Why Pre-Nursing at a Community College?
Nursing school is expensive, so it wouldn’t hurt to save money by going to a community college for two years to complete prerequisite courses along with general education courses. After that, you could transfer to a four-year university to obtain
a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Even though obtaining an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) at a community college makes you eligible to take the NCLEX-RN exam and become a registered nurse (RN) as well, most hospitals require a Bachelor’s degree.
General Prerequisite Courses
Prerequisites vary depending on the programs at different schools. Make sure to research which schools you want to transfer to. You can transfer to a California State University (CSU) following the breadth requirements or apply to both California State Universities and Universities of California (UC) through the intersegmental general education transfer curriculum (IGETC). I’m not sure about private universities, but I believe as long as you follow the prerequisite and general education courses, the process should be the same, but look further into that if you are interested.
General prerequisites include Statistics, Biology, Psychology, English Composition, Chemistry, Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, Microbiology, Sociology, Communication, Human Development, and Nutrition. The number of different science courses depends on the university.
How to Graduate on Time
Meet with your counselor to develop an education plan, which maps out the classes you need to transfer. The following is my education plan:
Fall Semester
Elementary Statistics
English 1A
General Biology
General Psychology
Spring Semester
Introduction to Chemistry
Dance Appreciation
English 1B
Human Anatomy
Oral Communication
Summer
English 1C
Survey of American History
Fall Semester
Developmental Psychology
Hatha Yoga
Human Physiology
Nutrition
Spring Semester
Intro to Ethnic Studies
General Microbiology
Political Science
Sociology
Note that education plans are tentative and that you do not have to follow my schedule. I chose the general education courses that interested me. I’m also planning on taking Child Development during my last Spring semester at community college, but I’ll have to see if I can fit it in, as it is recommended for pre-nursing majors. I do not recommend taking more than 15 credits a semester; however, it is up to you when you plan out your classes.
Hope that helps!
- Kayla Truong
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