pre-reqs

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

Published

I am just curious, How long has it taken you (or will it take you) to finish your pre-reqs to be able to apply for the RN program? In the Fall it will be a year that I enrolled into college and I will be finishing my final pre-req, I feel that was too long.

My calculations is 2 years but since I got a NP in Math and my very first D in another class it might be 2.5 yrs *sigh* - Summer 15 it'll be 1 year

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatric Home Care, Dr Office/Clinic.
Most of my pre nursing friends seem to take 1 yr to complete prereqs taking a full time load & 1 1/2-2 years on a part-time load. If they already have an AA or BA in another field & most of their GEN ED courses transfer so they only have 4-5 nursing specific sciences & prereqs to take. My friends who have never attended college & have no previous credits to transfer take 2-3 years to complete prereqs. One of my friends told me about CLEP & DSST exams, which can help shave a little time off. I have 5 prereqs to take(I have a BA in another field, so a lot of my Gen Ed courses transferred) & I plan on taking the CLEP exam for 2 out of the 5 of my prereqs. I am shooting for completing my prereqs in 8-10 months.

*edited to make my post more clear.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I started as a music major and avoided all math/science back then, only had one good part-time semester, and flunked the fall of 1996 because of my family needs, and it was too late to withdraw from classes.

In fall 2014, I decided to go back to school as a pre-nursing major, with the ultimate goal of being a nurse-midwife. So, I have two and a half-ish semesters down, and have yet to complete 4 semesters and two more summers of pre-reqs and core classes. If I didn't need remedial math, I would have had this shortened quite a bit, but I needed it, and found out that I actually like math. Who knew?

The nursing school I am planning to apply to only accepts applications in the middle of spring semesters for the following fall. Classes that are in progress cannot be given consideration. So, after my pre-reqs, I basically need to sit out a year. Instead of sitting out and doing nothing, I am going for my minor in music (personal fulfillment) because it'll take two semesters, part-time, and I'm also taking more Spanish classes so that I can build my fluency in Spanish. In my area, being Spanish-English bilingual is a huge advantage in the job market.

So, in my case, I need to wait 3 more years before I will enter nursing school. All of that just to get an associate of science in nursing from my community college. But the RN to BSN completion track at the local university is designed with the understanding that students likely have jobs/lives/families. I think it will be a total of 7 years of school for my bachelor's, but I'll have a minor in music, and if I take all the Spanish classes I am hoping to take, I'll also have a minor in Spanish.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

It will take me two years. On purpose. I really cannot go to nursing school full time until my daughter is in school. So, I am taking my time with my prerequisites.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

It will take me a year to finish all my pre-reqs; I will be able to apply for the nursing program at my local college this January. :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in pediatric ER, adult ER.

Your time frame is pretty typical (not too long).

It took me five semesters (about a year and a half)--

#1: General Biology + General Chemistry

#2: Statistics (summer session)

#3: Anatomy + Organic Chemistry

#4: Physiology + Microbiology

#5: Public Speaking ("in progress" as I applied to nursing school)

Began nursing school right after I finished public speaking.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Pediatric Home Care, Dr Office/Clinic.

Update: Yeah so it's looking more like it's going to take me 2 yrs for me to finish the 5 prereqs I need before applying to RN school. Due to the fact that I am currently working 2 jobs & only going to school/doing my schoolwork part-time

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I've done two semesters of pre-reqs, and they have just removed the gen bio 1 and 2 pre-req for A&P, so I've done a whole year of college for nothing, and still have two semesters to go now. I'm pretty upset at the college. You have a huge workload, so taking your time will give you the best grades possible!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Ambulatory Care, Clinical Care Coordination, LTC.

Mine, not counting the semester I took off to relocate, took about 2+ years. I had to take a placement test for general education classes when I first enrolled in college, and I placed right into College English, but placed really low in math. I had to start with pre-algebra and work up from there (:arghh:) I also worked full time, taking 2-3 (but most of the time 2) classes each semester.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I have 11 pre requisites. Think 3 or 4 carried over from my previous bachelor's degree. Took psych this Spring, taking math this Summer, Chem/AP1, and Life Span in the winter that should bring me to 7. Once at 7 your eligible to apply for the program interested in. Can complete the rest through the program. So a year and 1/2 I'll say.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Working a full-time job so this is my timeline. If anyone has any suggestions to tweak this, please chime in. Of course, this is just mapped out in my head, life happens and this may end up a totally different story. It took me 12 years to go back to college, it was always in the back of my head but I wanted my kids to be a little older and more independent before I took the plunge.

#1 ENG1, HIST 1 COMPLETED

#2 AP1 COMPLETED

Summer Psych & Arts (not sure which one yet) IN-PROGESS

#3 AP2 & Govt1

Winter Mini - Govt 2

#4 Micro & ENG2

May mini Hist2

Summer Phil & Soc

#5 Chem & Human Growth & Development

Apply for BSN Program

Mini - Elective

#6 statistics & Phil

Up Vote Up Vote ×

It took me two years because I took a semester off. I needed it with taking the max # of credit hours each semester.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment