Straight A students..

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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How did you get A’s in your science classes?

Im very good with english, psychology, history, etc.

Math and science have never been my strong suit even though I do find science interesting.

I feel like with a lot of studying and hard work I can pull off an A in college algebra so that’s the only one I’m not too worried about.

The pre reqs I’m scared of are molecular/cell biology, A&P, chem, and microbiology.

so pretty much all the science classes. I’m also scared of statistics.

My current situation is... I have a 4 month old baby. I am not working right now but looking to work part time by fall semester. My husband and I will be sharing care-taking responsibility of our son but I see him still being in majority of my care even with going to school and working part time. We have no family in state to help us.

In order to have all my pre reqs done to apply for a fall 2021 program I need to take atleast 2 classes every term (with 3 “easy” classes 2 terms) We have a quarter system in my city. I read online and a girl suggested taking A&P alone. I’m not opposed to that but that would push me to apply Fall 2022.

Our schools are extremely competitive (aren’t they all) and give extra points for being certified as CNA and having work experience which is what I plan to do part time.

so straight A students what are your study tips? What do you recommend? Should I take all A&P courses solo? I have a sequence of 3 that are 4 credits each.

Specializes in MICU.

Slow and steady wins the race.

I have 5 kids, my youngest was 6 months old when I began prereqs, and I have a 4.0 so far. I’m half way through physio with an A+ so far, and only have micro to take after this.

If you need straight As, it’s crucial you do not overload yourself.

Doubling up on your sciences is tempting to get through them quickly but unless you can make school your full time number one priority with no other obligations or are already very strong in the areas, I’d never ever recommend it.

I personally also took even more time by taking some remedial math and chemistry before I got into the real prereqs. Being totally secure and set in algebra set me on a smooth path for chemistry. Being strong in chemistry and algebra made nutrition and physiology easier. Take your “easy” classes over the summer to speed things up if you want to, but I see it often with classmates every semester, the hurry-to-finish overloaders either drop something and have to have a W on their transcript, of have to face Bs or Cs in an area so impacted they’re simply not in a position to be as competitive.

And also, let me tell you. I think being a parent is a benefit to you as a student. For me, it forces me to never procrastinate so I can get everything done. It forces me to do my best work because I have 5 daughters watching me and they think their mom is smart and I’m motivated to not let them down. You already know how to work through tired and do hard things you don’t want to do if you are a parent. You don’t have time to waste . You bring a set of skills, organization, and dedication as a non-traditional student. Use them to your advantage!

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I'm going to be honest... I'm a major oddball! I actually shocked people when I said I was going to do nursing. With that being said...

College Algebra: A

Microbiology: A

Chemistry 1 & 2: A

Statistics: A

English and Psych: I passed these with AP in HS!

Dev Psych: A

Human Nutrition: A

Drum roll: I barely made B's in BOTH A&P I & II.

I honestly have major memorization trouble with some of the core concepts because I have not taken Organic Chemistry which really makes everything harder for me to visualize and understand the Physiology, further, memorizing diagrams and models is just not my thing!

This all being said, I have a wonderful GPA and many colleges are not worried about it. OP, do the best you can and excel in what you are good at. Don't let one subject or class stand in the way of your career goals.

- I will add that I am a student in my (technically) third semester of college and I am only 18 years old. I took Dual Enrollment when I was in high school so that's why a lot of my credits are completed so early.

I genuinely do not believe I am a genius and I did not study for each subject 3+ hours a day. I wish I did I might have done better in A&P but I don't believe this is the end of the world.

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On 3/18/2019 at 1:27 PM, Etak said:

Slow and steady wins the race.

I have 5 kids, my youngest was 6 months old when I began prereqs, and I have a 4.0 so far. I’m half way through physio with an A+ so far, and only have micro to take after this.

If you need straight As, it’s crucial you do not overload yourself.

Doubling up on your sciences is tempting to get through them quickly but unless you can make school your full time number one priority with no other obligations or are already very strong in the areas, I’d never ever recommend it.

