2009

You are going to receive a variety of responses that arise from peoples' different opinions and perspectives.

In my opinion, the nursing classes so far have been much easier and require less study time than the science prerequisite classes. Of course, the science classes provided a foundation on which to learn the disease processes that are being presented to me in the nursing classes.

helper T cell · Oct 17, 2009

Hello

Just keep on studying and working hard!!! You know I think that the pre reqs are harder but the time involved per credit is more for the nursing classes plus your staying up late getting ready for clinical going in early to clinical. Like me now I am going for my BSN. Took the statistics really hard second sem chem hard but now am taking a nursing elective Critical Care Nursing. Well I love the class cause now that I am working can relate to everything more but man lots of time reading discussion board etc.

Good luck pre recs are hard but the nursing classes are harder in a different way :cool:

NurseHotFlash · Oct 17, 2009

I think it was harder to get good grades in nursing school. The questions on tests were not as straight forward as they are in the pre-requisite classes. The test questions we had in nursing school tried to imitate the NCLEX questions. The professors wanted us to use critical thinking. Just knowing the facts was not enough.

mard688 · Oct 17, 2009

I think it was harder to get good grades in nursing school. The questions on tests were not as straight forward as they are in the pre-requisite classes. The test questions we had in nursing school tried to imitate the NCLEX questions. The professors wanted us to use critical thinking. Just knowing the facts was not enough.

exactly what i was trying to say! :) lol

zachery · Oct 17, 2009

I believe that everyone will have different opinions because of their different lifestyles. Are they employed, do they not have to work? These factors contribute to the difficulty of whether pre-req classes or core nursing classes are harder. Personally, both are equally as difficult because certain classes require a certain level of ability.

sethmctenn · Oct 17, 2009

In prereq classes, you primarily assimilate information. In nursing school, you are not tested on your ability to learn information. You are tested on your ability to apply information. I think nursing school is much more difficult.

GilaRRT · Oct 17, 2009

if organic chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, A & P, and microbiology are all required prereqs for you (as they were for me @ my school), then i would definitely say that prereqs are harder.

Dedicated O Chem & Biochem courses typically cannot be taken until after the gen Chem requirements are met. This is 4-12 credits in some cases. While I am not complaining, I have never herd of a nursing program having that much chemistry. I am taking an integrated gen/ochel/biochem course now, but not a dedicated O/biochem class.

dannyc12 · Oct 17, 2009

Someone told me that she thought the prereq's required for nursing school were actually harder than nursing school itself. Did anyone else have this experience?

They are different. Harder depends on your perspective and how you took them.

During your prereqs everyone is stressed out because a B means possibly not getting into your program of choice. I saw more tears after Physiology tests than many funerals I've attended.

However, many people choose to take a reduced load so they can take (or retake) say, Physiology in order to nail an A. Others want to finish quickly and take a full load of prerequisites.

After you get into Nursing School, the pace of theory, lab skills, clinicals, and assignments is daunting and difficult. In your prereqs, the professors try to challenge you, but they usually give you a fairly good idea of what you are in for in any given challenge. In many Nursing programs, not so much.

Sorry for the "It depends" answer, but it does.