A few questions about nursing...

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Hello! This is my first post here... I apologize for the bombardment of questions and if I am doing this wrong.

1) I am a high school senior intent on one day becoming a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. I'm in the process of applying to various schools and I noticed that UCI offers a "Nursing Science" major whereas UCLA offers a "Nursing" major.

Are there any substantial differences between the two? Will I still be able to take the N-CLEX and become an RN if I go to UCI and major in Nursing Science or is that something completely different from a BSN, etc.?

2) How demanding is the coursework in nursing? I am also very interested in Japanese and would love to take it up as a minor. Do you think this would be at all possible? Along with that... I hope to one day study abroad in Japan. Would I be capable of doing so as a nursing (or nursing science, I guess) major?

3) Can anybody suggest more colleges in California so that I may first become an RN? (I would prefer not to go to a community college though!) I am currently aspiring to go to UCLA although they are extremely competitive. In that regard, I want to apply to various other colleges that can offer me the proper education. While I have compiled a list, I feel as if it is a little small... And that some of the colleges are not as prestigious as I would like them to be. So, does anybody have any recommendations? I am planning on staying in California unless you can suggest an even better college out of state that isn't nearly impossible to get into.

Thanks so much for your help!! ^^

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Specializes in Urgent Care NP, Emergency Nursing, Camp Nursing.

1) Probably. Call the school in question to be sure.

2) Depends on your abilities as a student. Some struggle, others get by with nearly straight As. Whining is inversely correlated to GPA, so you'll read a lot more posts on this site about how hard nursing school is than how you'll do just fine if you can buck up and do the work.

3) Did you even try to google California Nursing Schools? How about checking if the state board of nursing had a list?

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1) Probably. Call the school in question to be sure.

2) Depends on your abilities as a student. Some struggle, others get by with nearly straight As. Whining is inversely correlated to GPA, so you'll read a lot more posts on this site about how hard nursing school is than how you'll do just fine if you can buck up and do the work.

3) Did you even try to google California Nursing Schools? How about checking if the state board of nursing had a list?

Thanks for your input! I'll be sure to call UCI sometime soon. I was just wondering if anybody had some more input here in regards to the major, etc. Thanks though~ As for googling for other nursing schools, I have tried that, but I was wondering if there were any recommendations since I know that not all colleges that offer BSN programs are exactly "worthwhile" in a sense. Hehe, thanks for introducing me to the lmgtfy site though. (: I'm definitely going to put that to use.

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Go to the UCI and UCLA sites and pray you can get into either school. They are competitive and if you haven't been volunteering in any capacity of health care and cant write a decent essay, well don't turn your nose up @ some of the really good community colleges in southern California. Go to the BON in Sacramento and check out accredited programs and make a spread sheet to help organize your information.

Keep reading the posts here, you will have plenty of equally intelligent competition.

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O2BSN2B :: To be honest, UCI's website isn't all that helpful. Perhaps I'm just terrible at navigating the site but I can't find the exact information I'm looking for. I did check their School of Nursing's site and the application to apply to their nursing program is for 2008! (Although I believe that's for transfer applicants, I'm not entirely sure.)

In my AP English Literature & Composition class we've also been working on writing our college application essays and consistently turning them in for feedback so I believe I can, at the very least, write a semi-decent essay.

As far as volunteering goes, I've volunteered over 50 hours at my local hospital. I know that isn't a significant amount compared to others, but I am continuously working on it. Right now though I'm volunteering at a dental office because the negative attitude and frequent "don't ever become a nurse" talks from the staff there are a real letdown. I'm planning on volunteering at a different hospital some time in the near future though so I can get back to the nursing "field."

I'll definitely look into Sacramento though. ^^ I wasn't really trying to downtalk community colleges but I know that my parents would be unsupportive if I proposed the idea. Besides, I'm worried about transferring considering that may be a rather difficult process as well.

Either way, I'll continue to pray I can get in. As far as I know, my background is probably equivalent to the hundreds, even thousands of others that are applying for the same spot.

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