I personally also took even more time by taking some remedial math and chemistry before I got into the real prereqs. Being totally secure and set in algebra set me on a smooth path for chemistry. Being strong in chemistry and algebra made nutrition and physiology easier. Take your “easy” classes over the summer to speed things up if you want to, but I see it often with classmates every semester, the hurry-to-finish overloaders either drop something and have to have a W on their transcript, of have to face Bs or Cs in an area so impacted they’re simply not in a position to be as competitive.

And also, let me tell you. I think being a parent is a benefit to you as a student. For me, it forces me to never procrastinate so I can get everything done. It forces me to do my best work because I have 5 daughters watching me and they think their mom is smart and I’m motivated to not let them down. You already know how to work through tired and do hard things you don’t want to do if you are a parent. You don’t have time to waste . You bring a set of skills, organization, and dedication as a non-traditional student. Use them to your advantage!

I’m taking your advice!! I’m working on my math courses now and I will do chem after I build my skills up. Then the rest of my sciences! You sound like a great mom and I know you will be a great nurse too.

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On 3/19/2019 at 7:51 PM, Migrating said:

I'm going to be honest... I'm a major oddball! I actually shocked people when I said I was going to do nursing. With that being said...

College Algebra: A

Microbiology: A

Chemistry 1 & 2: A

Statistics: A

English and Psych: I passed these with AP in HS!

Dev Psych: A

Human Nutrition: A

Drum roll: I barely made B's in BOTH A&P I & II.

I honestly have major memorization trouble with some of the core concepts because I have not taken Organic Chemistry which really makes everything harder for me to visualize and understand the Physiology, further, memorizing diagrams and models is just not my thing!

This all being said, I have a wonderful GPA and many colleges are not worried about it. OP, do the best you can and excel in what you are good at. Don't let one subject or class stand in the way of your career goals.

- I will add that I am a student in my (technically) third semester of college and I am only 18 years old. I took Dual Enrollment when I was in high school so that's why a lot of my credits are completed so early.

I genuinely do not believe I am a genius and I did not study for each subject 3+ hours a day. I wish I did I might have done better in A&P but I don't believe this is the end of the world.

Thank you for your input! My school is requiring organic chem as a pre req I’m scared !! But I think it will help later on maybe with A&P? I want to make the best grades I can but I agree it isn’t the end of the world. You still did really well and if I could get all A’s and 2 B’s I would be very happy!

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Hi Delcon...I'm also a mom of a young baby and just finished up my nursing prereqs a couple days ago.

My baby was 4 months at the beginning of spring semester. I doubled up on Micro and Physiology. I am someone who has a strong science foundation and my sister was helping me full time. Even so, it was HARD but I managed As in both classes. It would have been incredibly difficult to add in working part time as well.

If you need to work I would definitely recommend just one science at a time. Even if you push your application back one year it just gives you extra time to study for your TEAS or HESI. This is usually a big part of the application that deserves a lot of your time.

These classes may seem intimidating but never forget...you're a mom...you can handle anything! Best of luck to you!

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Class can make or break you depending on the Professor. Had a great Professod for Chem and received my highest grade in Chem out of all the Sciences.

Don't try to take Science classes together. Take it with a fluffy class. AP2 received a C+ in after taking it with Micro.

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On 5/3/2019 at 11:19 PM, Delcon said:

Thank you for your input! My school is requiring organic chem as a pre req I’m scared !! But I think it will help later on maybe with A&P? I want to make the best grades I can but I agree it isn’t the end of the world. You still did really well and if I could get all A’s and 2 B’s I would be very happy!

Not wanting to be a downer

Look into your school requirements. AP1 GPA for the 4 programs I applied to carried a 50% weight overall when it came to acceptance. I received a B- in the class one of the reasons I feel I couldn't get accepted into a program.

So an A in AP can go far.

Definitely take it alone and research Professors.

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2 hours ago, WCSU1987 said:

Not wanting to be a downer

Look into your school requirements. AP1 GPA for the 4 programs I applied to carried a 50% weight overall when it came to acceptance. I received a B- in the class one of the reasons I feel I couldn't get accepted into a program.

