LorilouRN

I took A&P I in an 8 week course this summer and am currently taking A&P II and Microbiology together. Unlike the last poster, mine is flipped, my A&P professor expects the high level of understanding and detail and our exams are multiple choice, short answer, and essay exams. However, because he has made us learn it so well, my Micro class is a breeze. We just finished our 2nd exam this past week. First exam was mostly review from A&P I and second exam was review from A&P I with a bit of A&P II thrown in (thankfully we're doing immune system in A&P II while discussing bacterial and viral genetics in Micro). I have a hubby who is military and works long shifts plus will be deploying my first semester in nursing school as well as 2 boys. Mine are a bit older than yours is, but you can put your 5 year old to bed earlier and use that as study time! Make sure your hubby is available for any support you might need and I bet you would do well!

I feel your pain! Back in June or July I was told there were already 150+ applicants and there were only going to be 36 chosen. Our deadline was Aug 1 and I just found out last week I was granted conditional acceptance. The roller coaster continues because before being granted final acceptance, you have to do several other things. Yikes! At this point I'm so close I can taste it and the spot is mine as long as everything goes ok (which it should, I'm just overstressing like usual). I just want it to be certain!! :)

Micro is easier than A&P at my school. In fact, a lot of it is from A&P I which I already took, so it feels like some new facts plus review since I already had to learn it in every unit so far!

Oh, I remember many an essay question on these! We had to remember the central dogma of molecular biology: DNA---->RNA----->Proteins (with transcription, aka RNA synthesis, occurring over the first arrow and translation, aka Protein synthesis, occurring over the second arrow). I always remembered transcription comes first like a medical transcriptionist having to decipher a doctor's verbal notes and then translation coming second, in that he or she has to turn doc's shortened notes into something everyone could read. Steps in Transcription (as we learned them): 1. RNA polymerase recognizes something on the gene called the promotor sequence. This is basically your green light or start sign to this enzyme. 2. RNA polymerase breaks the hydrogen bonds of the DNA and adds the complimentary nucleotides to a template strand 3. This is complete when the polymerase reaches the termination sequence (like a stop sign). This results in one of 3 types of RNA: tRNA (for protein synthesis), rRNA (functional part of a ribosome) or a pre-mRNA (which goes through a maturation process in the cytoplasm of a cell and becomes mRNA. (Here is a great animation!) The pre-mRNA to mRNA process has two basic steps: exon splicing and adding the 5' cap and poly-A tail. In exon splicing the non coding parts of genes are called introns and are taken out by splicesomes. Exons then connect together. Then the 5'cap and poly-A tail are added to either end to prevent the mRNA from degrading in the cytoplasm. (Here is a great animation!) Once you have a mature mRNA, it will go through the steps of Translation: 1. Ribosome binds to the RBS (ribosomal binding site) on the mRNA 2. Ribosome moves to the start codon which is always AUG (adenine-uracil-guanine). The start codon is also sometimes called the initiator codon. 3. (Our prof explained the ribosome is like a couch with 3 cushions named E, P, and A and the tRNA comes to sit on the cushions). tRNA that carries amino acids with the complementary anticodon binds to the P site and then the next tRNA carrying another amino acid with the complementary anticodon to the next 3 binds to the A site. 4. The ribosome then moves along the mRNA and attaches the amino acids with peptide bonds to one another until it reaches the stop codon. 5. Chaperone proteins fold the polypeptide and then it's sent on to the Golgi apparatus for packaging. (This animation is a great way to clarify what the above steps do. It was hard for me to understand just looking at it, especially when the amino acids start bonding until I watched this animation.) Hope that helps a bit!

I used to be a veterinary technician and some days were worse than others during surgery. The doc told me to go sit down and eat something like a granola bar. It works! I was told some people can get a little hypoglycemic, even if you're used to seeing things like that. If you can eat a little something beforehand, see if that helps and you'll know that's what happened! My friend's sister was doing PA clinicals and had the same problem, so they bought her some peanut buttery granola bar type things and it worked for her too.

I assume he's doing some training, so if you can find out where his follow on is, I might start looking at colleges there. 6-9 months isn't giving you much time where he currently is. If you still have pre-reqs to knock out, you could probably do those where he is now. But I'd check with the nursing schools where the follow on is. My school did not accept my A&P I from my previous university. I had to take A&P I and II from the same university, so I ended up having to retake it (which was a waste of money since I got an A the first time). Good luck! :)

I am also an AF wife. The good thing about school is that it will keep you busy! I've got 2 boys and, if I make it in, will be starting nursing school when my hubby deploys again. Mine are older, in middle school so that helps a little (except for practices and games and those kinds of things). My study partner has a little one that's 1 year old and another on the way. Her hubby is currently deployed and she studies a lot during naptimes and in the evenings when the baby is in bed! This is the best time because it keeps your mind off of those "what ifs" and makes you focus on other stuff during the most lonely times! You can do it! :)

Congratulations!! :)

Yes! Our deadline was August 1st, then they had us take the entrance exam at the end of August and they said they would notify everyone by the end of September. There are 7 days left in September and I am currently stalking my mailman! I'm at the point now where I just want to know either way so I can make plans to be there as of January or apply again and get my scores up!

