TofuSandwich

Yes, you should definitely apply. You'll want to double check with an advisor but the only individual grade they look at is your highest of the sciences mentioned in the packet, and to my knowledge they don't look at if there were retakes. So in your case that would be the A in A&P2. And then of course your total GPA must be over 2.0. You also need a C or higher in all of the required courses for the program, but that's a requirement to graduate, not to be admitted, so if you have any other classes below a C you can retake them after you're accepted. They don't focus solely on HESI, your science grade is 40% of your admission ranking. You can see the full ranking explanation on page 9 of the admission packet: https://www.rcgc.edu/SelectiveAdmissions/Documents/RCGC_Admission%20Packet%202019_Nursing%20-%20Web.pdf If you haven't already, make sure you go to an information session. You should also try to take the HESI ASAP. You need to have 60 days between HESI retakes, so if you take it by the Dec 18th test date, you'll be able to take it one more time before the application deadline if you need to.

I'm a current student in the program. No, it is not easy, you are learning a lot of material and skills in just 2 years, but it definitely isn't impossible to do well. I've managed to maintain all A's so far, and while we have lost some students, it seems that the majority are still with us. My experience has been that those that haven't made it past 1st or 2nd semester generally are not putting enough time into studying for one reason or another. The great news is that the program's NCLEX pass rate is a steady 99-100%, so if you make it through you know that you'll be well prepared to pass the NCLEX on your first try.

No one can answer this because it depends on the school. Some won't and some will, though the ones that technically accept it may rank students in a way that it places you too low on the list to be accepted. More importantly though, I would be concerned that only earning a C means that you aren't ready to enter nursing school, regardless of the admission standards. A&P is the foundation of much of what you'll be learning, and without a strong grasp of the material you are at a great disadvantage when it comes to understanding important topics like pathophysiology and pharmacology.

There are several schools with the initials RCGC. Which one are you looking at?

It sounds like you might be more of a hands on/application learner. Getting more practice applying the information you learn in class will probably help you retain it a bit more. Clinical can be great for that but if you're feeling rushed and stressed while you're there you might not have the time to really think through everything that is going on with your patient, and how to best care for them. You might want to try looking up case studies for conditions as you learn them in class. Working through the case study outside the stress of your clinical site means you can take your time and really understand how your patient will present, what issues they will be having, and what interventions would be appropriate for you to implement. As far as the task based skills, that's a tough one, and they're really doing you a disservice by not having open lab hours. Unless you can convince them to let you set up a time to practice, watching the videos might be your best option.

In previous years they accepted everyone that met the requirements to apply, but during the last admission cycle they got so many applications that they had to deny some people. Unfortunately, a C in A&P will put you towards the back of the applicant pool in terms of ranking, but there's really nothing to lose by applying and seeing what happens. In terms of writing a note, I would not bother. They are strict on following the ranking method listed in the admission packet and won't consider any factors outside what's listed on that rubric. If you do decide to apply and are accepted for the fall, I would recommend taking A&P 1&2 over the summer. The program is rigorous, and not having a solid understanding of A&P will put you at a disadvantage. They don't require you to have those classes completed to enter the program, but you will still be responsible for knowing the content as it relates to the topics in class and clinicals. They don't teach you any A&P- there just isn't time. The other benefit is that you won't have to take them at the same time as the nursing courses, meaning you'll have more time to study nursing content.

Cancel the meeting and use that time to work on your assignments to get ahead of where you would have been otherwise. That is the first step you can take to make sure you don't get in that situation again. If I was your instructor I would wonder why a student that was so busy that she could not complete her assignments in time could still find the time to "confront" me about upholding the posted deadlines.

Either cover it with a bandage, or makeup.

You can think it's ridiculous, but you're the one that failed your program because you expected to be spoon fed all the content. You will not find a passing student whose instructors manage to cover 100% of the needed content within the lectures, lab, and clinicals, in the depth that you need to know it. Again, nursing requires an enormous amount of independent learning, and students that don't take initiative to learn the content on their own do not do well (as you have demonstrated). You can feel like poor test taking skills shouldn't preclude you from becoming an RN, but you aren't going to get a license when you can't pass the NCLEX. Further, if you recognize that you have a certain learning style, there is nothing keeping you from seeking out resources that fulfill those needs. You need a blood draw demonstration? There are 8,484,000 videos on youtube that you could've watched: drawing blood - YouTube Anyway, it's clear that you've decided that you bear no responsibility for your performance whatsoever, so I think you're probably better off in another profession. Please try to find one where you aren't responsible for people's lives.

I assume your actual nursing program starts in January? If I were you, I would take A&P1 in the winter before starting nursing, then A&P2 in January, and Nutrition and Micro over the summer. Getting a refresher in A&P before you start the program will benefit you far more than starting with Nutrition already completed.

