Scheduling and Course Issues - 1 vs 2 years of Study.

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Hey all,

I'd really appreciate some help with the following if possible.

I'm currently in a community college (second semester at Miami Dade) and am taking all my lower division classes and nursing prerequisites so I can transfer to my preferred university BSN program at upper division status.

At this current moment in time my schedule looks a little something like this:

Fall 2013 - 13 Credits

Chemistry for Health Science

Chemistry for Health Science Lab

English II

Speech (Needed)

Ethics

Spring 2014 - 13 Credits

Human Anatomy and Physiology I

Human Anatomy and Physiology I Lab

Cinema Appreciation (Needed)

Social Environment (Needed)

Statical Methods

Summer 2014 - 10 Credits

Human Anatomy and Physiology II

Human Anatomy and Physiology II Lab

Essentials of Human Nutrition

Introduction to Psychology

Fall 2014 - 10 Credits

Microbiology

Microbiology Lab

Human Growth and Development

College Algebra (Needed)

Spring 2015

Semester Off, Apply for Fall 2015.

Summer 2015

Semester Off

Fall 2015

Start of Nursing School

The Nursing School i'm wanting to transfer to (FIU) only starts each fall, so I would have to wait two semesters to start.

I therefore wanted to get your thoughts and opinions on the following -

I recently discovered, on my own, CLEP exams and am thinking of CLEPing out of my english, social studies, psychology and human development courses. (i'd do two by september and another two for spring.) This would not only save me money but would shed off a semester of lower division studies leaving me with three semesters.

Unfortunately though, on its own, all this does is add another semester (Fall 2014) of wait time along with Spring and Summer of 2015. As the Nursing School I want to go to only starts in fall, i'd need to get my application in by March 15th (they wont allow me to apply if I still need to take classes for the summer term after March.)

So with this issue i'm faced with having to move from 13 credit semesters to 17 credit semesters in order to be able to back track yet another Semester and make it in by Fall 2014, instead of 2015.

Such changes would leave my schedule looking like this -

Fall 2013

Chemistry for Health Science

Chemistry for Health Science Lab

Human Anatomy and Physiology I

Human Anatomy and Physiology I Lab

Statistical Methods

Speech (Needed)

Ethics

Spring 2014

Human Anatomy and Physiology II

Human Anatomy and Physiology II Lab

Microbiology

Microbiology Lab

College Algebra (Needed)

Essentials of Human Nutrition

Apply for Fall 2014.

Do you think this change is doable and smart? Or should I take it slowly up to 2015? My GPA is currently at 3.7 and i'm pretty good at everything but Math. I absorbed Human Anatomy and Physiology in High School with very little study. I don't work atm, and am a full time student.

Many thanks in advance for any help that may be given! :)

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Wow, that's a pretty ambitious plan. If you do end up passing all of your CLEP exams the "Option 2" schedule is going to be very challenging, even for someone with good grades who doesn't have to work. Not to say that it can't be done - with a great work ethic and total concentration it definitely can - but many straight-A students struggle with taking two heavy-duty science classes in one semester, and you have Chem & API and then Micro & APII with math and general ed on top of that each semester. If you're at all concerned with maintaining or raising your GPA I would seriously consider spreading the class load out over a few semesters, especially since you know you're going to have to devote some extra effort to doing well in your math classes.

Two more things since I'm feeling bossy today: First, I wouldn't be so quick to write off Anatomy and Physiology - I also took it in high school, and it was nowhere near as challenging as the college equivalent. Second, consider actually taking the Human Development class instead of trying to test out. It may seem like a throwaway general ed course but much the material covered will be critical to developing appropriate care plans for patients in nursing school.

Good luck with whatever path you choose!

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Specializes in NICU.

You need to be careful of rushing yourself just to be able to apply earlier. Nursing schools are competitive. You need to complete the courses but you also need ensure high grades. Your rushed plan falls apart if you start getting low Bs and Cs and have to retake classes to boost your GPA back up.

Taking Chem, A&P I, and Stats in the same semester is ambitious.

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It's quite possible! I'm a single mom, work part time and aced 18 credits last semester..I took math, lifespan psych, nutrition, biology and microbiology. I'd say go for it if you have the time!!

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Specializes in critcal care, CRNA.

Be careful with CLEPs. Make sure the school you plan on attending accepts them and also that that they don't require a higher passing standard than the national standard. A school I applied to would only accept 6 of my 33 CLEP credits and those 6 were American history 1&2, but my score needed to meet their standards and not the national. Just don't waste your time and find out the hard way.

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Thanks for the info and opinions so far guys! I have a sticky note set to remind me to call about which CLEP and DSST tests I can take for my prerequisites. I know the university i'm looking to transfer to has a sheet of accepted CLEP and DSST credits and everything there checks out, but I want to make sure there aren't any exceptions for the nursing program.

I've also since found a DSST exam for speech and art so I no longer need to worry about those two classes for Fall and Spring in Plan 2; which means after I confirm on Monday, I'll be able to concentrate mostly on all my science classes.

So in total i'm wanting to take the following CLEP and DSST exams:

By end of August:

Speech (few days of review followed by exam)

English (few days of review followed by exam)

Psychology (one week review followed by exam)

Human Development (two week review followed by exam) [At the advice of Scientist Salarian [awesome name btw!] I may take up this class in place of the freed up credits I have from Art and Speech, if I don't though, i'd be pretty interested in reading up on it again, more in depth, over the summer I'd have off before Nursing school - looks like an interesting course.]

By start of January (review over winter break after finals)

History (one week review)

Art (one week review)

CLEP and DSST exams aside, i've toyed around with my registration cart for Fall and have tried to secure the best professors, according to their reviews, for each subject area; i'm actually pretty happy with each professor I have at the moment. I even did so at the expense of convenience - for example, the best Anatomy and Physiology professor I could find teaches on Saturday at 8:00 AM.

So my updated schedule for fall looks a little something like this:

Fall 2013 - 14 Credits (down from 17)

Chemistry for Health Science

Chemistry for Health Science Lab

Human Anatomy and Physiology I

Human Anatomy and Physiology I Lab

Statistical Methods

Ethics

I'll probably review all of this, and what i've mentioned before, with my Academic Advisor to get her opinion on it as well.

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