I took A&P I over the summer and am currently taking A&P II with Micro. So far, I find this pretty advantageous because in my first unit for Micro, which my prof says is the hardest, we are discussing a lot of what we went over in A&P I such as the 4 macromolecules, Chemical Bonds, Parts of a Cell, pH, prokaryote vs. eukaryote, stuff like that. Our professor says our first Micro test is the hardest because there is so much to remember, but I think having just recently had all of this in A&P I it means less I have to remember for the first test! Good luck whatever you decide!

My book is Microbiology a human perspective by Nester. Our first exam is over chapters 1-3 and 12-14 and will be next Wednesday. Got 100% on first quiz but it was open book/open note, so not too hard. Metabolism and Genetics is the next section!

I think it really depends on your instructor! I've had many online classes and some teachers are just useless online. But I have an A&P teacher who is wonderful. He's supposed to be the most difficult, but I actually switched my A&P II to take it from this prof. He doesn't just lecture AT you, he keeps everyone involved in the discussion the entire class period. His online class is actually given on a program called elluminate where he sets up a time and actually lectures with us real time in a chat room. We can hear him speak and we can type questions real time for him to answer. He shows us his desktop and types notes like we would see a prof write on a board at school. It's great! I'd check with your school or previous students who've taken the online course to see how it's run there if you can!

When I did A&P I (this past summer semester), my study partner found a website called anatomyarcade.com. I used it to study things like muscles and bones. It starts out easier and as you get high scores, it adds more and more to what you have to memorize. Of course we sometimes had more than what was on the games, but it helped me get the basics down before I got really in depth! Good luck!

I'm waiting to find out if I got in for Spring 2011 too! I've applied at USD (South Dakota) and have already taken the entrance exam and now the waiting game begins! Our apps were due Aug 1st and we took our exams the last full week in August. They told us we'd know around the end of September. My advisor said they are accepting only 36 and about 150+ apply. Good luck everyone!

Hi ndb0001, No, all the math problems I saw on the exam were covered in the study guide. Nothing unexpected and nothing as in depth on my test as I saw in the study guide either, so the test was much easier. I think someone else mentioned it was like adding numbers with decimals and stuff like that. I ended up with an 84 on writing, 89 on math and 91 on reading (and the yucky 70 on science...bleh). The writing was simple grammar. Things like which sentence can be taken out of this paragraph because it doesn't belong or which sentence makes the paragraph seem repetitious or which sentence has a word spelled wrong, stuff like that. It's not much that you can really study for, which is, I guess, why they don't really have a section on it in the study guide. No grats yet, I'll find out later this month. Keeping my fingers crossed! :) Good luck on yours!

I've heard each test is different. As far as the science, as I said, I didn't feel the study guide covered what was on my exam and I think studying the A&P book would have been more helpful, but that could have been my test only. Honestly, I can't even remember specific questions. I just remember it being much more in depth than what I had learned yet since I'd only taken A&P I and I didn't feel the science section, which I studied in the Kaplan guide, covered what was on my exam.

I posted on another thread about my experience with this exam. I was frustrated because I couldn't find any information on this exam either and in fact, I thought I was studying for the NET until the day before my test! My advisor said the test is about 2 years old and because it's so new, Kaplan hasn't given them a "norm" yet as far as test scores go. She did, however, say that at our school, the average is about 73%. My school is giving points based on the score of each section since they haven't received any standards from the test makers. The math, writing, and reading were basic and fairly easy and you get a link to a calculator to use on the exam for the math portion. The science is what I found hardest and I think it helps to have taken both A&P I and II before you take it. I don't think the study guide covered enough considering how specific it was. I've only taken A&P I so we haven't gotten to systems yet, but I was still able to get a 14/20 on that portion (70%). I'm upset with myself because of course you want to do best on the science. My over all score was 85 though, so I hope I'm still in the running for the spring program considering the average at our school has been about 73! We find out this month.

I agree with bd22. I took the test week before last and I found the writing, reading, and math to be basic and much easier than in the study guide. However, the science I felt was much more specific than the study guide. I've had A&P I but not A&P II yet and I felt I'd have been more prepared for the test after having taken both classes already. We haven't done systems yet and much of it was on particulars of those systems. My advisor said the test is only about 2 years old and they haven't been given a "norm" yet as far as what the test score averages should be. So my school is giving points based on what you scored in each section. I got an 85 composite, but did lowest on the science portion which I'm upset with myself over. However, my advisor told me my scores were good and that the school's average over the couple of years they've been giving this test are about 73%. I never had a single problem with running out of time on any section. They gave us 2 hours and 45 minutes for the test and I walked out in about 1.5 hours. On our test, there was a link at the bottom (near Next and End Test) that said Calculator and our proctor told us we could click that button and use the calculator given on the kaplan test, so I did use that. Hope that helps. Good luck!