Has anyone ever had to retake English Comp a second time?

noBS N · Dec 17, 2006

I have withdrawn 2x's from my freshman composition courses as well as failed the 1rst semester sequence. I've taken Latin in high school, my grammar/punctuation/spelling etc. is not a problem. Every standardized test I've taken from pre-k to college states that I have high reading comprehension. My problem is that I hate writing. I would rather do a multiple choice test or math test anyday than a essay test. Plus the grading is so subjective. You can write the same paper and give it to 20 different professors and I'll bet you'll get each grade A-F with different scores.

I believe the only time nurses do a lot of writing is when they're documenting which is really important. I can document b/c i see a purpose behind it. Don't worry& push through it! You dont want to be like me. I've turned a 4 year degree into a 5-year degree b/c i Hatehatehate writing.

ffweste · Dec 17, 2006

Well, I don't have to take it a second time. But the first time that I went to undergrad, we didn't have to take Comp II, we had to take writing intensive classes. The same was true for Gov't. My statistics class the first time was analyzing politics, but with statistics. The nursing school didn't take that either. So next semester is my semester of retakes. UGH! So, I feel your pain- but they are just the means to an end- or at least that is what I keep telling myself.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2006

English composition class is a prereq for nursing because it is of the utmost importance for professional nurses to possess solid literacy skills. As a nurse you will be doing plenty of documentation, completing assessments, and performing other paperwork-related tasks that require a mastery of the English language. If a sound-alike medication is misspelled or your nurses' notes are not punctuated properly, it could haunt you in court if you were to ever be sued.

If you really don't want to retake the class, you can CLEP out by taking a multiple choice test. You might also be exempt from retaking the class in some areas if your ACT composite score is high enough.

I find this interesting because all of my classmates who earned 'C' grades in my English composition class seemed to have extremely low levels of literacy (below the 8th grade level).

Pixiesmom, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2006

I agree with TheCommuter on the reasons why composition is a requirement.

Did you just have a bad semester or a tough instructor? I was blessed with a fantastic instructor for both Comp I and Comp II. He thought outside of the box and truly seemed to enjoy his job.

LydiaNN · Dec 17, 2006

I also agree with the above explanation. The ability to write clearly and concisely is of vital importance in Nursing. For example, your message asks if anyone had to retake this course a 2nd time. In reality, the question should have used either the term retake or 2nd time. Otherwise, the meaning of the question is changed and you are actually asking if anyone has had to take the course 3 times. It doesn't matter on a message board because almost everyone knows what you meant. However, when you're charting, you really need to be able to construct your sentences in ways that can't be misinterpreted by other care providers or defense attorneys should you ever be called into court.

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2006

I personally think that comp and "nursing" writing or documentation are 2 completley different monsters. I agree that you need to be up on your grammar and puncutation skills... but when was the last time you read a chart where a nurse used complete sentences. Any chart I have ever read is full of fragment sentences , incomplete structured and/or run on sentences. Taking comp is not going to change that because nurses are not taught to chart that way. It was so hard for me to take comp 1 and 2 after being a nurse ..it was just unbelievable. Having said all this I still think it should be required and it still serves a valuable part with your nursing charting structure. Please excuse my misspelled words and or grammar errors....lol and dont throw the flames my way.....

RN BSN 2009 · Dec 17, 2006

Does your school have a writing center or something of that nature? We have one on our campus and they are excellent! At least with punctuation, grammar, etc etc... But they pretty much suck at APA (they usually have out of date APA books because they're so used to MLA). Good luck!

catzy5 · Dec 17, 2006

I also agree with the above explanation. The ability to write clearly and concisely is of vital importance in Nursing. For example, your message asks if anyone had to retake this course a 2nd time. In reality, the question should have used either the term retake or 2nd time. Otherwise, the meaning of the question is changed and you are actually asking if anyone has had to take the course 3 times. It doesn't matter on a message board because almost everyone knows what you meant. However, when you're charting, you really need to be able to construct your sentences in ways that can't be misinterpreted by other care providers or defense attorneys should you ever be called into court.

lol well you really brought out a good point as I actually thought the poster meant to take the class a 3rd time.

on that note I am a student who got a C in english comp 101 a million years ago (ok 20) I also took several other englishes after comp 102 and some lit courses. I am a fantastic reader but my grammer is terrible my spelling is also really bad. I grew up with a learning disability and pretty much got shuffled to the side and not taught the samethings my peers were, so I really struggled for a while in college. I ended up Getting an A in comp 2 also 20 years ago so I passed my english pre req. However I am thinking in the fall while I am waiting to get into nursing school I would like to take English again but worried about it messing up my GPA if by chance I didn't get an A. I was actually thinking of taking something more remedial then 101 even. Is there a way to take a course and not have it on your transcript?

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2006

I would suggest taking a remedial grammar class before tackling English Composition again. Even though I tested out of remedial grammar, I decided to take it anyway. I had been out of school for 15 years, and not using those skills - they atrophied.

I agree wholeheartedly with MTP. Also, when one's grammar is poor, others may question that person's ability or intelligence. It's true. In addition, get ready to write quite a few reports and papers in nursing school. You need to be focusing on the content and message you are trying to telegraph in those papers rather than struggling with the mechanics of grammar and punctuation.

*sigh* I'm taking ENG 101 next semester. I've put it off as long as possible, and did all of my science and liberal arts classes first.

CuriousMe · Dec 17, 2006

There are other benefits to Writing Comp. Obviously, it should teach you how to construct a well written paper, but my class also focused on critical reading skills. Not just reading a work and getting the subject and verbs of all the sentances.....but figuring out what the author is trying to say and why. The better critical reading skills one has, the better their critical writing will be.

It's a pain in the neck kind of class that takes up a bunch of time on rewriting papers, but I can see why it's mandated.

MC....I also agree with the above poster about finding out if there's a Writing Center on campus sometime. Also, try to meet your Proff. during their office hours and ask what you need to change on your papers.

Best of luck!!!

Peace,

Cathie

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Dec 17, 2006

It's probably worth mentioning that there is a synergistic relationship between reading and writing skills. When you improve your writing skills -you improve your reading comprehension, and it's reciprocal. The ability to comprehend tedious college texts is critical in nursing school.

I think Commuter's post reminded me of this.