So an A in AP can go far.

Definitely take it alone and research Professors.

A lot of student nurses keep telling me that strong A&P can make patho easier. So I’m definitely trying to take A&P solo and pull A’s in those classes. I will definitely take my sciences alone! Thank you.

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Hi! I am not sure would I be counted as a straight A student because I got AB (Grade between A and B) on my statistics class and general chemistry class during my freshman year.

However, I did really good on my Organic Chemistry (top 5 out of 280 students, 96% of overall grade) and Physiology (99% of overall grade, top 5 potentially), and an average A for other prerequisites. I am a current undergraduate student at UW-Madison, so our class size is extremely large (~200) for the science classes. I learned my study strategy from my organic chemistry professor, who is famous in our Chemistry department and is a fellow in National Academy of Science. The core idea is: learning organic chemistry is not only learning the mechanism (cause you will forget it in future anyway) but also building your own strategy to learn something difficult! So, here are some suggestions he gave us and I would like to share here.

1. Plan for your study schedule so you can study ahead of time (better study everyday)

2. Listening to lecture or reading the textbook is a passive learning process, so you have to engage in active learning such as writing out the mechanism by yourself or ask yourself questions about the concepts

3. Get enough sleep so you can memorize better

Best wishes to your study journey! I believe you can do it : )

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24 minutes ago, ACoolGoose said:

Hi! I am not sure would I be counted as a straight A student because I got AB (Grade between A and B) on my statistics class and general chemistry class during my freshman year.

However, I did really good on my Organic Chemistry (top 5 out of 280 students, 96% of overall grade) and Physiology (99% of overall grade, top 5 potentially), and an average A for other prerequisites. I am a current undergraduate student at UW-Madison, so our class size is extremely large (~200) for the science classes. I learned my study strategy from my organic chemistry professor, who is famous in our Chemistry department and is a fellow in National Academy of Science. The core idea is: learning organic chemistry is not only learning the mechanism (cause you will forget it in future anyway) but also building your own strategy to learn something difficult! So, here are some suggestions he gave us and I would like to share here.

1. Plan for your study schedule so you can study ahead of time (better study everyday)

2. Listening to lecture or reading the textbook is a passive learning process, so you have to engage in active learning such as writing out the mechanism by yourself or ask yourself questions about the concepts

3. Get enough sleep so you can memorize better

Best wishes to your study journey! I believe you can do it : )

Wow you did great!!

I just read an article a few days ago that discussed sleep. I’m trying to prioritize it more. The article said most moms don’t remember their child’s first year and it’s because of sleep deprivation. Something about your brain storing memories during sleep? It said they had 2 different groups they showed a series of flash cards to. One group took a nap after and the other didn’t. The group that took a nap memorized the cards much better!

Also I will re read and re listen to lectures over and over trying to get information to stick. I think that is a good idea to be more “active” in my learning. It is very time consuming to re listen to lectures and to keep reading the same text over and over. I’d rather spend the free time I have to study much more effectively.

I think this is all excellent study advice thank you for sharing I will be applying all 3!!

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4 hours ago, Delcon said:

Wow you did great!!

I just read an article a few days ago that discussed sleep. I’m trying to prioritize it more. The article said most moms don’t remember their child’s first year and it’s because of sleep deprivation. Something about your brain storing memories during sleep? It said they had 2 different groups they showed a series of flash cards to. One group took a nap after and the other didn’t. The group that took a nap memorized the cards much better!

Also I will re read and re listen to lectures over and over trying to get information to stick. I think that is a good idea to be more “active” in my learning. It is very time consuming to re listen to lectures and to keep reading the same text over and over. I’d rather spend the free time I have to study much more effectively.

I think this is all excellent study advice thank you for sharing I will be applying all 3!!

You will do great too. : )

Yes, sleep can consolidate the memory you earned during the day and connect these pieces together to a coherent one. So it definitely helps with study and make it more efficiently.

I think you're ready to have a productive next step and I see you have no problem mastering the science classes!

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