Do I take the class over again?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

Published

Okay first off I want to say this ahead so not one thinks I'm just here complaining about my situation cause I'm not. I am a freshman in college and when I started my first semester towards becoming a nurse I did not exactly plan accordingly. I decided to take one of the most important classes for nursing school during the summer semester along with another class. Anatomy and Physiology part one is the class I am talking about along with medical terminology. Medical terminology was not as hard as I thought it was cause I ended up with a 97% overall in the class but its the AP1 that I am worried about. During the time of taking this course in the summer semester I was working full-time at the fire department and taking care of my grandpa who came down with Alzheimer's. I did not get the proper studying I needed for this course cause instead of it being a 4 month course it ended up being only a month and a half course due to summer semester but Im a new college student and I didn't think about this honestly. Well long story short I only have a C in this class right now and the only way for me to get a B in this class is for me to basically ace this final exam. Of course I am going to study as hard as i can and try as hard as I can but who knows. I am currently thinking that if I end up with a C in this class that I should just retake it and do it over again cause I am worried that this will effect my GPA so much. I know I shouldn't be thinking about this but my long term goal is to get into nurse practitioner school and I am worried that this one C will lower my GPA so much and prevent me from getting in since this class is the foundation of nursing school. The reason why I am struggling in this class so much is not cause I am "dumb" but rather cause I went through a lot during this one semester. I lost my uncle, I crashed my car and it ended up getting totaled so I am without a car, My job fired me cause they didn't want to work around my schooling and I am also dealing with grandpa who has Alzheimer's. Before all this I had a low B in the class but the day before my exam I had to withdraw from the class cause my job was forcing me to come into work that day and I couldn't afford to miss the exam so it forced me to withdraw. The worse part was I got fired that next day and luckily the teacher aloud me to come back into the class but I was not thinking clearly and I should of just withdraw cause I just didn't feel prepared enough to finish the course and get the grade I wanted. Well I stayed in and I had only one day to study for the next exam which was all the muscles and how they function. I only got a 75 on the test which brought down my grade to a C and now I have to get basically a high 90 on this final exam just to make it to a B. I am currently at 289 points out of 400 for a B. Its such a crappy feeling cause I know I'm smarter than this but I can't use any of this as an excuse for my poor grades in this class.

My question to you all is do I retake this course for the upcoming semester to try and save my GPA or do I move on and do better in AP2? I know this is basically the meat before nursing school and thats what is bothering me so much. I hate it cause this makes me feel like crap honestly. Sorry if this sounded like complaining cause that was not my intention. I was just trying to insight on what do do from past nurses and current nurses. Thanks Everyone!

Specializes in Critical Care, Capacity/Bed Management.

It's ultimately your decision, but I would stay and aim for a high C or low B.

Best of Luck!

Ok, admittedly I did not read your entire post. I read just enough to know the answer. Forget about your GPA at this point. If you only got a C, you do not grasp the required concepts enough to understand what you need to know for nursing school, and know as a nurse. This is the number one mistake I see pre-nursing students make. You have to really understand your A&P. It is the basis of everything from here on out. In nursing school you are going to learn pathophysiology (healthy physiology gone wrong) and the treatments for such pathophysiologies. I saw so many nursing students struggle with these classes, bc they never truly understood the basics. Anatomy and physiology. Don't memororize. Learn the concepts thoroughly. And that is THE best advise I can give you about succeeding in nursing school. The book work in nursing school was easy for me, bc I quickly grasped the concepts bc I already knew the A&P down pat. The challenge was how fast paced everything was. Class work, papers, clinical and hours of prep work for each clinical....all at the same time. You will just barely pass or not at all if you don't know your A&P. And you don't want to be a nurse who just barely passed.

Im not trying to sound rude when I say this but I wish you would of read my full post to kinda understand what lead me to getting a C. Its not exactly cause I don't know any of the material. Rather I think in my eyes Im lucky enough to know what I do know from my circumstances. I do agree with you about knowing this is vitally important cause its the foundation and thats why I am going to knock out AP2 this fall semester and then retake this class over again.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Im not trying to sound rude when I say this but I wish you would of read my full post to kinda understand what lead me to getting a C. Its not exactly cause I don't know any of the material. Rather I think in my eyes Im lucky enough to know what I do know from my circumstances. I do agree with you about knowing this is vitally important cause its the foundation and thats why I am going to knock out AP2 this fall semester and then retake this class over again.

