So you Want To Be A Nurse: Prerequisites

Today we’ll be discussing general classes you need to take when preparing to apply to nursing school. 

The process of applying to nursing school can be a bit overwhelming. So much to do, where do you begin?

 

I’m always going to recommend making a list. Writing things down makes it real. You can see it, get an idea, and get down to business…to defeat the huns.

 

Sorry, I had to.

 

I digress, a good first list to make would be schools you’re interested in.

If you’re interested in learning more about applying to nursing school in future episodes definitely let me know and I can make that happen!

 

Each school is going to be different but based on the majority of the schools I applied to these are the classes I consistently saw as prerequisites:

 

-       Anatomy and Physiology 1 with Lab

-       Anatomy and Physiology 2 with Lab

-       Microbiology

-       English 1

-       English 2

-       Introduction to Psychology

-       Human growth across the Lifespan

-       Abnormal Psychology

-       Nutrition

-       Statistics

-       Political Science

-       Sociology

-       Cultural Appreciation (this can be a foreign language)

-       Communications

-       Fine Arts/Humanities

-       Philosophy

-       Religion

 

 

My fast advice and final thoughts:

• GO TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE! You’ll save money. That’s it. That’s the advice. I had the best academic experience at my local community college. It’s cheaper, you have smaller class sizes, the professors are more hands on, textbooks were free at my school, and the professors cut out the fluff so there’s less of that “weed out” mentality. These professors are not in the business of tricking you. They genuinely want you to succeed.
• Decide if you want to apply to ADN, BSN, MSN, or an Accelerated BSN program. Each of these programs are going to have different requirements.
• If you have a previous degree many of these perquisites may already be fulfilled from prior course work.
• Schedule an appointment with an admissions counselor to go over your transcript, the application timeline and what classes you should be taking together. I powered through my prerequisites and took a lot of heavy classes together, but this was simply because I was motivated and set a deadline for when I wanted to start nursing school.
• I ended up taking only 5 prerequisites because my first degree in Human Development and family Science fulfilled many of the class requirements I needed.  ADN programs obviously require fewer classes. Look into CLEP exams, spelled C-L-E-P, for classes like Political Science where you can independently study, pay a fee, and then take an exam to receive credit rather than paying thousands of dollars to sit through a lecture for 16 weeks. When taking these classes always aim to make an “A” in the class. There’s no shame in retaking a class to get a higher grade and make yourself a more competitive applicant. I did this with Anatomy 1 because various schools accepted applicants using a points system when an “A” might be worth 5 points, a “B” is worth 3 points and a “C” is worth 1 point. When your future is on the line you owe it to yourself to do everything in your power to achieve your goals.

That’s all that I have for you guys today! Definitely reach out if you have any questions on this topic or if there’s something, you’d like me cover in an upcoming episode.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I’ll talk to you guys soon!