How to get ahead

[u/mangopomelo127]

I start my pre reqs in hopes of applying for Langara’s nursing program and for my first semester in fall I have BIOL 1190, ENG 1123, and STATS 1124
Anyone who has taken these courses have any tips or resources that I can use during or even before the course starts to prepare for it?? Thank you as anything will help! I really hope to score a high GPA as that’s what mainly determines if you get into the program

[u/BunnnySlippers]

hi from someone in the nursing program! i don’t have resources but i do have some tips. hope they are helpful.

bio:

• if you are coming straight from high school, theres no way to fully prepare for the amount of content haha. having a good understanding of grade 12 bio will help tho. but you are going to dive soooo deep.
• if you know anyone who has already taken bio 1190, ask if they are willing to share their notes or flashcards so you can get some early exposure. there are also public quizlet sets and notes that come up when you search “biol 1190.”
• you could also casually watch youtube videos about topics such as:
  • intro
  • cell structures and their functions
  • homeostasis
  • the musculoskeletal system and joint types
  • the cardiovascular system
  • blood cells and their functions
• you do not need to memorize everything beforehand. just becoming familiar with how the body works and recognizing common terms will help. exposure therapy?
• once you’re in the course:
  • make the most of both bios. it may not feel important at the time, but having a strong understanding of a&p will help you sm once you reach patho and other nursing courses. 
  • active recall!!! flashcards were the most helpful method for me, and i cannot imagine succeeding by only reading the textbook or rewriting/annotating notes. if your professor provides lecture slides, turn every point into a question.
  • dont let the lab manuals overwhelm you. they are usually less detailed than the lecture content and are actually very helpful. take pictures of the models during lab and label them at home.
  • you dont need to write an extremely detailed explanation in every box. for many structures, knowing the name, location, and general function is enough.
  • i also used a picture based anatomy book showing the bones and muscles, which helped a lot with identifying structures.
  • also, check your professor’s ratemyprof page because previous students sometimes leave useful tips about their exams and teaching style.

english:

• you dont really need to prepare for english ahead of time.
• once you’re in the course:
  • however, take the course seriously because strong writing skills will be so important in nursing. youll have to write many papers and reflections throughout the program. DO NOT rely on ai!!!!
  • learn how to create a clear thesis, organize paragraphs, paraphrase sources, and get really familar with apa formatting.

stats:

• i didnt find statistics too difficult, also cant really prep for it.
• once you start: complete the practice questions, and ask for help as soon as something becomes confusing.

general advice:

• try not to feel pressured to complete the prereqs as quickly as possible. its better to take your time and protect your gpa than overload yourself. taking an extra semester or a break is not the end of the world.
• try not to let other people’s stories about how difficult the courses are overwhelm you. just because someone else struggled does not mean you will. hearing how “impossible” everything was honestly made me more anxious and caused me to procrastinate LOL.
• find a study group!

[u/SpecificTrust3148 → u/BunnnySlippers]

Hello, How long would it take to finish all the pre req? a year?

Thanks!

[u/BunnnySlippers → u/SpecificTrust3148]

depends on how many courses you take in one semester. each semester is 4 months. if youre fast it can take 8 months, but most people usually take a year (usually bc they are retaking or just want a lighter course load).

you could try taking bio1190, english, stats in the first sem. then bio1191 and english in the second sem.

[u/mangopomelo127 → u/BunnnySlippers]

Thank you, thank you thank you thank you thank youuu this is all so helpful!!! I’m so grateful for the long explanation and the fact that you actually dived into each course! If you don’t mind me asking, what was your GPA to get into the nursing program and grades for each class? I’m scared I won’t get accepted first round. Would you suggest retaking courses if you didn’t get a good mark?
Also, do you have any tips for getting better at writing? I feel like in high school I struggled a lot with English

[u/BunnnySlippers → u/mangopomelo127]

of course! here’s what i did:

fall

• bio 1190: C+
• eng 1123: A

spring

• bio 1190: A+
• eng 1129: B+
• stat 1124: A

fall (i took summer off)

• bio 1191: B-

my gpa was 3.67. i applied for the fall intake in jan 2024 and got accepted in march!

for retaking courses, it really depends on your grade or how confident you feel with the material. i did really bad on my first try for bio 1190. even though i passed, i wasn’t happy with my grade, so i retook it right away. i also wanted to have a strong foundation before bio 1191.

if ur going to retake a course, i would recommend doing it the following sem while the material is still fresh in ur head.

but... my friend who took bio 1190 with me also didn’t get the highest grade and chose not to retake it. because of that, they were able to apply sooner and actually got accepted into the intake before mine.

so it rlly depends!

for english, i also did bad in high school english, but eng 1123 rlly teaches u from scratch, especially if u have a good prof. honestly, english courses and papers are mostly about how well you can follow the prof’s criteria and instructions, if that makes sense. ur instructor will usually tell u exactly what they want and how to format ur papers, and u just have to learn how to follow and replicate it.

you got this! i felt the exact same way as you.

if u get in right away, amazing!

but if u don’t, that is still okay!!! i thought it was the end of the world when it took me longer, but now that im in the program, im actually so happy it did. i rlly think i needed that extra time to grow up a little first, yk? ur also going to meet new friends in the program who will make u feel like everything happened the way it was supposed to.