Relying only on exams to determine your grade is not uncommon at all. My program is 4 exams and a final that determine your semester grade, that's it. No extra credit, no participation points or graded assignments, no chance to pad your grade to make up for subpar exam scores. You either know the content or you don't, and if you don't then you don't pass. I like it that way- it shouldn't be easy to get a position where you're responsible for people's lives. We do have clinicals and all the associated paperwork that we are responsible for, but clinical is a pass/fail grade. If you fail clinical you fail class regardless of your exam scores. Passing clinical means nothing though if you don't have the exam scores you need to pass. It's not the instructors' jobs to care about you, and there is way more content than they can thoroughly teach. I'd say 95% of my learning is independent, and lecture fills in the few gaps plus helps reinforce the information. You should be teaching yourself the content before class, then using class time to reinforce and clarify what you learned.

First, know that the first month, maybe longer, will probably feel pretty terrible. You might feel unsure of yourself, wonder what you got yourself into, and start thinking that there is no way at all you can do this. Those feelings are normal, and if you start off with strong study habits, and ask for help when you need it, you'll feel a lot better soon enough. Definitely start doing NCLEX questions from the very start. Get a few different books (previous version is fine to save money, just try to stay within 1-2 versions of the current one). You will find that you prefer some over others- I have 5 or 6 that I go between, depending on the topic. When you do the questions, read ALL the rationales, not just the ones you get wrong! Check out some Youtube videos about how to take nursing tests. They are very different from tests in other subjects, and going in with strong test taking strategies will set you ahead. There's one called "Test taking tips for nursing students" by Megan McClintock, and Nurse Nacole has some great ones on her channel as well. Watch those, along with the study tips videos. Never ever EVER change an answer unless you know exactly WHY the answer you first put is wrong, and why the new answer is right. Even then, don't change it. Don't even bring an eraser to the exam. Study the material before you go to the class that is covering it. My program is already structured this way, but even if yours isn't, you need to be familiar with what the teachers are talking about before lecture. Read, take notes, and look over the powerpoint if they give them to you, before the lecture. In lecture take notes on the powerpoint, and then after class go back to the book and go over the material again that your teacher focused on. Then start doing all your NCLEX questions on the topic, which will help you see if you need to go back over anything a third time. In terms of reading the book- you don't have to read every page. In fact, you probably wouldn't have time even if you wanted to. By knowing how to focus on what you need to know, you'll spend less time reading, and retain more of the info. Nurse Nacole has a great video on her youtube about how to read a textbook. When you do your pre-class reading, use her method. Then after class you can go back through it and go a little more in depth on the things your instructor focused on, and anything that you don't feel comfortable with. Go in with a STRONG knowledge of A&P. Could you get an A on a final exam in both A&P 1 and 2 right now? If no, I would really recommend learning that material before starting. They don't teach A&P, you're just expected to have that foundation knowledge. Without it, you will be very lost on so many different things- it is really the basis for understanding assessments, interventions and evaluations, disease processes, med actions, etc. And finally, the biggest thing is simply putting in the time it takes to succeed. There's a lot that you need to learn in a short period of time, and unlike a lot of other subjects, simply memorizing facts won't be enough. You do need to memorize a lot of facts, but you also need to understand what they all mean, how they relate to each other, and how to apply that knowledge to caring for the patient. You can't cram for the exams. You might pass that specific exam, but the material is cumulative, so if you don't retain it, it will catch up with you. You might fail future exams, or fail clinical because you aren't prepared with the knowledge you need. Even if you manage to make it through all that, you still need to pass the NCLEX, and that covers everything. There are a few genius students out there that can look at the material once and retain and apply it, but if that's not you (it definitely isn't me!), prepare to put in a ton of time outside of class to be successful.

I guess I'll stop checking the bookstore website for the book list if they won't have it ready until June. Hopefully they're changing to less expensive books, especially since they raised tuition for us.

When you say you do quizlet, are you making your own sets, or using other people's? The act of making the set yourself goes a long way in helping you retain information. To give you an idea, this is how I handle each chapter in A&P: I take notes on the lecture, then make a typed outline from my notes. Then I go through my outline and write down the information in small chunks, what would be on a flash card. As I do that, I write the FRONT of the paper flash cards. So for something like the respiratory system, I might write "types of alveolar cells" on the front of a flash card, but not fill in the info on the back. Once I get through all my content rewriting it, and filling out the front of all the cards I'll need, I read the chapter in the book, focusing on the concepts that were covered in the lecture. Then I go through my stack of flash cards and fill out the backs by memory. By now I've mostly got the info memorized, but I may have to check a couple things against my notes. Then, I head over to quizlet, and looking only at the fronts of my flash cards I make a set that's identical to my paper set. I fill in the backs completely by memory. I then review my quizlet once or more per day until test day. If there's something that I can't seem to retain, I'll write it over and over until I do. That's a lot to do, and it takes many hours per chapter, but it allows me to go into my exams confident that I have retained all the info needed.

I did accelerated (7 week) classes for both A&P1 and 2 this semester so that I could get them both done in 1 semester instead of 2. In addition to those courses I'm also taking public speaking and ethics this semester. The classes are hard for sure, there's a lot to learn in a short amount of time. I see no reason why you won't be able to do it though, especially if that's the only course you're taking and you have no other time consuming responsibilities. I have 2 very young kids, work part time, and do school full time and I finished A&P1 with an A. I have 3 weeks left in A&P 2 and have an A in there as well, along with A's in both my other courses too.