How do i get into nursing college?

What route you choose depends on a variety of circumstances. You should be researching all the nursing programs in your area - both Assoc. Degree (ADN) programs and BSN programs. Investigate the admissions situation to see how competitive and impacted they are. Questions to ask the admissions reps / academic planners are, How many students apply to the nursing program vs. how many actually get accepted? What's the average GPA for admitted students? How exactly does the ranking process work or is it based on lottery? Is there a wait list and if so how long does it carry over and do you get guaranteed admission the following semester / year?

Make your decision based off this. In the meantime, work on basic freshman level courses that will be easily transferable to other schools should you choose to change, like general biology with lab, chemistry with lab, anatomy & physiology with lab, English Composition, general psychology and developmental psychology, sociology, maybe a couple of arts/humanities electives. You will also need a basic college level algebra, and if you go for the BSN you'll need statistics. These courses I have mentioned are pretty much universal - all nursing programs will pretty much require the same things so you won't be wasting your time.

I disagree with the first answer that said you should not consider the ADN and only get the BSN. This might not be practical in terms of time or cost. There are plenty of nursing jobs available and while it's true that BSNs might have a slight hiring advantage, it's not significant enough to prevent ADN RNs from getting jobs. There are things you can do to stand apart and compete with BSN grads, like getting a nursing internship during the summer before you graduate, many hospitals have nurse internship programs. This helps you get your foot in the door of a facility, which may lead to a job offer after graduation. This is what I did. It paid off big time.

Also keep in mind that when you graduate, it's not like BAM you're going to land your perfect job. Especially if you want to specialize in pediatrics. You might have to get a job completely unrelated to peds, just to get some basic nursing experience under your belt. It's still a learning process even though you are out of school. Reasonable people understand that as a professional, you don't start off in your ideal perfect job, you work your way to where you want to be and take the knowledge you gain along the way. So while you might be fortunate enough to get a nights position working at a Childrens Hospital, be prepared to take something different for awhile.

As for what classes to take

If you have entered a Practical Nursing prohram but want to become an RN you will have to complete the PN program and then you can apply to a PN-RN bridging program.

I know you don't want to hear this, but if you are glad high school is over, due to the work load, ect then nursing school is definately not for you. AS a current nursing student, I assure you that high school was fun and games compared to nursing school. Go to a local community college and speak to a counselor about pre-requisites. Complete all those classes and in about 2 or 3 years later, you can apply for nursing school. Keep your GPA as close to a 4.0 as possible. Good luck!

If that is the school you want to get into then don't give up, but at the same time be realistic and keep your options open. I'd suggest expanding your choices, but don't compromise quality too much and just find one that will accept just anybody. If you haven't already taken the SAT/ACT, of course do that and study really well to get a good score.

What might work best is to go to a community college or state school as a gen-ed major and get your pre-reqs out of the way there, get good grades and transfer into a school.

As far as specializations go, if you just go to the 12 month nursing school you basically just get that and then you apply for a position at a hospital or clinic in the field you want to work in. Otherwise you go for post graduate work and specialize there.

When you get into college your freshman year I'd suggest focusing on the general education and getting that out of the way. Its easy credits but it also gives you a chance to boost your GPA for applying to transfer to a school.

Look at the nursing school's website. They should have a lis of prereqs. These will most likely cover 60 hours of coursework. Tke these t a community college. Plan to get all A's. When you get close to completing the prereqs, get ready for the entrance exam the school require.

You should also volunteer at. Nursing home, hospital, elder care day care center, or hospice during your prereqs. Getting involved in clubs, tutoring, etc. will help you get accepted as well.


FYI, get your BSN, not your associates degree.