How Many Times Do You Have To Take A&P1 ?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I am in A&P 1 for the first time this semester. 90% of the class is taking it for at least the second time. One lady is in there for the 4th time! No disrespect intended, but how many times do you have to take this class in order to pass? Yikes! Is something wrong with this picture?:confused:

Specializes in SRNA.

Just wanted to contribute to this by stating that here in Southern California many of the ADN programs place a higher regard on the student who takes a nursing pre-req and gets a B (or even a C) the first time, rather than the student who retakes a course to achieve an A the second time.

I'm not applying to an ADN program locally (just completing pre-reqs for a grad. program) so I don't know how the points systems at these schools work exactly, but they will deduct points from you if you retake a course and they will only let you retake a given course once.

In my mind, this is a smart system...it weeds out those who aren't serious about getting things right the first time. I was very irritated when half our our 8-week anatomy class dropped before the final last summer, when those seats could have been filled by students well-prepared to succeed.

I retook A & P 1 twice for several reasons. First off, I was getting married the same semester I took A & P 1 and I was due to be out the first week of May for my honeymoon. Day 1 I told my instructor and it didn't interfere with anything big, just missing one lecture. Well the week before my wedding he changes our big lab practical from that week to the week where I was going to be out! I told him day one that if I was going to miss anything I would drop the course and take it again another time. He said it would be fine. I could either come take that test on the morning of my wedding day or take and incomplete and make it up the next semester. So because I missed this test worth 1/4 of our grade I had to take the Incomplete and make up the test the next semester. So I did make up the test but my teacher didn't submit my new grade a two full semesters after I had originally taken the course. I was able to retake the class and get my grade faster than it took him to post my original grade. I decided to retake it because I needed an A & P grade to apply to the nursing program. Another reason I decided to retake it is because he wasn't a very good instructor. Other people at my school were dissecting cats and the most we ever did lab-wise was look a slide of blood. Seriously. His lectures consisted of telling old stories of when he was in med school. Which would have been fine if he were actually going over the material as well but he wasn't. Just went off on tangents the whole night. The second time we took it we got to use the microscope a ton as well as use the muscle, bone, etc models and dissect a cat! I made a B the first time around and an A the second time around. I also took A & P 2 before I decided to retake A & P 1 and got an A as well. I am by no means a slacker and should have gotten an A the first time around, but the combination of last minute wedding stuff and getting married and getting a terrible teacher I ended up with a B. I personally think its stupid to HAVE to retake a class for getting a B, but with how competitive nursing is, what other choice do you have? I don't think that I will be a terrible nurse unless I make an A in every single class, but it seems most nursing schools do. Honestly when I make B's its either because I have too much on my plate or I'm not really applying myself. I know you should always apply yourself, but honestly I don't like history one single bit. The class bores me to tears, so if I can make a B with little effort, fine by me. Now if I'm ever in a life threatening situation and I need to know about World War 1 to save my patients life, then I will personally pay my school a million dollars for making me take that class! Where I'm at they charge higher tution if you take any class more than twice.

I think retaking a course once is understandable, for a variety of reasons. Perhaps it is due to entering college too quickly, being ill prepared, or not having proper study skills the first time around. Perhaps it is due to having too many obligations. Or, perhaps the material just isn't grasped enough to get a competitive grade (read: A) the first time. Some colleges also require that science courses be completed relatively recently (i.e. within past five or past seven years), which could prompt someone to retake a course.

I took A&P 1 last semester for the first time and got an A. I certainly studied a lot but did not think it was difficult. I had a full time credit load and also worked full time. Part of my credit load was a counseling internship which required much more time per week than the credit load reflected.

I am in A&P 2 now and am overwhelmed with the sheer amount of material in the course. My father passed away at the beginning of the semester and I did not study at all for the first two weeks. I have spent a lot of time catching up. I do not want to drop the course since I have already received an acceptance to a nursing program for this fall and would like to take a break from school over the summer. So far I am doing well, but if I do not perform well on the first exam, I plan to drop the course and will retake it in the summer.

I have asked a friend who is a nurse what she thought of A&P 2. She stated that she had retaken it for a higher grade. Unlike me, her original college major was nursing and she got her BSN in 1999. I know that she repeated one or two other courses. She has done well in her nursing career and I do not think less of her for having to repeat a couple of courses, even if it was for nursing.

Sometimes stuff happens and repeating a course is necessary. However, doing so more than once necessitates rethinking of one's field of study.

Specializes in Peds, PICU, Home health, Dialysis.

At my BSN program, they will not consider any student who has taken a course more than two times. Furthermore, they require that you get at last a 'B' in your science and math pre-req's.

I couldn't imagine taking A&PI & II or Microbiology a second time. That is why I study my butt off the first time to ensure I do well.

I have come in contact with students who were taking a course for the 3rd or 4th time (one girl was her 5th time around in A&P II) -- they wouldn't be accepted to our BSN program but all had planned on applying to a local ADN program. Those students who need to continually retake classes are usually extremely lazy and disinterested with the entire college/university learning atmosphere. They are wasting their money, and I wish they would all understand that.

However, I can see a student re-taking a class once or twice throughout their college term (I personally would despise doing that) but I'm sure there are extenuating cicrumstances that come up, and like a previous poster had stated, some students are very ill-prepared for college-level classes.

I tested out of the class. It took me twice to test out of it with a "B".

At the college I attend, they actually tell us at the Nursing Information Session that if you've tried A&P once and you were not successful, then don't bother applying to the nursing program. She said "They want people that get it right the first time."

It's tons of studying and tons of material...you just really have to commit yourself, kwim?

If you get a D or an F in any science class, you can retake the course one more time. If you get below a C the second time then you are out of the program. (In our school)

Right now 8 people in my A&P 1 class are getting F's and a few others are getting D's. Only 3 have A's. (So far, luckily I am one of them) She reprimanded the class and told us that this is the easy class compared to A&P 2 and regular nursing classes, and if we can't pass this then we are in trouble. I hope everyone can raise their grade before they have to retake it. The girl next to me is in it for the second and this is her last try.

I took it once and got an A.

Mn State Mankato SON just implemented a single retake policy for prerequisites.

Best advice I ever got for school was "Study is more effective than worry" from Fr. Pete Tintes

Specializes in Accepted...Master's Entry Program, 2008!.
If you get a D or an F in any science class, you can retake the course one more time. If you get below a C the second time then you are out of the program. (In our school)

Right now 8 people in my A&P 1 class are getting F's and a few others are getting D's. Only 3 have A's. (So far, luckily I am one of them) She reprimanded the class and told us that this is the easy class compared to A&P 2 and regular nursing classes, and if we can't pass this then we are in trouble. I hope everyone can raise their grade before they have to retake it. The girl next to me is in it for the second and this is her last try.

What exactly are these 8 people doing to get an F?

When I was in A&P one of my lab table mates was taking the class for the third time. He had taken it once at the same college, but it was the harder version with actual cadavers and he dropped it. Then he took it at a university and found it too difficult and didn't manage to pull a C. His last attempt with my class got him the C he needed :) (he was going into sports medicine, I think?). I think that your instructor is a big factor in whether or not you will succeed. I got lucky and mine was awesome! It takes a bit of dedication on the student's part too, though. Good luck, you can do it in one try!

What exactly are these 8 people doing to get an F?

Good question. I guess not much. :chuckle

No seriously, I don't know. It isn't rocket science, yet I understand people have jobs, responsibilities, classes etc. I am sure they have a full workload and find it difficult to fit everything in. At least that's what it could be. I overheard 2 students discussing dropping the class. I hope they can figure out a way to make everything work.

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