Contact the nursing school within a college or university to find information about entrance requirements. Often, college freshmen are required to take human anatomy, physiology and biology courses and achieve passing grades in those courses, before admittance to a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) degree program. However, course requirements may differ for an ADN (Associate's degree in Nursing). Therefore, it is important to clarify the entrance requirements for each specific institution and program. Several other courses commonly required for freshmen intending to enter nursing programs are: chemistry, microbiology and nutrition, among other more general education courses.
Get a copy of the university or college course catalog. The course catalog will have all courses available, and it will state prerequisite courses that must be taken before students can register for advanced courses. Freshman nursing courses will be those that have no prerequisites --- namely, they are meant to be taken as introductory courses. Often, these courses are labeled "100" or "101." More advanced courses have higher numbers, such as "201" or "400."
Create a plan for graduation that includes degree requirements --- which courses to take and when. Select your courses as follows: 1) introductory and general education courses; 2) introductory nursing courses and other prerequisites for acceptance into a specific nursing program; and 3) advanced nursing program courses. Within nursing, there are four fields of advanced specialization: clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists, nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners. When selecting advanced nursing program courses, consider whether the ultimate goal is to go into one of these fields of specialization and seek out courses that build toward that goal.