Starting at Hillsborough Community College Fall 2009!!!!

Starfish1 · May 21, 2009

Hi I am just starting my first year at HCC in the fall.. i just graduated from high school and I am planning on applying for the nursing program once i have all of my prerequisites finished! I just went to orientation today and picked my classes..i was so nervous! I didn't really know what i should start with, a lot of people said English 1 and Math (Beginning Algebra for me) and i did pick those two and my other two classes were microbiology and the microbiology lab and also the elective developmental psychology of life span. Is this a good schedule to have your first year?? I wanted to take anatomy but i couldn't because i didn't have a high enough score on my placement test to be put into College Algebra. Am i able to take anatomy next semester or do i have to take intermediate math first?? And isn't microbiology just like anatomy they both are sciences so why could i take one and not the other? Is microbiology hard? Is it better to take the harder classes first and get most of them out of the way? i mean i don't think it really matters since I'm going to have to take all of them because they are all prerequisites..but am i doing okay for now?? should i take sociology instead..what do most people start with and what do you recommend I take first or over the summer or in fall, etc.
Thanks for your help! Someone please reply to me!! :)

congrats to you on starting your journey to becoming an RN. I was in your shoes a few years ago. Actually I was going to school on my spare time because my husband ran a company and I had no need to jump into a career...hmm now 7 years later that company closed and I am in the RN program at HCC, going to start my 3rd semester this fall. I did take beg algebra, then intermediate then I took math for liberal arts- I cannot stand algebra, that is why I opted for L.A. math. Micro is different than anatomy, you learn more about diseases, bacteria, etc, in anatomy you learn about the body. Both were very interesting classes but were very different from one another. I would take the class load that you feel is right for you, you really want to do well in your pre req, because GPA will get you into the program and as more people are interested in becoming RN's the GPA keeps going up and up, I would really try to get at least a 3.5 to get into the program, I would really try to shoot for a higher GPA, if this means that it takes you a semester or two longer on a lighter course load, then I would do it. I would proabably take your math and electives and get those out of the way first since nursing school is more about anatomy and micro, if you take those last they will still be fresh in your head, just my opinion! good luck and please feel free to ask any questions- I'd be more than happy to help!

NursingIsLove · Jun 1, 2009

thanks so much!!!! :] okay and another question.. i was also in HOSA at my school and took the health science and nursing classes and we went to the nursing homes and everything and my teacher wsd preparing us for the CNA exam.. you can go in and take the class yourself to get your CNA certificate thing . i dont know exactly what i want to do in the health field but if i wanted to become and RN which is what im leaning towards then do you think i should take the CNA exam just to have it for like future resumes under my experience and stuff or if i want to get a job later on??

NursingIsLove · Jun 1, 2009

also do u know anyone thats taken that exam and where they ended up later on as a career?

Starfish1 · Jun 1, 2009

getting your CNA license is up to you, if you are going to nursing school however, you can work as a Nurse Tech after your first or second semester (you have some more responsibilities, like discontinuing IVs, catheters, NG tubes) but you make more $$. so it is up to you...I am currently working as a Nurse Tech this summer, and have learned more during this first week of work than I have during clinicals. I have a friend that has her CNA license and she has yet to find a job and has finished her second semester and is looking for a CNA or Nurse Tech position....so having a CNA license doesn't help with finding work.

let me know if there is anything else I can help you with

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2009

i just noticed your thread today even though it is a couple of weeks old. i realize you are very jazzed about starting college, however, i think you have picked a pretty heavy schedule of classes for yourself for a first semester. english 1, which i am going to assume is english composition, is probably a pretty intensive class. back in the day i was in college english composition it was a critical class that everyone had to take and pass. today, it is a pre-requisite to graduate from most colleges. you can expect to be doing a fair amount of reading and writing of compositions for that class. two other classes, microbiology and developmental psychology of life span are also pretty intensive. both will involve learning a lot of information that you have never had before. that's rough. so, unless you are a really good student with really excellent study habits i am worried that you are going to struggle with learning, studying and understanding this material. developmental psychology, in particular, is going to require a lot of memorization. it is also going to be used later in pediatric and geriatric nursing. your beginning algebra class is going to require a lot of time to do the homework. if you do not keep up with the homework you will fall behind in understanding new concepts that get introduced. math concepts build upon each other and if you fall behind it is nearly impossible to catch up. anatomy is another class of all new information that requires a lot of memorization.

the smart thing to do is take one or two hard classes along with one or two classes you already have a solid background in and you are pretty sure you will do well in. it is never a good idea to take a handful of classes in subjects that are all new to you because you will be bogged down studying all the time. one of the reasons you hear nursing students talk about how hard nursing school is is because everything they are learning is new information they have never studied or been exposed to before. when you are building on information you've had before (as with math) it is different than when you are having to learn all new material that you have never seen before--you have no frame of reference upon which to build with it.

there are weblinks to websites with information on microbiology if you want an idea of what you are going to be learning in that class. see post #45 on this sticky thread: https://allnurses.com/nursing-student-assistance/pathophysiology-p-microbiology-145201.html - pathophysiology/ a & p/ microbiology/ fluid & electrolyte resources

what i did to test the waters of college classes when i graduated from high school was i signed up for one summer class. it was called world civilizations (same as world history and a required class at the time). boy! was i glad i did. it was a shock to go from high school classes to a college class. i was an a-b high school student. i barely got through that college class, my only class, with a c! it wasn't just memorizing dates and events. this instructor had us labeling maps and explaining why historical events had occurred. why? we never had to discuss that in high school. welcome to college.

i suggest you also look at the information i posted on this thread: https://allnurses.com/nursing-student-assistance/study-strategies-254733.html - study strategies

good luck with your first year.