Struggling with my courses!

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I got 70's on the first exam for Chemistry, Microbiology, and Microbiology lab. So yeah, my avgs are like 70's for all of my courses. Except maybe Math.. it is too hard. My teacher said I might have to retake it. I need study options. I am concerned to end up getting bad grades, like C on some class as a final grade. I am trying to change shift at my job and work at least 16-18 hours a week or I will quit! :)

So do you think I should mostly watch videos on Youtube (it does help me a lot because I can picture it.) When I read something, I just don't get it.. I need pictures, etc. I am a more like a visual learner.

It's week 8 for me & I am getting a 76 in statistics & a 70 in African amer culture. I'm not gonna lie, I barely study for those classes since I dedicate all my time to Spanish, A&P II and chemistry. I have As in those. To be honest my motivation isn't as high as it should be, because I'm just ready to know if I got accepted into my nursing program. I find out next week. I've been waiting since June 1st!

I am trying to focus more on science since I want good GPA in science. ^^;; My goal is to get at least B+ or A for my science courses. I want to keep my GPA above 3.5 for science. It is good enough for me. I'm doing bad for all of my courses because of my dang job. I'm trying to chance shift and get less hours. Once I change shift, I will study hard! I know I still have a chance to get the grade I want :)

Not sure if I am doing good, but so far, I got a 75 in exam 1 for Chemistry, 83 for exam 1 in Micriobiology, 53 out of 70 ( I think it is a C ) for Pre-Calc exam 1, and 73 for Microbiology lab. I think I am going to do so bad in chemistry lab.. I don't understand anything and I haven't studied.. I better study.

I like Microbiology and Math, but chemistry is a challenge.. so much to memorize! It won't fit in my brain :D.

I did make a lot of mistake for all of my exam. My mind always go blank duriing an exam ;\ I could have easily gotten an A for microbiology because I did study hard for it to get a good mark, but I couldn't visualize what I wrote on flashcards, etc.

My math teacher is happy for me that I got a C. Initially, he told me I might have to retake pre-calc, but if I keep doing this good, I'll pass ^^

I work 27 hours a week and taking 4 courses plus 3 labs. Not too bad >:\

It's week 8 for me & I am getting a 76 in statistics & a 70 in African amer culture. I'm not gonna lie, I barely study for those classes since I dedicate all my time to Spanish, A&P II and chemistry. I have As in those. To be honest my motivation isn't as high as it should be, because I'm just ready to know if I got accepted into my nursing program. I find out next week. I've been waiting since June 1st!

I hope you get accepted! Spanish is my first language. It is a good language to learn. :)

I hope you get accepted! Spanish is my first language. It is a good language to learn. :)

Thank you so much! That's so sweet of you! I'm doing really well in Spanish. I took French in high school but decided to take Spanish now since I'm sure I'll come across patients that speak Spanish over French!

I took classes for 3 years at a local community college working towards their nursing program. I had all you typical prereq pre-nursing courses (a&p 1 and 2, microbio ect...) I had to keep retaking the courses because I could not get above a mid C average. Once I got to the final- I bombed and it killed my cumulative gpa.

I took a year off and I recently started over and applied to a university as undecided because I knew I wouldn't get into the nursing program with my hs record and what happened at the community college.

I am currently an A+ student in all of my pre-nursing classes. It's happening because I have 100% motivation to be a nurse and to succeed. I never did test well- when I took that year off I had a talk with myself and I told myself if I want this bad enough- I'm just going to have to learn to test well! And that is what I did! I study my butt off and I do different studying methods all the time.

Here are some that I find most helpful for me:

1. Be as organized as you possibly can be. The more organized you are- the easier it will be for you to find information to study for midterms and finals!

2. Stay ahead of your class. Read the chapter BEFORE the lecture on that chapter- take notes. If you are provided with outlines before the chapters- great! Utilize them and elaborate on them before your professor lectures it. That way, when he/she is lecturing you can sit back and retain what he/she is saying and jot down anything necessary that you missed in your notes.

