What college classes should you take if you want to become a Registered Nurse (RN)? That’s a great question.
It is incredibly important to prepare for nursing school as soon as possible. We have an article outlining steps you can take to prepare for nursing school in high school. But what if you’re already in college? What classes should you be taking to prepare for the nursing school curriculum?
We recently received a great question about this:
In college what are the classes that I must take to prepare myself in order to become a registered nurse?
-Gabriela
Classes to Take in College for Nursing School
Thanks so much for your question. First, let me just briefly say that if you are already in college, you need to set an appointment to speak with an adviser or with the nursing school department itself. This is very important because most nursing schools develop a very rigid curriculum, and they have a lot of prerequisites you must follow to be allowed into the nursing program, or to graduate within the normal time frame.
If you happen to skip this very important part, it could set you back in time and tuition. So the first thing I would suggest is making an appointment and speaking with someone about declaring your major in nursing, or getting accepting into the nursing program. Again, most nursing programs have their own adviser to help students with this very task, and usually it is a free service provided by the university.
Once you do this, they will tell you exactly which courses you need to take and when.
When I was in nursing school to get my BSN degree, I had to take 2 years of general education courses, and then my last 2 years were essentially nursing school classes. I had to meet with an adviser every single time, and they would approve my schedule. My university was set up in a way so that you could not register for classes until you were approved and cleared by the adviser to do so.
Ultimately, my first 2 years involved very little nursing. I took basic courses such as English, Probability and Statistics, History, etc. I did also take some introductory level courses in nursing, such as Anatomy and Physiology as well, but it was mostly general courses.
In the last 2 years (if you get a 4 year BSN degree), it will probably be divided up into clinical hours, and classroom work. Most of it will be geared towards nursing, although you still may have a general class here and there. Again, every nursing school is a little different, so that’s why it is important to talk to yours and see exactly what they recommend or require.
If you’d like to learn more about those typical courses you can expect to take, make sure to check out our nursing school classes section for a brief overview of some of the most common classes you can expect to take. And if you aren’t in college yet, you may also want to take a look at our nursing school prerequisite recommendations.
Thanks so much, best of luck on your journey, and God bless you!