ruby1989

I was unable to get my records for the Hep B shot (I had it done probably 10 years ago). I got the titer done and the results within two days.

I remember thinking the same thing. I prepared myself if I didn't make it, but I didn't even know how I would explain it to other people if I didn't get in. Everyone in my chem class knew I applied and I was waiting for my acceptance letter (we were a close knit group). While they were certainly interested and just eager, it added extra pressure on me. Fortunately I never had to face that hard decision.

I had to take two separate courses for my BSN program: inorganic and organic. The biochem class only counted toward the ADN in my area.

I would take one science course at a time. Since you're just starting out you can safely take one science course and pair it with pre-req courses like English, psychology, math,etc. I've always found 12-13 credit hours to be a nice balance between course load and manageability.

While biology is cool, there really isn't a need for another degree if nursing is what you want to do. A BSN is going to cost money and will probably force you to take out loans. You'll be taking out even more loans with the ABSN. You'll basically be like me (I have a previous bachelors degree) and be something like 80,000 dollars in debt. Don't be like me.

I got accepted into a BSN program for the fall. Had I not gotten in, I would have went the ADN route at my community college. I probably would have started one year later. My community college will accept anyone as long as your overal GPA is something like a 2.5 and all the pre-reqs are a C or higher, so it was a very safe backup. I just didn't want to have to do an online program for the BSN part though and starting a year later would have sucked. It retrospect, a year doesn't seem as bad as what a lot of other community colleges are like. I remember feeling awful and filled with anxiety the days leading up to my acceptance letter. It was exceedingly difficult to push it out of my brain. I just kept telling myself I wouldn't accept a plan B as silly as that sounds. I have a friend who swears by "wishing things to happen". Sometimes he's off his rocker, but for whatever reason I did what he did. I told myself I'm already in, I'm going to start in the fall, there's no reason to worry. Whether or not that worked, who knows. This is what trying to get into nursing school does- it makes you crazy!

I took A & P 1 over the summer in 10 weeks opposed to the normal 16 weeks my college usually does. It was my first science course I took in several years. I was super stressed the first couple of weeks, but I soon acclimated to the class and started to enjoy it. I devoted probably at least 5 hours of studying each day, which probably sounds excessive, but I wanted to make sure I got an A. The anatomy portion was the most difficult I think. The bones were difficult to memorize, but I found memorizing the muscles even harder. We had to know additional details for that, like insertion and what direction the muscle rotates. I also struggled with the muscular system in the physiology portion. It's my least favorite system (and yes I do have favorites, haha), so maybe that's why! A & P 2 is a lot easier in my opinion.

I'm currently taking Micro in an accelerated summer session and I don't find it very difficult. It's possible that it's a lot easier for me because I've already had all the other science classes. For example, our last test focused on the Krebs cycle. I learned that previously in organic chemistry, so it was really just review. The next chapters cover immunity, so there is definitely overlap from A & P 2. I think it really depends on when you take the courses. I took these pre-req classes very seriously and I'm glad I did. I find a lot of overlap through all of them. Each one builds upon one another and further increases my understanding of the subject. I would say A & P is a lot more intense, particularly the first A & P class where there is more emphasis on the anatomy portion. I didn't find the material "hard" to understand- there was just so much material that sometimes it can seem humanely impossible to retain all that information. Conversely, when my organic chem course moved more toward the biochem realm, I really struggled to comprehend what was going on. I found that material "hard". Here's how I would rank all the science courses I had to take (easiest to hardest): Microbiology, Inorganic Chemistry, A & P 2, Organic Chemistry, and A & P 1.

Books, books, books! Lucky you! I so badly want to get mine. They're probably at the bookstore, but I have to wait for my loan to kick in before I can purchase them. I remember before I got accepted I was scoping out the bookstore and looked through the nursing books they had. I must had been standing there reading for 15 minutes or so until someone asked if I needed help finding something. I kept thinking, I wish I did! Haha, it's funny how nursing puts irrational fear and anxiety into all of us! I kept thinking crazy things like, what if the postal workers accidentally lose my letter with all my paperwork? What if the mailman delivers it to the wrong building? My irrational fear was warranted, however, with the e-mail! I kept worrying, what if somehow my campus e-mail doesn't work? I had the campus mail forwarded to my normal e-mail and received the nursing info on orientation and scheduling. Guess what? I'm still receiving generic campus related mail with the campus mail, but the important nursing e-mail never has yet to arrive in my campus mail. I'm so glad I'm paranoid and changed it! So sometimes being crazy is warranted :). Don't feel so bad!

