Pre-nursing school course confusion. Help?

itsmejuli · Nov 17, 2009

The best advice is to go to each school and sit down with an academic adviser who will help you pick the right courses.

Go to the nursing school first,the nursing school academic adviser should be able to tell you which courses they accept from the community college.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Nov 17, 2009

It's not uncommon for prereqs to have prereqs, but luckily they were minimal at the community college I took mine at. Here's a question though- is there any reason you can't take them at the school you want to go to? I imagine you'd save money at the community college, BUT tuition doesn't look *that* bad at UIC (if I have the right school): http://www.uic.edu/nursing/students/financingyoureducation.shtml and http://www.uic.edu/depts/oar/undergrad/tuition_undergrad.html for the Arts and Sciences portion.

If you're really concerned about time, maybe the cost (which could be balanced out by financial aid and scholarships) is worth it. At 22, you are considered dependent by FAFSA's standards though, so you might run in to problems with that.

Definitely sit down with advisors from both schools- if your grades in HS were good you might be able to get a pass on some of the pre-req pre-requisites (bio, chemistry?). Also, maybe UIC has recommendations for places to take prereqs and specific courses that qualify. Lastly- are there other community colleges that you can look in to?

swaydoll · Nov 18, 2009

The best advice is to go to each school and sit down with an academic adviser who will help you pick the right courses.
Go to the nursing school first,the nursing school academic adviser should be able to tell you which courses they accept from the community college.

Thank you so much! It sounds stupid, but I honestly didn't know you could do that. I thought you had to be enrolled at a school to speak to their adviser. I will definitely be doing that!

It's not uncommon for prereqs to have prereqs, but luckily they were minimal at the community college I took mine at. Here's a question though- is there any reason you can't take them at the school you want to go to? I imagine you'd save money at the community college, BUT tuition doesn't look *that* bad at UIC (if I have the right school): http://www.uic.edu/nursing/students/financingyoureducation.shtml and http://www.uic.edu/depts/oar/undergrad/tuition_undergrad.html for the Arts and Sciences portion.
If you're really concerned about time, maybe the cost (which could be balanced out by financial aid and scholarships) is worth it. At 22, you are considered dependent by FAFSA's standards though, so you might run in to problems with that.
Definitely sit down with advisors from both schools- if your grades in HS were good you might be able to get a pass on some of the pre-req pre-requisites (bio, chemistry?). Also, maybe UIC has recommendations for places to take prereqs and specific courses that qualify. Lastly- are there other community colleges that you can look in to?

Thank you as well! Unfortunately, I cannot afford UIC for my pre-reqs (also since I have been out of school for years, I want to get my feet wet at community college so that if I for some reason don't do well, it's cheap enough for me to take a class over). I plan to work during community college to save for UIC Nursing since I know I cannot work during nursing school.

It will be at least a year until I go to CC (due to some personal issues I need to get in order), so what I was thinking of doing is taking the next few months to study for CLEP exams for Algebra, Bio and maybe Intro to Psych. They cost $70 to take and if you pass the exams, this community college will grant me credit for those courses. If I even just do Bio and Algebra, that will save me a bit of money almost a semester and then I would not be behind much (time wise).

I looked into other community colleges and any that I am able to get to also have the same pre-reqs I'd need to take.

Thank you again for the advice!

peytonsmom · Nov 18, 2009

Some colleges do require that you be enrolled to speak w/ an advisor for the program, but others do not but all colleges will have someone in admissions that you can talk to and might be able to help answer some questions. Larger schools often have recruiters for different departments that you can speak with. I know at one 4 year college here I was able to speak w/ the nursing recruiter and get a lot of my quesitons answered, but I had to apply and be accepted as a general student before I could talk to the actual nursing advisor.

You're going to need some math, or at least a high placement score in math, to get into Chem. I looked over the catalog really quickly and it looks like at the CC it's placement into Math 140 which i'm guessing is probably College Algebra. Where you get stuck is if you can't place into it then you have to take refresher classes. My SIL dropped out of highschool at 16 and got her GED at 18 and then went back to school in her late 20's. She got stuck taking THREE different refresher classes in Math before she could even get started on her Chem...which was the pre-reqs for the A&P's etc etc etc. So she was already over a year behind from where she wanted to be because of having to take 3 semesters of Math. Blech. Def study study study to try and test into the higher Math.

It took me a year to complete the pre-reqs for my ADN program and I even had some of them already out of the way when I started due to a previous degree. Which seems to be pretty standard around here.

I def didn't realize the work that would go into just getting INTO the program when I started. My previous AA degree is in Business and there isn't any selective admission or pre-reqs to worry about.

dgantt01 · Nov 18, 2009

I will begin taking my pre-reqs in January. I am trying to get into the ADN Nursing Program at the Community College. Looking at the school requirements for the program it does not list Chemistry for one of the classes, but I see that people are saying that chemistry is on the TEAS test. Should I be worried about failing this portion of the test when it's time to take it? And why is it not a requirement at the CC. They are only asking that I have College Algebra.

peytonsmom · Nov 18, 2009

dgantt - Look up the Anatomy & Phys class in your college's course descriptions. I'd say 99% of all A&P classes at any college will require some kind of Chemistry as a pre-req. That's why most people end up taking Chemistry for nursing at CC's. I know the CC I did my pre-req's at didn't list Chem as a pre-req to the program but did list is as a pre-req to taking A&PI which WAS a pre-req.

peytonsmom · Nov 18, 2009

Oh and I know that my TEAS test was heavy on the chem. My chem class was 5+ years ago and there was a lot of it that I didn't remember so if your school requires a certain score on the TEAS to get into the program (mine didn't, but will start requiring a certain score next semester, we were just testing it out for them), you might want to find a good refresher course if you can.

dgantt01 · Nov 18, 2009

Thank you for the advise I will be looking into this today.

dgantt01 · Nov 18, 2009

I am trying to get in touch with the nursing program chair or anyone in her office but I'm not having any luck at the moment. I did check to see what the pre req was for A&P I and it wasn't any. I have even looked at the course requirements before you enter the program and also once you are in the program and I do not see anything that requires chemistry. I also met with my advisor last week and we went through all the classes and she never said that I needed chemistry. I find this so strange. I am still going to try and talk to someone about this.

rnjls · Nov 18, 2009

Definitely brush up on math because you will need it to do dosage calculations. Our nursing school gives a test in the first semester that you must pass with an 80%. You're given three chances and if you don't pass, you can't go on in the program. Then we have to take a test in the last semester which we have to pass with a 90%. Same thing, we have 3 tries and if we dont' pass, we can't graduate.

dgantt01 · Nov 18, 2009

Thank you.