Tips to survive

Most of the learning throughout the curriculum will be self-directed. There are copious amounts of information to be covered in a short amount of time. You will find that professors/instructors won't be able to cover everything. So you must plan your time well, particularly your study and assignment time. That means keeping a hard copy planner where you have plugged in your study times. Study regularly. Ask questions in class and/or utilize office hours. If there is a concept you know well and for which your dear classmate is struggling to grasp, offer to explain. This will get you into practicing teaching others and eventually transition into the teaching role at the clinical setting. To get you acclimatized to nursing school exams, practice nclex questions as you go along. I wish you the best, cheers :)

Organization and mind-set is what you need to focus on. You will have multiple nursing classes, each with their own clinicals, exams, projects, term papers, assignments. Get organized by purchasing a day planner (one with month at a glance) and once you get your syllabus, put all of the exam, term paper, clinical days in it to help you plan out your semester. Use a different color pen for each class.

If you are not an organized person, find an organized person in your class and make them your best friend. Hopefully, they will keep you on track.

If you have a term paper due in a class, do to the instructor early and get details on what is expected. Get it done as soon as possible. Inevitably, the week it will be due, you will have 3 exams in the same week, so get it out of the way as soon as possible.

Avoid the slackers that will routinely want you to bail them out by getting copies of your notes, outlines for exams, copy your homework, be in your study group (but would rather gossip than study).

Everything from your textbook is fair game for exams. If the test is over CH 1-3, then study everything unless specifically specified by the instructor. Do not study only your notes and power points, read the book.

Sit in the front 2 rows in every class. You can hear the instructor better and will be less distracted by other students since they will be behind you instead of being between you and the instructor. Statistics show that students that sit in the front row center of a class have better grades. https://www.altoona.psu.edu/fts/docs/SeatingPositionGrades.pdf

Thank you so much for the great advice! I appreciate it (:

Do you own a recorder or a good phone recorder? I think it's really helpful during note taking.