Haha, I felt very similar. I remember after I had my interview for nursing school, they told me that the letter would come in three weeks. I felt like that was a precise number, so I was expecting them to hold true to their word. Three weeks came and went. Every day while I was in school my mom would bug the mailman and ask, "Are you sure that's all the mail you got?" Four weeks came and went. Somewhere in week five I got my acceptance letter. I was so nervous to open it, so I did it very slowly. Eventually I saw "congratulations" and I ripped that enveloped open to shreds. I did a dance and cried in my room. And then I, too, became anxious because I realized I had to get a ton of stuff done. I got accepted at the end of April and had to have all my immunizations, physical, background check, dentist appointment, and CPR done by June. I must of had like 20 papers to mail. I checked that I had all of them at least 15 times neurotically the day before I mailed them. Then I checked then again and again and again. Phew... okay, but then I wondered when the orientation information and class information would come. I was worried about that as well. The acceptance letter told me I would receive an e-mail sometime during summer, which sounded very ambiguous. I finally received the e-mail, was able to register for classes, and found out that my orientation is on August 13. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulder. Don't forget to breathe, you will find out soon enough. If I was able to get all those things in on time, so can you. Good luck! :)

I chose BSN for several reasons. Most hospitals in my area have went magnet. While the ADN-BSN bridge program seemed like a good idea on paper, I wondered if I would even be able to get a job with an ADN. Also, while most people need more pre-req courses to apply to a BSN program, it was actually the opposite for me. The community college wanted me to take an extra English class. I was beyond angry. I already had a previous bachelors degree. They claimed I was 1/2 credit short of meeting their communications requirement. I had skipped the usual sequence of two English courses because my SAT scores tested me out. Now they wanted me to take a lower level English course. Working backwards, paying additional money, and wasting time didn't make sense to me. Additionally, they wanted an extra psychology course. Secondly, there's quite a waiting list at the community college. It's not as bad as many places it seems, but I would venture to guess that I would have been starting at least a year and a half later. I would have ended up with an ADN in the same amount of time it would have taken me to get my BSN. Imagine me doing the bridge program after that. Also, there's a whole lot of drama and concern with this community college losing their accreditation.

Thanks for the kind words. Good luck on your journey as well :).

You're absolutely right, but for whatever reason I let that woman that confronted me get inside my head. My mom will sometimes say things that I don't appreciated too like, "It's too bad you didn't realize that you wanted to go into this sooner. Just think, you could have been a RN already." I don't think she realizes that she's coming across as cruel, but it does affect me and I wish I could learn how to turn off my emotions. Maybe I just needed to vent. Okay, I did need to vent. A year ago I was just starting my pre-reqs. Now I'm going to start nursing school in the fall, so there's no need for my victory to be clouded by what is probably just other people's insecurities. This is easier said than done, of course.

I can't really say I know much about all this non-accreditation thing going on at Tri-C. Most of the pre-nursing students that I know from my pre-req classes didn't seem too concerned about it, though. Basically, Tri-C will have to pay extra money and hire/fire some people so that the majority of professors hold a master's or higher. At least that's what I've heard from other people, but it could be mere speculation so take it with a grain of salt. With CSU maybe I can be of more help. I start the basic BSN track there this fall. There is no wait list. They accept 80 people a year and it begins every fall semester. Two weeks after I sent in my application (which included basic information as well as a resume, and two letters of recommendation) I received a phone call about scheduling for an interview. They were interviewing people for one week and had about maybe 12-15 time slots open. It was a group interview with 8 other people. They asked us five questions and we each had an opportunity to answer them. Do not be the last person to answer the questions! Be assertive! Anyway, 1 month and 1 week after the interview I received my acceptance letter in the mail. If you do not get in you will still be notified through the mail. You have to reapply each year. As for the difficulty of getting in- I can only say what I had going for me, which didn't seem like much compared to other people. I had no experience in a health-care related field (many of the people I interviewed with worked at hospitals). My overall GPA was about a 3.4. In my pre-reqs I had one B and the rest were A's. I do hold a bachelors degree in an unrelated field, so I don't know if that was positive or if that factor is just neutral. I know two fellow classmates that didn't get in and one of those classmates knows of someone else that applied twice. This person had health-care experience and a very good GPA. In other words, I can't say for certain what they look for. Maybe I just kicked butt at the interview part. I can't tell you what option to consider, but I hoped I helped. Good look :)

