Pre-requisites

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I am planning on a nursing career and currently taking the prerequisites at the local community college.I have taken A&P(part 1), Micro and Statistics.I feel overwhelmed at this point.I wanted to know how many classes does one take each semester? I do want get a good grade in all these subjects

Am I taking more than I can swallow? Should I push through it? I have 2 small kids at home too( but not working)..any advice appreciated.

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That depends on if you're in a hurry to transfer to a university for a BSN program or not. In that case, one may take more than two classes. Also, you will be taking Ge classes along the way with prereqs to fulfill requirements for transferring in the near future. Try to take a easygoing ,less stressful class along with a science. I'm sure you have English, pysch, and some other Ge courses you have remaining. Do you use financial aid? If so there's a minimum of 12 units full time needed per semester to qualify. I think prereqs are completed within 2 years so you could plan out a rough draft of courses to take. I'm not sure if seats are hard to come by at your school as mine was fully populated with people taking the same science courses.

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Are you falling behind in classes? Do you understand the concepts? Do you read chapters BEFORE going to class? What are your study habits? If you are truly feeling overwhelmed and cannot assimilate the information it may be better to drop one class and add other easier classes. Talk to an advisor at the school you want to apply to and they should set you up with a plan to make sure you are taking all the correct prerequisites

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Are you falling behind in classes? Do you understand the concepts? Do you read chapters BEFORE going to class? What are your study habits? If you are truly feeling overwhelmed and cannot assimilate the information it may be better to drop one class and add other easier classes. Talk to an advisor at the school you want to apply to and they should set you up with a plan to make sure you are taking all the correct prerequisites

I have not yet fallen behind the classes.I gave my first exam yesterday.I did well on [A&P] but horrible on the micro exam.I have no problems getting the concept.I am having bad study habits... not managing time properly. I did not read my chapters before going to class.I understand all the concepts in class but not doing good at home.I was a stay at home all these years and now I am finding it hard to juggle all of it together..Kids getting sick and all their schoolwork etc.

I badly want those A's. This is just the first exam for the semester and I do want to make some changes.

I am aiming for an an accelerated BSN program and these are only 3 of their prerequisites.I have an additional psychology and nutrition(not to mention A&P part 2)

I was planning on applying next year and do not know what to do..get better scores or delay the application.

Also, if this is what everyone is doing, I will give it my best shot with better time management plans.

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Reading the chapters ahead of time will definitely help, you will be better prepared during the lectures and any concepts that may have been confusing you will have a chance during the lecture to get a better handle on it. Different techniques work for different people, but what I have found to be helpful for myself is that I first read over the chapter, than I go through it again making my own personal notes based on my reading. Before class I read through the PowerPoint slides that are used in class. In class I record the lectures and make notes on my PowerPoint slides. Afterwards at home I listen to the recording of the lecture and make additional notes on things that I may not have gotten in class, or anything that might still be confusing. My book has website for the book that I use for testing myself on the information that is being covered, that allows me to know what I have gotten and what I need to spend more time on. Also I use quizlet for testing myself, you can either make your own sets, or use sets that other people have made. The app for the phone and tablet is a little bit limiting although still work, on the actual website I use the test feature and will continously quiz myself on the information until I have it down.

Definitely set time aside each day for yourself for studying, this might have to be when the kids are at school, if you have a place at home that you can set up where you will not be distracted this will work, or you might consider using a place at school or the public library, it all depends on how easily distracted you can get. I myself tend to do well when I have some music playing in the background, I have certain types of music that I listen to exclusively when I am studying, keeps me from getting bored by it being too quiet, but I am also able to block out any other background noise that may be going on.

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Reading the chapters ahead of time will definitely help, you will be better prepared during the lectures and any concepts that may have been confusing you will have a chance during the lecture to get a better handle on it. Different techniques work for different people, but what I have found to be helpful for myself is that I first read over the chapter, than I go through it again making my own personal notes based on my reading. Before class I read through the PowerPoint slides that are used in class. In class I record the lectures and make notes on my PowerPoint slides. Afterwards at home I listen to the recording of the lecture and make additional notes on things that I may not have gotten in class, or anything that might still be confusing. My book has website for the book that I use for testing myself on the information that is being covered, that allows me to know what I have gotten and what I need to spend more time on. Also I use quizlet for testing myself, you can either make your own sets, or use sets that other people have made. The app for the phone and tablet is a little bit limiting although still work, on the actual website I use the test feature and will continously quiz myself on the information until I have it down.

Definitely set time aside each day for yourself for studying, this might have to be when the kids are at school, if you have a place at home that you can set up where you will not be distracted this will work, or you might consider using a place at school or the public library, it all depends on how easily distracted you can get. I myself tend to do well when I have some music playing in the background, I have certain types of music that I listen to exclusively when I am studying, keeps me from getting bored by it being too quiet, but I am also able to block out any other background noise that may be going on.

Thanks a bunch, really appreciate all the tips you gave me.

How were you able to record the lectures?..what did you use? Can any app on my iPhone help?

I will try a lot harder from now..trying to study with kids was a little new for me.

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I've been a SAHM for almost a year when I started school, I have a 3.5 year old and a 9 month old. I have to resist the urge to do housework when they are entertained or sleeping. I prioritize studying because I can clean in chunks when they are awake /needy. If your kids are older have set times that they know not to bother you, like maybe designate one hour they get to watch TV while you study. I use my planner and checklists to make sure I read and do assignments. For example if the chapter is 40 pages I make sure to read and take notes for at LEAST 10 pages a day. Also I read somewhere that max time for one subject or assignment is 40 minutes for best productivity, so I set a timer. It makes me feel more accomplished and keeps me from getting bored with one subject and not assimilating the information

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Also..... CROCKPOT and FREEZER meals. I designate one day a week and I prepare almost 75% of dinners for the week and keep it in the freezer. Save so much time

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I've been a SAHM for almost a year when I started school, I have a 3.5 year old and a 9 month old. I have to resist the urge to do housework when they are entertained or sleeping. I prioritize studying because I can clean in chunks when they are awake /needy. If your kids are older have set times that they know not to bother you, like maybe designate one hour they get to watch TV while you study. I use my planner and checklists to make sure I read and do assignments. For example if the chapter is 40 pages I make sure to read and take notes for at LEAST 10 pages a day. Also I read somewhere that max time for one subject or assignment is 40 minutes for best productivity, so I set a timer. It makes me feel more accomplished and keeps me from getting bored with one subject and not assimilating the information

I have a 5 year old and 18 month old...You are right, it is so tempting to just get up and do the housework..This is what I am doing..I will be thinking, it is okay, I will clean this mess and then go back to studies..the mess would lead to something else and so on..Finally when I sit down to study, I study for quarter of the time I had allotted before.

I love the timer idea!!..

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I have used my iPhone and currently I am using my ipad. There are several recorder apps available some free, some cost a few dollars. The app I am using right now which I like is called super notes, they have a free version and the other was about $3.00. Few things I like about the app is that you can type notes in it while recording, not very practical on the phone but with the ipad with a keyboard works well. Also you can make tracks in the recording by stopping it and then start recording on the same note. I have found it easier to keep things better organized than some of the other apps that I have tried. The free version lets you have 4 notes in it at a time, so will work well for trying it out, and if you have a computer at home should be able to load them on to the computer.

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