Online classes for RN prerequisites at HCC, LS, others?

phlox · Jul 12, 2010

Ok, I am looking at the HCC website and it seems like she could take A&P as an online course. Now, I took A&P I and II at San Jacinto in summer school back many years ago, and it was a very difficult course, I cannot imagine doing what we did online, no way. Is it as difficult online? We disected cats at San Jac, what is the A&P lab like for an online course? At HCC, at LoneStar?

lmzapata27 · Jul 12, 2010

Lone star has all the pre-reques online as well, but I too would definitly not recommend any of the Biology courses online, perhaps Psychology would be fine online. I much more prefered my classes in class, I did however take my speech class as a hybrid, where I only went 1 day a week, that was very easy. English classes may be acceptable online as well, depending on her reading proficiency and ability to write essays.Best of luck!

phlox · Jul 12, 2010

Thanks for the comment. I feel so dumb about all of this because I went to school back in the day. Heck, I started college back in 1974, the first hand held calculator hand just been invented by Texas Instruments, it "added and subtracted" and cost $75. It was required at Texas A&M (I was pre-vet but did not finish) previous to that, we used slide rules. Computer? Heck, they used slide rules to put man on the moon! Nowadays with everything online, I have to figure out what the heck is going on! Yep, I am old school.

Kyla.ann · Jul 13, 2010

I actually really liked my online classes. Just as with regular classes though, you get what you put in to them. I have taken everything online other than my science courses. To me, I would much rather prefer to do those in class so I can get hands on with what I need. (and I am very much a computer person)

I know you are looking at information for HCC and Lone Star. I am applying to Lone Star for this coming up (spring 2011) RN program so I can tell you quite a bit about that one, however I really know nothing about the HCC program. (I know you asked in another thread but figured I would kill two birds with one stone so to speak and answer both your questions here)

(I used a previous post from a wise friend of mine that has helped me out quite a bit rather than typing it all up myself - Thanks lilag!)

For the RN program, "Lone Star uses a point system, broken down into three sections of four points each, with the highest possible score of 12. All applicants from all Lone Star colleges are put together in order of ranking (highest to lowest), and they go down the list placing people until all spots are full. If your first choice college still has available seats, you'll get in there; if not, you'll be accepted to your second or third choice, or placed as an alternate. There is no definite cutoff score for any one college; it all depends on what the scores are that semester when you apply. For instance, if Cy-Fair accepts 40 students, the 40 applicants with the highest score and Cy-Fair as a choice will get those spots. The cutoff could be 11.5 one semester and 11.3 the next. Looking at past cutoffs is just a general guideline to judge where you might be in the ranks.

The three sections are broken down as follows-

1. GPA in ENGL 1301, PSYC 2301, and BIOL 2401 (or 2402 if your grade is higher). While the required minimum is 2.5, past scores of accepted applicants pretty much dictate that a 4.0 is neccessary. If you don't have the four points here, you would likely need to complete all of your hours (see #2) and score near perfect on the HESI.

2. Total number of gen. ed. hours completed. These are all of the non-nursing classes that are required to graduate from the RN program. There are a total of 31 hours, and to get the full four points, you need to have finished (with grade recorded) at least 27 hours. Again, like the classes above you must have a 'C' or better in these classes. This is why the co-reqs have unofficially become pre-reqs; history dictates that you pretty much need to finish all but one class before applying. This is probably the easiest of the three but most irritating, since it leaves some of us hanging for a semester with only one class (or even no classes) to take.

3. HESI reading score. To find your score out of four, just divide your reading score by 25. Also you must pass the math section with a 70 or higher. I read that your math score will be only be used for ranking if you and another student have the same score out of 12, and there is only one spot. They would then rank you based on your math score."

I hope that helps. As far as financial aid, I am still strugging through that myself. I do know though, that her first step should be to apply online to the school, fill out her FASFA, wait a few days for them to process, then head up to the school and meet with a Financial Aid advisor. That is really the only way she is going to know exactly where she stand on getting the most help she can to finance school.

phlox · Jul 13, 2010

Kyla, that was the best answer EVER! Thank you so much! I was so very confused by all those points that folks were talking about and you made sense of it for me! :) I will digest this and go from there. Thanks again!

Kyla.ann · Jul 13, 2010

You are very welcome. I know how confusing this all can be. :) I hope you are able to sort it all out and she can get working on it. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask me. I will try to answer as best as I can.

Good luck to your daughter!