I was never a math and science person. Science wasn't too bad because I've always found it pretty interesting, but the math that comes with some sciences scared me. Throughout grade school, high school, and even college I was lucky to get a C in math. Most of the time that C was actually a C-. I remember being in small classes in high school consisting of the mathematically challenged students. Upon being accepted to college I remember having to take a math assessment test. I got a 4% on it. I'm not kidding. The math tutor said it was the lowest he ever saw. I couldn't even get into the math course I needed to take at the time. Flash forward to my crazy dream of becoming a nurse. I was angry at math for holding me back all these years. And then I realized I was the one holding me back. I gave up all this self-doubt and insecurity. I channeled that anger into intense studying and for the first time I understood math. People in my class came to me for help. I began helping people in math class and chemistry class. I became a science and math person. I was no longer this person who flooded herself with self-doubt. I wanted to go into nursing more than anything. I started just last year working on my pre-reqs. I remember taking A & P over the summer. I told myself if I didn't do well on the first exam I would withdraw from the course and take it in the longer fall session. Well, I'm a stubborn person and I don't just withdraw. I pulled through that course with flying colors. It give me such a rush of confidence that I could get an A in a science course. Me, the same person that would have been happy to get a B in science. I'm not even sure if I ever got a B in science before. I guess the point of this rant is, don't ever think you're not good at science or math. Never. One of these days it will just click for you like it did for me. I start nursing school in the fall. If you would have told me several years ago that I would be taking math/science classes and doing well in them, I would have thought this person existed only in a parallel universe.

Wow, this thread sure got heated! I've been rushing to get my pre-reqs done. I've taken just about all of them at an accelerated pace in half the time they would have normally taken. It's made me rather stressed out. I've managed to get all A's, but sometimes I feel like I go overboard with the amount of studying I do. I try to compensate for the lack of time by going nuts and doing nothing but studying. Everyone says that the pre-reqs are the easy part- just wait until you get to nursing is all I hear. I simply don't feel like the added stress is worth it. Sometimes it bothers me that I'm essentially giving up 2 years of salary, but then I remember that I have my whole life ahead of me. When I was kid, time seemed to pass so slowly. Somewhere in my 20's I realized that time won't slow down enough. In retrospect, three years will pass in a blink of an eye. I'm the type of person that drives the speed limit. I think I inherited this annoying trait from my dad, but it's a trait that echoes like a metaphor throughout my life. I just don't rush things. It's not in my nature, even with tons of caffeine, to get things done just for the sake of getting things done. If 2 years of extra time makes me less stressed out, allows more material to soak in, and allows me to find a job during the off-summers, then that seems like a good decision to me. ABSN's probably work for some people, but I just don't feel like I'm one of those people.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I thought that the traditional BSN was better for me for a couple of reasons. First off, I'm already in quite of bit debt as is. I would need to get a private loan for the ABSN. Of course one could argue that I'm missing out on potential salary that the ABSN would provide me. I don't think I could get a cosigner for the private loan anyway, so I stopped entertaining that detail long ago. Secondly, the ABSN programs are really competitive. My overall GPA isn't awful (3.4) and my pre-req is great (3.8), but average doesn't cut it for these programs. Lastly, I just don't want to do it. I don't care if that sounds like I'm taking the easy way out. Nursing school any which way is terribly difficult, why make myself 1000x more stressed out and more likely to burn out? I don't want to go into an ABSN program and have a nervous breakdown halfway through and lose my dream of nursing. I'll take two more years, get to breathe, and get more time to be comfortable in this stressful transition. I felt like I just had to get that off my chest. I hate when other people decide that they know what's best for you. To everyone else that feels like they're taking forever to get there, we'll all get there! Don't give up! I never felt that I would make it this far. Last year at this time nursing seemed just like a fantasy. Now I'm going to be starting soon. I'm proud of myself for getting in and I'm going to stop being bitter about not doing the ABSN. The only thing I want to do is what I want to do!

