pre reqs difficulty

guiltysins · Aug 10, 2010

Certain pre-reqs I was good at, I didn't have to study as much, like psychology and math but on of things that usually helps is flashcards. It can be tiresome reading a huge paragraph but if you sum something up in just one or two lines, you can remember it a lot better. Especially for A&P and Micro. Also for Anatomy our professor allowed us to take pictures of the models we had in class and label the parts, which really helped. Some people use the A&P coloring book, it seems silly but looking at pictures really help. Taking really good notes helps too. I like to take detailed notes because sometimes I hate reading the chapters in the textbook but one of the things that my Developmental Psych professor always told me was to take notes on the textbook, because you don't want to have to keep re-reading it, or hunt for pages when it's time to study for an exam.

Don't put studying off till last minute. For exams, start at least a week or two. That way there is no cramming. Like if your test is on multiple chapters, spend two to three days on one chapter and understand it well, then take a day or two break and study the next chapter. I always learn one chapter before I study for the next. Sometimes exams flow in the order of chapters and sometimes they don't so to know the information is better than trying to memorize.

And this comes from someone who had a 72 average in her senior year in HS and wound up getting her GED, so trust me, I understand how scary it can be. The only classes I didn't get an A in were Chem and Physiology.

JonB04 · Aug 10, 2010

Guiltysins you saved me again. Always giving me such great advice. Thank you! I have one question how was the transition from high school to getting an A in college. Was it extremely difficult or was it do able as long as you did all your work.

bhanson · Aug 10, 2010

If you don't work then you should have plenty of time for school regardless of how many classes you take. Time will not be the limiting factor in your academic performance. Personal effort and a strong work ethic will get you very far.

Why were you a C student in high school? Did you feel that was the best you could do? Did you study for your exams and do your homework? Did you walk into exams feeling prepared but kept getting Cs anyway? Anytime someone gets such grades it's always worth a look in the mirror to figure out WHY you performed as you did. In most cases I'd say low grades are the result of not enough effort rather than lack of intelligence.

I know a few people that have a really difficult time learning things. They work harder than anyone else and still maintain As by shear determination.

To answer your question the transition to college level coursework is very natural. It's not significantly more difficult but you won't go from making Cs in high school to As in college doing the exact same thing you did before.

About 16-17 credits is considered a normal load to graduate on time for most degrees without requiring summers. A typical first semester schedule would be something like:

Math (4 credits)

Science + Lab (4 credits)

English (3 credits)

History/Economics/Psychology/etc. (3 credits)

Elective (3 credits)

JonB04 · Aug 10, 2010

I didnt learn well in middle school so i did bad as a freshman with cs and ds thrn sophmore year with Cs and junior and senior yr with As and Bs my first semester is a&p 4 credits psych 3 credits english 3 credits and sociology 3 credits. How do you think my first semester will go. I plan to put in alot of effort. The only thing im worried about ia that my psych teacher isthe worst teacher in the whole department. Im just glad hes not my a&p teacher.

BSNMomOf6 · Aug 10, 2010

I think you will be fine! A lot of times people don't do so well in HS b/c they're too busy socializing, don't care, and think most of the classes are a waste. But in college you're PAYING to go to school, you're working towards something you WANT, so why would you waste your time/money/effort and not get good grades? I think if you work hard and apply yourself you will do great. Good luck to you! Keep us posted on how it goes!

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Aug 11, 2010

Be careful with all that free time. I know that when I transitioned from high school to college I did a lot, too much in fact, of partying and my grades reflected it. I had to do a semester and summer of damage control to get back in to contention of getting into nursing school.

JonB04 · Aug 11, 2010

I dont plan on partying. I plan on using most of my free time studying. And i will kewp you guys posted

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Aug 11, 2010

I dont plan on partying. I plan on using most of my free time studying. And i will kewp you guys posted

Ha ha, you sound like me. I never did any of that party stuff til college. I really hope it does work out for you though.

metricalpound · Aug 11, 2010

It's all depends on your school, your professor, how you learn and what you already know. For most of my pre-reqs, I didn't really put too much time into it (An English Class, a Psych class, an Ethics class). My first major was English Linguistics and Philosophy so my grades were pretty good when I needed to take those classes for my first degree because I was heavily invested in them.

A&P on the hand...I needed to take a lot of time studying for. My school is known for the Biology Department and cancer research so the tests are super hard, the departmental final was super hard and it just felt that they made the class as hard as possible just to weed out weaker Nursing students.

So my advice would be that you wait until school starts for you and study real hard for your classes. After you take your first test, you will see which classes you need to study more for and the ones that you need to study less for. But I'm sure that A&P is going to be very time consuming.

Gluck. =D

JonB04 · Aug 11, 2010

Thabk you for the advice

tokyoROSE, BSN, RN · Aug 11, 2010

I graduated a year early at 17 and started college immediately. For the most part, all of my prereqs, except for A&P, felt like high school classes. Some were way easy, some I had to put more effort in, but I got all A's. I had graduated high school with a 4.0 so I had excellent study and test taking skills to begin with. You mentioned you were a C average in high school... you are going to have to work hard to bring those grades up. I understand not everyone finds school and studying in general easy. The thing with college is to not get behind. Get yourself a planner, write down dates of your tests, quiz, projects, everything. Make use of the free tutoring and study groups. Oh and you are going to be a freshman, enjoy your college life. You are only young once! I had plenty of free time but partied only on the weekends. I learned how to balance time between school/work/social activities very quickly.