Starting out

hello and :welcome: !

Well first of all, there will be some general pre reqs u will need to take no matter where you go to school. Do u know which school u want to go to? Its good that u are starting from scratch in a way, bc u probably dont have too many bumps and bruises on your college transcripts (if any at all) that will affect ur gpa and admission into the program The best thing u can do is knock the pre reqs out of the way with as high of a grade as possible so u have the best shot at getting in the program asap. some schools will have a waiting list and give u an admission date, others will have u reapply each year. You will probably have to take an entrance exam for the nursing program called the NET. The classes u usually have to take are gonna be English Comp I, A&P I and II, Microbiology, Nutrition, Developmental Psych, and give or take a couple of more. Look on the website of the schools u are interested in and look at their nursing program information page. Sometimes they have the admission criteria along with the program layout and pre reqs required. Good luck!

Good luck. Since you're just starting out I would go to your local community college in person and talk to an advisor. There are probably lots of the prereqs and coreqs you can take online there. I know St. Pete College has a lot of online courses. Good luck.

Thanks so much everyone for your advise my only problem now is finding the time to take off work to go to a counselor and get help with that portion of my agenda. but i really do appreciate thae help.

~Karina

I live in Bradenton and I enrolled in Manatee Technical Institute LPN program.

I lived in MI and was taking pre-req's to become an RN, and the move here was a mess. Cost per credit hour at MCC was almost 300 due to me not being a resident yet (need to live here for one year first,) some of the classes I took in MI as pre-req's were not pre-req's here... etc, etc. etc.....

Anyway for about $4800 (TOTAL for the entire class) I am enrolled in the LPN class that is in the evenings from 5:30-9:30 on Monday and Wednesday, then every other Saturday and Sunday from 7a-3:30p. This way I will not need to worry about daycare for my children. It will take me 2 years to complete- But it would have taken me almost 4 years to complete an RN program (due to time and money and wait lists.) I still plan to become an RN, I will just bridge down the road. ......

Hope this info helps some. I know different things work for different people, just wanted to share the path I chose. At least in 2 years my youngest will be in school full time so I can work during the day, class at night for RN, or vice versa.... but I will be earning a decent salary as an LPN while chasing the RN dream :)

I've been reading a lot of post and it's starting to freak me out. my Mother in Law is an Rn and has been for a long time my brother in law is an x-ray tech and his wife is thinking about getting into the Med field as well. i haven't made up my mind yet:uhoh21: it's alil' scary but a bit comforting to know that i'm only 21 and making a decision instead of in my 40's making a career change. No offense to anyone. i want to deal with Children or Baby's (not grown up baby's) so i was thinking NICU or maybe in the childrens department. Here in Tampa we have a really good Childrens hospital the a great Rep. St. Joseph's. i want something that i can enjoy and look forward to doing everyday. i just don't know if i'll be able to deal with poor children in pain.

Help Confused!

You are smart to be making this decision when you are still so young.

Good luck!

I also live in Riverview and I know HCC has several campuses close to us that you can take your pre-req's at.

ok here's another question.... oh by the way i do appreciate all the help and advice you all have shared! should i start reading anything before i start school... i don't even know what school i'm going to for the matter. i'm looking into schools now and was thinking about kaiser collage in lakeland i'm going there next wednesday to check it out, and then probably hcc brandon sometime after that. but now that i think about it i think hcc might be better for me so that i can do things at my own pace and not take so many classes at once. i know it'll take me longer to do school but with work, home life, working out, a lil' monkey and husband running around i barely have time for my self now. can u imagine with school on top of that i'll go insane! not that i'm too sane now but with that much crap going on i'd really be unstable. ok s back to my questions.

1) should i do anything to prepare before school?

2) should i know what, and where i would like to take rn in the end, or can i do that along the way?

3) does anyone know about tuition help for military wives?

Byrd-

First off, breath deep. You will get a ton of information from all the schools...things to keep in mind....A) Which schools are "accredited" and have credits that will transfer should you decide later on in life to go for your Masters. NOT ALL PRIVATE schools have REGIONAL accredidation. Basically ask them "will this transfer to USF if I want my masters" don't accept any answer other than YES. B) Every school has DIFFERENT pre-reqs but as long as you take the basics (Anat & Phys, Psych...etc), it will get you applying to multiple schools easily, one thing I will tell you is HCC requires a 1000 level A&P class, and that doesn't transfer to other schools, so take their 2000 level course. Other than that good luck lady!!!

Thanks so much for all your help Wish me luck today i got to look at my first school chioce in Lakeland! I'll keep u guys posted

mkcrturner~ Just wondering how the LPN program was going for you at MTI. I applied there recently to hopefully start this January. I was just wondering how you liked the program so far. I was also wondering how soon you found out you were accepted-this waiting is driving me nuts!! :)