About a year ago after I graduated with a previous bachelors degree, I decided to go back to school for nursing. To most people, it would seem obvious that I would have wanted an ABSN program. Instead, I applied for a traditional 3-year BSN program and got accepted. I was beyond happy with getting in, but I kept hearing this voice of doubt and insecurity in the back of head. I'll be 24 when I start NS and 27 when I finish. I could have been done at 25. I currently don't work and I have no kids. It seems like a foolish idea that I decided to pick the longer route. A second career older person in my chemistry class last semester confronted me. She asked me why I just didn't do the ABSN like she was doing. She had kids and a job. I felt like I couldn't remotely justify an answer. If she could do it, why couldn't I? Am I stupid for not wanting to rush something like this?

I relied very heavily on youtube for that course, in particular this guy's videos: Tyler DeWitt - YouTube He writes every step of an equation out and explains it very slowly.

My college had a pre-req for the course. I had taken an upper level chem course, so I had the science department waive the pre-req (I think it was a bio-chem class or something like that). Every school is different, but if you've taken anything related to science, if it has a pre-req, inquire with the school's science department and see if they could waive the requirement.

Thank you for the informative response! It's a little over a week until the application deadline, so my anxiety is through the roof. I know there's nothing I can do to make the days pass faster, but still!

I don't think that's an unreasonable amount of time to study. I generally studied for 2-4 hours every day for A&P and managed to get an A. Like others have suggested, though, maybe you should rethink how you study. Not everyone learns the same way. I benefited most from reading the book and paying attention during lecture. Maybe try the video suggestion.

I'm sure every school out there is different, but I was curious to hear other people's experiences. Do nursing schools typically wait until after the application deadline to call you? What if you applied a month before? How long after you applied, did it take you to get called for an interview?

We couldn't be more similar! I have a previous BS in an unrelated field. I decided about half a year ago I wanted to go back to school for nursing. The problem: I have about 40k in debt and I'm uncertain how I would be able to get another 30k loan. I am also in the Ohio area (outside of Cleveland). From what I understand, the BSN is the degree most hospitals want, so that's my end goal. I go back and forth between the community college and university idea.The community college is a lot cheaper, but I'll only end up with an ADN. I could always do an ADN - BSN online program and save money; however, it would be much more convenient to just do the straight BSN program. I decided that I would at least try to apply to Cleveland State University. If I got accepted I would figure out the financial mess later. If not, I would go the community college route and then do an online program. So unfortunately, as we're in the same boat, I can't offer you much advice. My biggest advice is to at least take the pre-reqs at a community college because it's so much cheaper. Maybe think about an online ADN - BSN course. The community college in my area is about $8,000 and the university about $30,000. The online option, together with the previous ADN degree, totals around $18,000. Have you thought about deferring student loans? From what I understand, you are allowed to defer student loans for a maximum of three years and only once. This might allow you to take out additional loans. I am personally looking into this option. Seeing as the BSN program I want is three years in length, that deferment period might give me a chance at this. Another option: I'm guessing you maxed out your federal student loans. If you were considered a dependent at the time, as an independent now (over age 24), you may be able to tap into the independent federal limit. Final thought: Don't give up!!!!! I know how it feels to have a change of heart in what you want to do in life. If you're passionate about nursing, then you will become a nurse one way or another.

Relocating would only be an option after I get a job, so I hope the waitlist isn't that bad. Ideally, I wouldn't want to relocate because it's an added expense. Living at home for me is free right now and paying $600 in rent is $600 that could be thrown towards paying off my student loans. I'm probably being too picky and idealistic at this point, though. The problem is, I hear so many different opinions from people on whether or not the ADN job is dying here. My mom was in the hospital over the summer. One of the nurses asked where I planned to go to school and said, "Oh, don't worry- you'll be able to get a job." When I was in the hospital in the fall I asked a nurse what she thought about the ADN vs BSN job market. She said, "Don't go for the ADN! All the nurses here have to be BSN. The ADN's that work here have to get a BSN within the next five years or get fired." My boyfriend's cousins are both nurses. His father e-mailed them asking them what they thought of the situation. They wouldn't say one way or another that going for the ADN was worthless. They made it pretty clear that even BSN nurses are having hard times finding jobs as new grads. Their suggestion was also relocating. One of my pre-nursing friends works in a hospital and is surrounded by a lot of ICU nurses. I asked her where the the majority of nurses went to school. She said they almost all went to the community college. For clarification I live in the Cleveland area. The Cleveland Clinic is probably a huge factor is the push towards magnet status and other hospitals seem to be following its lead.