Pre-nursing students: What is your course/credit load?

Saysfaa · Mar 19, 2011

Mine has varied a lot in all the areas you mentioned.

Credits from 3 to 17, work from 0 to 35 hours per week, no relationship to married with four kids (at home), no commute to a 50 min. commute. Study time outside of class: I've spent anywhere from 15 min. per week for one 3 credit class to at least 15 hours per week for one 3 credit class... that difference in time has been only about what I thought I needed to spend in that particular class and has had nothing to do with what else I had going in my life at the time.

I don't know whether you can fit French or World Religions into your schedule, I know people who could do it fairly easily and people who could do it if they struggled and people who couldn't do it ... maybe see how your first term goes, then decide.

momtofore · Mar 19, 2011

I've only taken 3-4 credits per semester until this one (6). I work part-time, am married did a full kitchen gut and reno ourselves, have two sons and two dogs, so I wanted to spread my course load out to make the least impact on our lives until I actually enter the nursing program. I have finished all of my classes with excellent grades. I did the most studying in my anatomy and physiology classes, roughly 15 hours a week. Micro was significantly less. The non-science classes have required several hours a week for reading/paper writing. Add all of that together and you can roughly estimate how much time and brain space your classes will add up to. How many classes you should take would be influenced by what your other responsibilities in life are, in my opinion. What other things do you have on your plate?

eileenz · Mar 19, 2011

For most of the Liberal Arts classes I needed I kept it to roughly around either 6 or 9 creidts per semester so my grades stayed up. I'm a single mother of two children, 6 and 8, work full time so I have to make sure they are keeping up with their schoolwork as well as I am too. As my schooling progresses though and the classes become more challenging I am only taking 1 class at a semester. This sememster I'm only taking A and P 1. I still have to take A and P 2 and Medical Micro. It's going to take me a little longer to get there but I'm going at this way to try to keep my GPA up and those classes are the only pre-reqs I have left. I study every night from around 9pm til about 12am so I guess you could say that I study around 15+ hours a week and I do some studying on the weekends when I get a chance between errands. If you don't have to don't put too much pressure on yourself, you'll get there. This is what works for me and I've had very good grades. Hope this helps.

Trenia · Mar 19, 2011

I had to take eight classes, so that I wouldn't be forced to do a summer semester before nursing school. I'm taking Chem 2, CLab2, Micro, MLab, A&P II, A&P II Lab, Nutrition, and Psychology. It was a very stupid thing to do. I am constantly swamped with work. I am doing well, with only one B in A&P II Lab, but I barely have time to breathe. I think it would be easier to tell you how many hour a week I don't study. Which would be whenever I'm sleeping or working.

If you want to take religion and french you should try to sign up for it as soon as you can. I have people telling me constantly, "I wish I would have taken some time out and taken this, that, and the other class during college." It seems very doable to do one extra class with the other classes you are taking.

StangGang92 · Mar 20, 2011

I had 12.5 credits my fall semester and 14 credits this semester. My classes consisted of the regular bio, chem, micro, psych, ect. I also did some gen eds, like my fine arts and writing credits. To be honest, I probably didn't spend any more then 5 hours a week studying, unless its a week with a hard test (then about 10 hours). I've done very well, I have a 3.92 GPA.

However, I don't have any major commitments, I'm not married or with kids and I live in the college dorm. My job is a student nurse tech at a hospital, but I don't have bills to really pay so I only work 1 or 2 shifts/week.

I think it's doable to add classes if you want, but it really does vary person to person. Maybe take your first semester light, and if it seems easy for you then add to the load for the next semester.

flysbyemerald08 · Mar 20, 2011

Like Trenia I am taking a class load that is Chem II w/Lab, A&P IIw/Lab, Micro w/Lab, and Nutrition this semester.

I study as much as I can which means from my last class of the day until I go to sleep. This is every school night and on weekends I study at least two whole days. One day I give myself to run errands and take care of things I need to do. It's a hard route to take but I feel that a little hard work will pay off in the end. I don't recommend it for everyone as it could have a disastrous effect on your GPA! Your plan seems to be fine. My classmates and I average around 15-16 credit hours per 15-week semester. Last summer I did two classes- Cultural Anthro and Intro to Psychology and it was doable. I also did a 16 credit hour load last Fall which gave me an idea of what kind of zaniness to expect :cool: Good luck to you :nurse:

Skylarslaughter · Mar 20, 2011

I live with my family and have absoluetly no obligations or commitments so I think it would be beneficial for me to actually take on more credits, since I have literally all the free time in the world and feel like every moment I spend doing nothing is just a complete waste lol.

chicagoing, ADN, RN · Mar 20, 2011

You could probably (easily) fit in two semesters of French: one in the fall, and the other in the spring. A normal full-time course load for someone with your circumstances would probably be between 12 and 18 semester hours.

supermotojen · Mar 20, 2011

Your plan sounds very good, well thought out. You might see how your first semester goes before you decide on French or any other...the science classes are very time consuming and studying for them is important. I took one sci per semester, which was plenty with my other classes, and I still had time to breathe.. while some of my other friends took two at a time with their other classes and had regrets about it. Guess who came out with all A's? Only you can make the best possible decision for yourself, and I hope everything works out for you. Good luck!!

momtofore · Mar 20, 2011

Are your science classes available both semesters? If so, you might consider taking one science per semester as they are time-consuming. Also, your last semester seems pretty heavy with reading/writing and might be overwhelming. So if you could put a science into the last semester instead it would make things a little more evenly distributed in my opinion. I think you can put French into your next semester (the one currently with two sciences) pretty easily. I haven't found languages to require a lot of mental work/time beyond practicing and knowing the words and phrases and personally find that enjoyable.

You should be fine, no matter what you choose!

Student4_life · Mar 20, 2011

Science can time consuming, but it's also very fun. My worst semester was 14 credits (I take classes in the winter and summer to ease the load during the school year to 12-14 hours, helps with scheduling community service and college club activities) Micro, Chem, English in Arguements and a social science, but it was only bad on paper A's I loved that semester. The rule of thumb is 2 hours study per 1 hour instruction, but some don't need any study time and others alot more.