I am 17 and starting my nursing prequisites this summer for my ADN program. I read nad hear alot about BSNs taking over and how hospitals are starting to hire them more....WHETHER THIS IS TRUE OR NOT, I want to get my bachelors degree...but not in Nursing...I understand that ADN gives you all the knowledge you need to start training for bedside nursing and I have no interest in a management position, just travel nursing. I want to go for A bachelors in Biology so that I have have that open door option to go to medical school if I end up wanting to.
I absoluetly love biological science so much and want a bachelors in Anatomy Biology.
If what they say about BSNs is true and that hospitals are starting to only hire nurses with a bachelors degree...does it matter that your bachelors degree is not in nursing?
You could get your BA in biology and then you could go into an accelerated BSN program, since you'd already have a bachelor's in another field. That's what I'm doing, my BA was in biology also. That way you can be a nurse and still go to med school if that's what you want.
Pre-reqs for med school expire and have to be re-taken after a certain amount of time. Also, the MCAT is a hard test & only lasts for a few years. I was in the same boat, wanting to go to med school & be a nurse, it takes a lot of careful planning and will prob be expensive.
The deciding factor will be organic chemistry, lol. Take that and see if you're still premed in the making.
Organic was the easy part. Calc-based physics 1 &2 was the real challenge.
While I agree with this to a certain extent I have to ask, since when is it a terrible thing for a college student to live at home and help with the family? Seriously, there was a time in this country where family came first and everything else second. Sometimes I think we have just turned into a me me me me society and we're obviously raising our kids to feel that way too. Historically in America, and still in many other nations, children help out with the family expenses. Some get jobs and hand their paychecks over to their parents. Some help raise the younger siblings. Why is it so taboo for a parent ask an adult child to help the family out? Especially in times like this?
Well we can agree to disagree. I think it is entirely inappropriate to ask a child to help support the family. That is her parents (you know, the ADULTS) responsibility! I understand that some parents cannot afford to send their children to University, but at the very least they ought to be supporting her while she does it on her own, not holding her back. Very selfish of them. This is her life, and she doesn't owe it to them. Speaking for myself, I would stave and live in a box before I would hold my children back. I think it's disgusting actually. YMMV
And OChem was easy. If that is the deciding factor for med school, my 12 grader should skip college and go, lol. IMO, the deciding factor for med school is do you want to give up 15-20 years of your life and then work a 60-80 hour week for the next 30-40 years? The OP says family is everything. THAT would be the factor that kept her away from pursuing medicine in all likelihood.
Pre-reqs for med school expire and have to be re-taken after a certain amount of time. Also, the MCAT is a hard test & only lasts for a few years. I was in the same boat, wanting to go to med school & be a nurse, it takes a lot of careful planning and will prob be expensive.
Organic was the easy part. Calc-based physics 1 &2 was the real challenge.
That's easy to fix. Rarely, if ever, is calculus-based physics required.
Linearthinker, you are right that parents should support their children. However, for various reasons, this is not always the case. We don't really know the dynamics of her family situation. I can say from my own experience of being on my own since the age of 17, that I had no choice. My parents were neither capable, or available to help. So I lost out on my childhood, and had to pay my way through school twice. It wasn't fair, but that's the way it was. And I learned to just accept it and move on. In the end, I wouldn't change it, because the experiences made me stronger and wiser.
And, by the way, critical thinking wasn't something I learned in nursing school. Life taught me this, because I had to survive.
Isn't university physics trig based? Which is harder? Lol I don't think I could wrap my head around an 8th grade physics class.. Let alone a college one! Lol
Family sticking together is a good thing, of course. However, the OP has disclosed much about their home situation in other posts....and from their own description, it is not a healthy environment in which the "family is pulling together." It is a situation where the adult has abdicated responsibility and a 17 year-old feels like it's their responsibility to care for the adult and siblings.
OP....I agree, go away to school. Get some distance and clarity. Your mom needs to address her own problems, they're not yours to solve.
While I agree with this to a certain extent I have to ask, since when is it a terrible thing for a college student to live at home and help with the family? Seriously, there was a time in this country where family came first and everything else second. Sometimes I think we have just turned into a me me me me society and we're obviously raising our kids to feel that way too. Historically in America, and still in many other nations, children help out with the family expenses. Some get jobs and hand their paychecks over to their parents. Some help raise the younger siblings. Why is it so taboo for a parent ask an adult child to help the family out? Especially in times like this?
