Published Nov 8, 2008
TheatreOfTragedy
1 Post
i'm am currently waiting to hear back from the financial aid office, so i have'nt gotten my chance to speak with anyone about the details of classes i will be taking this spring. i want to get my adn, and looking at the outline, it seems like the only pre reqs are english and pyschology, before you start getting more in depth. no one i know has done nursing before, but people keep telling me that i'll never make it threw all the math, but the only math class i was noticing was math for health professions.that doesn't sound so bad.
anyway i' m getting off track. what were the first semester class choices you had?
im going to go to dona ana community college fyi.
donsterRN, ASN, BSN
2,558 Posts
Welcome to allnurses!
My opinion is this: concentrate on getting your science requirements out of the way. Your program will undoubtedly require Anatomy and Physiology, as well as Microbiology, and perhaps even Chemistry. Each of those will be intensive, and if you can get them out of the way before you begin your nursing courses, the better off I think you'll be. Your degree will probably also require a math, probably Algebra. Consider taking that now. English can be done in the summer. Do you need to take a certain number of credits during a semester to qualify for FA? That will dictate to you what you need amd when better than I can. See also your advisor or the student center for advice. But I stand firm on getting your sciences out of the way first; they are very time consumptive and incredibly challenging.
Much good luck and success to you!
smellyacres, BSN, RN
342 Posts
Wow, I just wrote a very long comment and my computer deleted it all, so let me try again... lol
Depending on the program you are applying to, and what their math requirement is and how much math history you have, the math is not going to be terribly difficult. The programs I will apply to only require Statistics. That class may require a prerequisite, but I tested into it straight out of high school, so that is all the math i have left.
As for the order, the sciences are most important and I think people generally take them in an order similar to this (this is what is recommended by lots of schools, many people don't take them in this order):
Biology
Chemistry
Anatomy
Physiology
Microbiology
As for the other classes, again, I'm not sure what your program requires or what classes you have taken but I'll use the programs I'm applying to as an example:
English Comp
Critical Thinking
Speech
Statistics
Psychology
Sociology
Nutrition
(the last three aren't required for my program, but they are co-requisites, so I'm going to get them out of the way)
So going off the sciences in that order, people usually choose to take less difficult courses along with the ones they thing they will find terribly difficult. For example, Anatomy is pretty tough, so you may only want to take nutrition and psych with that. If you find biology easier (which i do not) you may choose to take harder classes such as math or english.
My first semester (last semester), before I had done the extensive research on what classes to take and how to take them, i took:
Abnormal Psych (not required for nursing, I got bad advice from a counselor)
Astronomy (physical science requirement, but if i had known, I would not have taken that or abn.psych till later)
This semester I'm taking Biology (B), Chem (A) and Speech (A). So you can take science classes together if you want/feel comfortable. Its so close to the end of the semester I know these are the grades I'll end up with. But again, Bio is just a prereq for Anatomy, and Anatomy is the one that counts for nursing school, so it may be different for your program.
I'd find out what classes you need, usually there is a list of required courses on the website of the nursing program you want to go to.
If you have any other questions let me know, I've pretty much become an expert on this subject. lol. I've obsessive sometimes.
I hope this helps!! Let us know how it goes, and what you decide! :wink2:
kayleeray
83 Posts
This spring I start my pre-req's
Biology 1
A&P 1
General Psychology
then I'll have to take Microbiology, A&P2, speech, another psychology, and a physical education course
back2thebooks
266 Posts
Every program is different. My school technically has these as true pre-requisites (you can't apply until you are completely finished with these classes):
It is strongly recommended that you complete all of the other co-requisite classes before entering the program, too...and these are:
Because I have a prior Bachelor's Degree, the only classes I am taking before applying are A&P I and II, Dev. Psychology and Microbiology (all others have been fulfilled).
Definitely check with your school(s). I was surprised to see how different the curriculum can be even with schools in the same city. And, I'd recommend doing at least the sciences beforehand as one pp stated.
Good luck!!!