Taking 20 credit hours?

[Kaylle]

I will be taking 12 credits for my first semester this fall, then tack on 8 more credit hours (becomes a total of 20) for my second semester of college for this spring which will consist of:

Anatomy and Physiology 1

Microbiology

Psych 101

English 102

General Chemistry

World History 1500s

(I've been preregistered for all these classes for the spring already; I just made it official today.)

Now after seeing how my schedule will be looking like for next spring do you guys think it's possible and doable if I dedicate myself to only school and nothing else? I also plan on taking 7 more credit hours next summer + my CNA class which I already put down a payment to save my spot for next year since they go so quickly.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

College is very different than high school. I would do your 12 credits this first semester and see how you do. I cannot imagine actually being able to retain anything with 20 credits in a semester.

[smf0903]

No way can you do that and still get decent grades! Even if you do not have a job u will be fried from all the work and low GPA will not get you into the nursing program!

I respectfully disagree. I took 22 credit hours and had a 3.82 for that semester. Organization is the key, whether taking 9, 15, or 22 hours. I had plenty of time to enjoy family and such.

[rollieschmollie]

Ugh 20 credits seems like a lot. It really depends on what the classes are on whether or not it'll be tough. That being said, my suggestion would be not to do three science courses during that semester. Maybe hold off on one of them til the summer or the following fall semester.

A&P and Micro is a lot of studying taken alone, having them together would be brutally especially factoring in labs. I know you said you are willing to do whatever it takes but this is going to be a lot of stress.

If you think you can do it, then go ahead.

The most credits I've done at once was 17. Chem, Eng, Speech, history, and a pointless 1 credit student development class.

Only you know what your study habits are and what type of student you are. Its ultimately up to you if do this or not.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

I think you need to take one science course with a lab in a semester before you try to do three sciences. The science courses are so much more work than your other courses. If you've never taken one before you don't know how much time you need.

Since you aren't taking any science courses in the fall, I think you should definitely not take all three in the spring.

I recommend that for spring you take gen chem 1, eng 102, history, psych 101. See how you do with that. It will still be a full schedule.

[DrKim]

Everything is possible; but not everything is good for you.

Pre-reqs are not busy work and they are more than just items on a checklist. Believe it or not, you use all of the knowledge gained in pre-reqs in the Nursing Program whether directly or indirectly. With such a heavy load, I would be concerned about how much of the content you actually learned. While I do not doubt that you are strong student with a good work ethic, it is highly unlikely that you will do well in ALL of the classes.

Also, part of the college experience is learning how to have a good balance. Your consideration of "focusing on school and nothing else", should you take these credits, though it sounds commendable it will not be healthy (emotionally or physically). And to do this to yourself without a guarantee that you will get into your desired Nursing Program is dangerous.

If your school does not allow a major to be declared until your sophomore year, then it sounds like it is possible for you to spread your pre-reqs out of over 2 years. What is making you feel the need to rush and cram everything into 1 year?

[Kaylle]

I honestly just really want to be a nurse. And if I start the nursing program next August I can graduate a semester early. But you're right there is no need for me to cram, and that is why I'm just going to forgo the microbiology next year but keep A&P1.

[DrKim]

Your passion is a good thing! But take the time to enjoy your life. Graduating a semester early is not worth you causing harm to yourself and potentially setting yourself to not live out your dream. I am confident that you will be an excellent nurse!

[ladyvp05]

If you were taking 20 hours of liberal arts classes I would say go for it. I don't recommend taking chem, micro, and A&P in the same semester. I could've did the same thing you're attempting to do. However, I decided to do one hard science with classes like history and psychology each semester. Doing this I had a 4.0 gpa and had no problem getting accepted to nursing school. It took 2 years to get done with my prerequisites, but it was worth it.

[oldandintheway]

This may sound like a dumb question but do you speak any Romance languages? Knowledge of languages such as Spanish really does make anatomy more intuitive, the Latin roots of many anatomical terms helps immensely and can simplify some of your workload. That said, 20 units can be a challenge and requires a lot of self discipline and strict scheduling but is doable.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

We've moved this thread to the Pre-nursing Student forum.

[Kaylle]

I don't speak Spanish í ½í¸ž .... I know the direct entry nursing students take 2 different hard sciences each semester, so I believed I could do it too.

[enkwanta]

Did you check if that was even allowed? I know there are limits to the number of credits one can take. Sounds insane to me. Do you work? If you dont, plan not to sleep. School will be very painful for you but good luck with all those labs at the same time.