When I was old enough to get a job I did. That was the day my parents quit buying my clothes, makeup, as well as luxury items (CDs, concert tickets, etc.) In some ways I think that sucked since I believed, providing my clothes at the very least was still their responsibility, but I think it taught me a lot sooner than most kids to appreciate the things I purchased and the actual realization that money doesn't grow on trees and providing these few things costs a lot of money! Kids rarely understand that when mom and dad provide everything up to and throughout college. It's a hard reality when you graduate at 22, have absolutely no job or life experience and are expected to jump out and make your way in the world. Why do you think so many new grades all over the country (in all arenas) are still living at home and off their parents? Is this the RIGHT way to teach kids responsibility?
And if I wasn't enrolled in college (which I didn't do for several years) I paid my parents enough RENT that it covered my 'share' of the mortgage, food, electricity and phone. I also never earned a penny of 'allowance' a day in my life. That was just a ridiculous thought and my parents would laugh in your face if you dared ask them for it.
Now I'm not trying to make my life sound harsh, it wasn't. My parents believed in the family, everyone, contributing to the household. Was that terrible of them? The 4 year college "experience" was never an option for me. I knew that my whole life. There was no money. No free tickets. The idea that every child should get a no responsibility ride through college is a relatively new one for the average family in this country. It's almost as if it is an entitlement.
I think it is awesome that ANY child willing to work can get the loans and grants necessary to further their education and career potential can do it.. but I also think it's kind of sad that people will encourage them to abandon their family in order to do it. I know some family situations may call for such a drastic action.. but geeze.. is it so wrong for her to want to stay home and help her mom pay bills and raise the younger children while going to school?
I think this is something that should be admired, not discouraged.
I have no intentions of allowing my kids to 'support' us when it's their time to go out in the world either. However, I still believe it's admirable that she wants to stay home and help with her family. In a perfect world, mom would be in a situation where she was capable of taking care of the younger siblings without help from her older child. Right now this isn't the case. There are younger children in the mix that she can help emotionally through her mothers mental illness. How is that wrong? Unjust, yes! Was she dealt a crappy hand? Yes! Does that mean she leave her younger brother and sister to find their own way in the world? Well, I personally think that would be pretty crappy too. No, it's not her responsibility to raise her siblings. But is it right to leave them behind? She wants to look after her family.. again.. I admire that in a society that is trying to teach it's children to think me me me me.
Boy did I miss something. I thought Mom was going to start LPN school, and now she is mentally unstable? Are we still talking about the same 17 yo?
If she feels it is her place to help out her family that is her decision..obviously $$ for medical school is probably not going to happen.
I am so sorry, I usually am able to follow things better
In a previous post she expanded a little more on her family situation and it isn't perfect as it seems her mom has some self medicating and mental health issues she is dealing with. There are younger siblings that I believe will benefit a LOT by the excellent example this young woman is going to set helping her family as well as going to school to better herself and her family. I'm a fan about family looking out for family and family (especially siblings) sticking together and taking care of each other. That is just me.
I have no intentions of allowing my kids to 'support' us when it's their time to go out in the world either. However, I still believe it's admirable that she wants to stay home and help with her family. In a perfect world, mom would be in a situation where she was capable of taking care of the younger siblings without help from her older child. Right now this isn't the case. There are younger children in the mix that she can help emotionally through her mothers mental illness. How is that wrong? Unjust, yes! Was she dealt a crappy hand? Yes! Does that mean she leave her younger brother and sister to find their own way in the world? Well, I personally think that would be pretty crappy too. No, it's not her responsibility to raise her siblings. But is it right to leave them behind? She wants to look after her family.. again.. I admire that in a society that is trying to teach it's children to think me me me me.
it's not a matter of who's responsibility it is.....it's a matter of enabling behavior and codependency. Taking care of her Mom and taking on her Mom's responsibilities isn't helping her Mom, or herself.
I know some family situations may call for such a drastic action.. but geeze.. is it so wrong for her to want to stay home and help her mom pay bills and raise the younger children while going to school?
cogath
172 Posts
Pre-reqs for med school expire and have to be re-taken after a certain amount of time. Also, the MCAT is a hard test & only lasts for a few years. I was in the same boat, wanting to go to med school & be a nurse, it takes a lot of careful planning and will prob be expensive.
Organic was the easy part. Calc-based physics 1 &2 was the real challenge.