3. Flash cards are great- but don't spend all of your time making them. I used to find myself making SO many flash cards and then never even having the time to study them. Make some for very important things that you must memorize! Ex: the pathogenic prokaryote bacteria. Or cranial nerves.

4. Draw diagrams and pictures to help you understand things. Ex: Get a white board to practice balancing chemical equations!

5. Make outlines for each chapter of important information you need to know for your test. Save it for the final! (I love doing this!)

Most importantly: Don't slack off- you're gonna be tired when you get home from a long day and that phone call from your friend to go to the bar is going to be very tempting- DONT DO IT. If they don't understand, they were never a true friend to begin with. Eat healthy- your brain functions when you have the proper nutrition going into your body. When you eat like crap, you perform like crap- in every area of your life! Make time to do stuff you love doing at least once a week- you need to stay sane and relax!

I took classes for 3 years at a local community college working towards their nursing program. I had all you typical prereq pre-nursing courses (a&p 1 and 2, microbio ect...) I had to keep retaking the courses because I could not get above a mid C average. Once I got to the final- I bombed and it killed my cumulative gpa.

I took a year off and I recently started over and applied to a university as undecided because I knew I wouldn't get into the nursing program with my hs record and what happened at the community college.

I am currently an A+ student in all of my pre-nursing classes. It's happening because I have 100% motivation to be a nurse and to succeed. I never did test well- when I took that year off I had a talk with myself and I told myself if I want this bad enough- I'm just going to have to learn to test well! And that is what I did! I study my butt off and I do different studying methods all the time.

Here are some that I find most helpful for me:

1. Be as organized as you possibly can be. The more organized you are- the easier it will be for you to find information to study for midterms and finals!

2. Stay ahead of your class. Read the chapter BEFORE the lecture on that chapter- take notes. If you are provided with outlines before the chapters- great! Utilize them and elaborate on them before your professor lectures it. That way, when he/she is lecturing you can sit back and retain what he/she is saying and jot down anything necessary that you missed in your notes.

3. Flash cards are great- but don't spend all of your time making them. I used to find myself making SO many flash cards and then never even having the time to study them. Make some for very important things that you must memorize! Ex: the pathogenic prokaryote bacteria. Or cranial nerves.

4. Draw diagrams and pictures to help you understand things. Ex: Get a white board to practice balancing chemical equations!

5. Make outlines for each chapter of important information you need to know for your test. Save it for the final! (I love doing this!)

Most importantly: Don't slack off- you're gonna be tired when you get home from a long day and that phone call from your friend to go to the bar is going to be very tempting- DONT DO IT. If they don't understand, they were never a true friend to begin with. Eat healthy- your brain functions when you have the proper nutrition going into your body. When you eat like crap, you perform like crap- in every area of your life! Make time to do stuff you love doing at least once a week- you need to stay sane and relax!

it is difficult to do #2! since i work 26 hours a week and taking a lot of courses. Im falling a bit behiind in all. im trying to catch up

I manage to do it. I work 2 jobs totaling around 26hrs a week as well. You just have to figure out a way to make it work, that's really what it comes down to! It's very hard and very tiring. But, it won't be forever! Keep positive thoughts!

And I'm taking over a full load this semester! Science comes easy to me when I want to learn about it- so that's what makes everything a little easier for me. But, it's still a lot!

And I'm taking over a full load this semester! Science comes easy to me when I want to learn about it- so that's what makes everything a little easier for me. But, it's still a lot!

Ever since I went vegan ( I used to eat mostly raw food ) now I eat less raw food, so I don't eat a lot of fruits. I should get back to that diet. That's how I got a lot of A's in college. A&P 1-2 is harder than Microbiology , I ended with B's for these courses. My goal is to get at least 3 hours of study for Microbiiology and Chemistry per day. I want good GPA in science.

I am more of a visual learner. I will not learn by just listening. I have to see some videos in order to picture it.

Specializes in Psych/OR.

Try Khan Academy. He has a lot of vidoes on his website. He covers chem, bio, math, stats, etc. His videos helped me a lot while I was in chem and ended up with a B in the class; I also watched a lot of his bio videos, they're extremely helpful in my opinion. Oh and they're free :)

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