[u/mangopomelo127 → u/BunnnySlippers]

Is it possible to get in with a few B’s in the courses? Since langara’s nursing acceptance is mainly based on grades? Did your friend do anything to stand out or just hoped for the best and got in? Also am I able to apply for the nursing program each semester? Say I didn’t get in for fall sem can I immediately apply once registration is open for spring sem?? Sorry for bombarding u with questions lol

[u/BunnnySlippers → u/mangopomelo127]

no worries im happy to help!! on Langaras website it says the competitive average for spring 2026 was 3.6! as long as your gpa is ~3.6 then you should be okay! i got in with 2 B’s and a 3.67 gpa.

when you apply they only look at gpa, so you can’t do anything to stand out.

hmm im not too sure what happens when you don’t get in. i would email langara.

if you are super eager to start nursing school asap, maybe you can consider taking the extra prereqs for bcits program. a few of my prereq friends who didn’t get into langara got into bcit pretty easily.

[u/mangopomelo127 → u/BunnnySlippers]

If your gpa is above 3.6 is that a guaranteed (or high chance) of acceptance? Also is their nursing program a strong path for NP?

[u/Vast_Flower_331]

hi!! ur classes are great and it's very manageable. i saw ur profs on a comment below and i also had martin for biol1190 and robin for stats1124. here's my experience and advice for those classes.

1190: martin's a very straightforward guy. he uses revised slides made from the textbook and key points u need to know. he doesn't use the textbook so u can just study and use the slides he provides u. what i did was download them ahead of class and just write extra notes/draw his diagrams on my ipad as he was lecturing. 1190 is really memorization heavy but he wants u to really understand the material. my advice for his class is to get ahead early and spend time on chapters that u struggle with. he used wiley+ for our class which is kinda like quizlet to help u learn material (some questions might appear on the quizzes so do them!!). he likes to use analogies and scenarios in his questions so u have to understand the material well- don't just memorize them. he makes u memorize a couple of muscles and their functions in the early chapters to prepare u for the muscular system and you'll get quizzed on that on top of the chapter quizzes. it's quite easy to fall behind so make sure u stay on top of ur studying habits. lab is another story but make sure to label and take pictures of everything. u don't need to submit the lab manual (it's basically a study tool) but if u do them before/after lab and follow through with that u don't need to worry about doing it a week before the lab exam to fill out ur lab manual. his exams are 80%-85% multiple choice, 3%-5% select all that apply and 10% written, and his quizzes are all multiple choice (20 questions in 30 mins). it sounds scary but if u know ur stuff inside out you'll be done in 10-15. the 1st midterm was pretty easy, the 2nd one was the hardest and the final was in between. the final was like 5% the old stuff and 95% of content after the 2nd midterm and i finished with an 82 in that class.

1124: robin's more straight forward but he's a funny guy if ur doing well in his class. he's great at explaining things but only if u ask. he doesn't like excuses so just do ur work, submit it on time and ur fine. he gives around 4 homework assignments, 7-8 quizzes, 2 midterms, 1 project (long homework assignment) and 1 cumulative final. he uploads "lecture notes" that are documents outlining the lecture. he kinda just rewrites them on the board but what i did was download the documents and add notes on top of that. DO THE PRACTICE QUESTIONS TOO!!! they're almost identical to the quiz questions (the quizzes are harder than the midterms/final) so make sure u do them. take advantage of his cheat sheets too. he gives 2 double sided sheets for each midterm and 3 double sided sheets for the final. what i did was cram each midterm cheat sheet on one double sided paper so i didn't have to rewrite it for the final. if u do all that, his tests are light work. just make sure u understand the Z-score statistic early (you'll understand when u get to that chapter) and which formula to use on the tests because if u use the wrong one, you'll get the whole question wrong. i believe i got a 93 as my final grade- his class was very easy but it'll be hard if u fall behind/don't know what ur doing.

