I sadly don't know any nursing students in real life, so I figured this would be a good place to ask what classes you took / are taking alongside A&P 1?
My professor has sworn up and down A&P is just not doable while working full time, especially with other classes, but what choice do students have? I found it absolutely ridiculous and so discouraging.
So in spite of everything she said, I am enrolled in A&P 1, English 1 and an online Intro to Psychology for next semester (10 credits). This is the most I could squeeze into a comfortable schedule that worked well with my work schedule.
Taking on too much? Too little? What was your experience like?
It honestly depends on the individual student. I was able to take A&P 1 and 2 while working full time and taking other classes. It just depends on your abilities. I definitely had to carve out a lot of time to study and review materials. If you are a motivated, self starter type of student, taking A&P while working and taking other classes is doable. When I say other classes, I mean ones that aren't as challenging or demanding as A&P. I would not recommend taking A&P with another hard science (microbiology, chemistry, etc) class if you have a full schedule of work and other miscellaneous obligations.
How did you like online psych? I have been debating wether or not to take the class online or in-class. I know online classes have a lot of busy work, but I was curious about the papers you had to write.
It's totally doable! Well, as for my own experience, I took Anatomy and General Chemistry in one semester and ended up dropping my other classes since I was working full time and to further focus on studying to these subjects. You could still work and be a full time student if you wish too but knowing how competitive nursing schools could be, it's better to take your time and ace those science classes. Also, it depends on how you can see yourself managing the demands of those classes altogether.
I think it is perfectly doable. I took A&P 1 with lab, Statistics 1, Lifespan psychology, and a history course in one semester. I took A&P 2 with lab during the summer, so it was my only class.
I'm taking A&P1 with lab, O Chem with Lab, and Psych (which also has a lab at my school). I work 3 jobs and have 3 kids. I also have all As. It's hard work but doable.
Depends. When I was in college in FL, English we had to write about half a dozen 1,000 word assignments. Psychology also had a lot of writing assignments. I couldn't have done all of this in addition to keeping up with A&P. I'm a student that requires a lot of extra effort to keep up. I earned an A in A&P and I attribute it a lot to the fact it was my only class.
With that said, try it out. If it feels like it is too much then don't be ashamed to lighten the load. At least you will know what you can and cannot handle..
I took A&P I with Microbiology, nutrition and college algebra. Got As except algebra. Definitely do able. A&P II now with nursing classes: mental hralth, health assessment & lab and pharmacology. Nightmare. Lol
In Spring, I took A+P I with intro to speech. At the time, I was in my third trimester of pregnancy and attended my last lab practical while in early stages of labor. It was doable for me.
This semester, I am wrapping up A+P II. I took it with online math (I don't recommend this), developmental psych, and 75 hr nurse aide. TBH, my math class gave me more grief than A+P...
I think you should be fine as long as you are diligent in your studying.
It depends on a few things, like if you need general education courses in addition to nursing prereqs, if you need to maintain a certain number of credit hours, and so on. :)
As for me, I am attending a 4-year college, and I had to have general education courses as well. When I took A&P I, I was also taking a very basic math course, English, a course on academic strategies, philosophy, and the lab for A&P I. It was pretty manageable.
As for A&P II... you may want to consider taking only easy courses with it, because it is much harder (in my opinion) than A&P I. However, I took it with Microbiology + lab, another course in philosophy, psychology, English, nutrition, and A&P II lab. It wasn't the smartest choice I ever made, but by some miracle, I managed to keep my grades up.
Irish_Mist, BSN, RN
489 Posts
It honestly depends on the individual student. I was able to take A&P 1 and 2 while working full time and taking other classes. It just depends on your abilities. I definitely had to carve out a lot of time to study and review materials. If you are a motivated, self starter type of student, taking A&P while working and taking other classes is doable. When I say other classes, I mean ones that aren't as challenging or demanding as A&P. I would not recommend taking A&P with another hard science (microbiology, chemistry, etc) class if you have a full schedule of work and other miscellaneous obligations.