It doesn't matter what the circumstances behind your 'C' are. You did not show mastery of the material. You likely need to retake the class in order to fully master the material. However, be aware that your C may or may not drop off your GPA. It all depends on your school's policy.

Your right? I guess my uncle's death was my fault as well and having to go back up to New York for the funeral for two weeks was my fault. I get that I did not master the material but the circumstances that I am going through are not making the class easier. You honestly believe anyone can go through all this and still manage to get an A in a summer semester. If so I would like to meet this person. Im not the smartest person by any means but I am also not dumb. I already talked to my school and they advised me that the class grade gets replaced but it does not replace it on the GPA. Listen I get that I messed up and due to life circumstances, taking this class now was a horrible idea. I'm honestly starting to think that it would be best to just let it all go and forget about this career honestly cause I really don't think its worth it to this extent.

There is no need for you to get defensive. You asked for input here and are getting exactly what you asked for. As an added bonus, so far all of the replies have been very helpful. It's a bummer that you had such a crappy semester and that it derailed your plans at a higher grade. Unfortunately, the world does not stop turning when we make important plans for our lives. Successful people figure out how to move beyond the obstacles that life throws in their way. You can "forget about this career" because you "don't think it's worth it," or you can refocus and formulate a plan to get you to your goal.

Im personally just thinking about withdrawing from the class which will give me a WP (withdraw passing) which is not the best but it's certainly better than having a C on my transcript. The WP will not affect my GPA where the C will.

Your right? I guess my uncle's death was my fault as well and having to go back up to New York for the funeral for two weeks was my fault. I get that I did not master the material but the circumstances that I am going through are not making the class easier. You honestly believe anyone can go through all this and still manage to get an A in a summer semester. If so I would like to meet this person. Im not the smartest person by any means but I am also not dumb. I already talked to my school and they advised me that the class grade gets replaced but it does not replace it on the GPA. Listen I get that I messed up and due to life circumstances, taking this class now was a horrible idea. I'm honestly starting to think that it would be best to just let it all go and forget about this career honestly cause I really don't think its worth it to this extent.

I think you're misunderstanding. No, it's not your *fault* but that doesn't matter. Mastery of content is mastery of content no matter the reason. You can't have a nurse who doesn't understand A&P no matter what the reason was.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Your right? I guess my uncle's death was my fault as well and having to go back up to New York for the funeral for two weeks was my fault. I get that I did not master the material but the circumstances that I am going through are not making the class easier. You honestly believe anyone can go through all this and still manage to get an A in a summer semester. If so I would like to meet this person. Im not the smartest person by any means but I am also not dumb. I already talked to my school and they advised me that the class grade gets replaced but it does not replace it on the GPA. Listen I get that I messed up and due to life circumstances, taking this class now was a horrible idea. I'm honestly starting to think that it would be best to just let it all go and forget about this career honestly cause I really don't think its worth it to this extent.

You are unfortunately (by your responses) showing some immaturity and inability to take constructive advice (that you asked for). That is a far bigger hurdle than a C in anatomy.

Understood. Like I said in my previous comment. I think what I am going to do is withdraw from the class since it will come up as a withdraw passing and then retake the class. I just can't afford to have a C right now. Also my teacher old me a a couple weeks ago that getting a C in his class is good cause the nursing school looks as his class as the hardest class to take and they think getting a C in his class is like a B. I don't know but those are his words.

I can understand where issues in life disrupt your schooling. Does your school have a minimum grade requirement for this course? At my school you need at least a B- to be considered passing. It was previously a C+ which was my final grade so I was grandfathered in. Check with the school. Sometimes they may offer an auditing course where you're pretty much hearing the lectures and relearning the material. If you're okay with your grade or the school doesn't have you repeat the course, then you can also review the material on your own time and maybe watch YouTube videos to help absorb it better.

+ Add a Comment