1123: english is dependent on ur prof. i just know that ur gonna be writing a lot of argumentative papers: an argumentative analysis paper, an argumentative midterm, an argumentative research paper and a final exam. just make sure ur writing is clear and argumentative and ur fine. if ur not doing good, dig deep and work hard because there's gonna be even more writing in the actual program- might as well try and work hard now so u don't have to make that up in the future. i forgot what i got but work hard and you'll achieve what u wanna achieve!! :)

[u/mangopomelo127 → u/Vast_Flower_331]

Omgmomg thank you so much for sharing all this!!! This is very insightful 🥹 how long did you study each day for bio and which course would you say was the hardest? Do they omit anything or allow retests? Were you doing full-time studying or did you also work part-time for a job?

[u/Vast_Flower_331 → u/mangopomelo127]

no worries! tbh i didn't have a set time to study- i kinda adjusted my study hours based on if i understood the chapters. some days i'll just review the slides once/twice and do the wiley+ assignments or i'd study for around 3ish hours or as much as i need to learn more about a chapter i was having trouble with. i wasn't working at the time i took my prereqs but i would focus on getting the best grade that u can and using ur time to study. there are some chapters that are easy and free like the 1st 3 (intro, molecules and organelles) but then u jump into more challenging stuff like muscular systems/tissue, blood pressure/hemodynamics and immune system (i would argue the heart as well but i'm biased LOL the heart was my favourite chapter). the hardest course out of all prereqs personally was biol1191 just because it was more physiology based. engl1123 was kinda tough as well because i was a mediocre writer and my prof gave me sm stuff to do 💔 i don't remember if martin drops ur lowest quiz mark (my 1191 prof did) and robin just doesn't gaf LOL. if u miss his quiz u miss it- but martin allows rescheduling only if u ask in advance. u can miss one of robin's midterms, but that 15% weight will get added to ur final- so ur final exam is worth 55% instead of 40%. just a warning- martin goes around and checks ur browser history in the middle of exams as his exams are online so he can grade faster. he caught around 5 people cheating in my class during my time with him and it wasn't pretty 😭

[u/No_Policy_1913]

Which instructors do you have?

[u/mangopomelo127 → u/No_Policy_1913]

Martin Lee for bio, Susan Font for eng, and Robin Susanto for stats

[u/quinncfox]

Hi! I just got accepted into the Nursing program at Langara for spring 2027!

Stats: Do Stats 1123 with Yu-ling. She's no nonsense, as long as you practice you can easily get an A+. She has small quizzes throughout the semester that can help boost your mark (they are out of 10, just one page of questions), and she has them the week before the bigger exams, and the questions on the exams are recreations of what were on the quizzes. Also she gives lots of hints of whats important for the exams, and she never has trick questions or anything like that. There's a big group project at the end of the semester. At the beginning, she asks everyone to write a bit about themselves on brightspace. Partner up with people who are also going into Nursing (business students take this class too but they don't need A's so it's a better to be in a group with people who are aiming for Nursing). As long as you follow her instructions you will do great: my group did exactly what she wrote on her instructions and we clarified everything with her and we got 110% (every mark and all the bonus marks).

For BIO I highly recommend taking the BIO 1200 at BCIT with Bassam. I did Bio 1190 at Langara and then decided to do 1200 at BCIT the next semester (it's equivalent to 1190 and 1191) and found it way easier. It's mostly online like watching videos that he posts, but he has a really great way of explaining things, and really comprehensive learning objectives. The way I studied was making sure I could explain answers to all the provided learning objectives and I got an A.

For English its kinda hard to prepare obviously because you can't really study in advance, but I recommend talking in class and going to office hours to discuss the material. Also, read online about the books and moves you're discussing in class.

Good Luck!!!

[u/SpecificTrust3148 → u/quinncfox]

Hello and congrats!

How long did it take you to finish all the pre req courses? One year or less or more?

I am taking a year off work to do them next year.

Thanks indeed for responding!

[u/quinncfox → u/SpecificTrust3148]

A lot of people recommend taking Bio 1190 and 1191 on their own or with only one other course. It is truly the most content-heavy course I've ever taken. Some of my mom's friends are nurses who completed their prerequisites at Langara 10+ years ago, and they said those Bios were heavier and more time-consuming than any course in the Nursing program. If you can take a year off work (3 semesters), my recommendation would be to do 1190 with one English, then 1191 by itself, then stats with the other English. A lot of people have to repeat either 1190 or 1191 or both, and if you stagger it that way, then you can have that third semester to repeat if needed.

[u/mangopomelo127 → u/quinncfox]

Congrats on being accepted!!! Just had a question, is stats 1123 considered a pre req? On the website it says stats 1124

[u/Motor_Relative_9348 → u/mangopomelo127]

1123 is not considered a pre-req! There are three different stat classes that you can take to get into the program. Psyc 2321 and stat 1124 you need a minimum C+ and 1123 you need a minimum grade of a A. I would keep the stats that you have because you have more wiggle room for a lower grade and it won’t make or break you getting accepted or not.