Anyone get an Officer Comission with a useless Bachelor's?

[Dre2416, BSN, RN]

Hi All,

I am currently waiting for decision on my ADN starting January. I have been looking at my choices for the future and was thinking of the reserves and active. I was told to go ahead and apply to see if I would be chosen for an Officer rank since I have a Bachelor's. But I do not want to waste anyone's time if it's a long shot. My degree is in Merchandising and everyday I regret it. It has been the most useless money pit of a degree ever. GPA isn't high enough for ABSN and probably not good enough for an Officer rank. Do you know anyone who has gone in as an Officer with a REALLY non-related degree?

[just_cause, BSN, RN]

There is not a degree / branch correlation to most branches. Nursing and a few others have atypical accession options like direct accession.

However, the path to being an officer is not direct accession for most branches. ROTC and USMAs account for majority of accessions.. then a smaller yield from things like OCS. So yes lots of officers have degrees outside their branch focus... almost all officers do,

I'd say you need to take a few minutes to look into it as I don't think you know enough now to want to be in the military or not at this point.

I've worked with a lot of professional officers who had came from top schools, with solid degrees, who choose to serve as their primary goal... what I'm trying to say is the military, and especially being a commissioned officer, is not to be taken lightly.. people invest years of hard work and follow a path to trying to be one. I think you will find that hindsight and quick accession won't be an option and that is the way it should be IMHO.

[JoMark06]

I would encourage you to talk to a recruiter. They will have the best answers for you. I know with an ADN you can get a commission in the reserves with a requirement to get your BSN to go past Capt in the Army. The Army will pay for further school to obtain the BSN. Anyway, with you already having a non-nursing bachelors, you never know what you can do until you ask!

[renygigi]

Hi, I just completed an ADN program and I had the same situation (BA in Communication). My plan had always been to either go AGR (the Reserves at one time took ADNs) or apply for a waiver for the BSN and go Active Duty, but according to the nurse recruiter in my area, a BSN plus 6 months Med-Surg experience is required. Once I graduated with my ADN I immediately applied to an RN-BSN program in my area so I would suggest speaking to a nurse recruiter immediately to properly plan your goals out...

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

A degree is not useless if it allows you to get commissioned. No one cares about your GPA once you have your degree. I'm a flight nurse and my Bachelors is in music, and I would never refer to it as useless. I would say there is no reason you can't be an officer, assuming the rest of your life is in order.

[0402]

I have a BA in Spanish and am a Marine Corps Officer. The Marine Corps trained me in logistics. The type of bachelor's didn't matter- just that I had one.

[billyboblewis]

I suggest you think very hard before you make a career move. You seem to have made choices for the wrong reason in the past. ie there is nothing wrong with a merchandising degree if your are interested in getting into sales or marketing. I have to assume you are not and from the way it sounds never were. Before you get your self into the military where you will be subject to military discipline among other things, I suggest you find some mentors who can help you with your career decisions.

[CRF250Xpert]

Despite having two degrees already, I was required to have a BSN to be a USAF nurse. You cannot have a degree in anything else but nursing to come in as a USAF nurse - it must be a BSN.

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

Same with the Army, it must be a BSN. I believe it is also the same for the Navy

[tayelleRN]

if you are a member of the army reserve and your desire is to be commissioned, all you presently need is an ADN. should your assigned unit get mobilized for active duty, your ADN is still good enough. but should you desire to be a member of the regular army (full time), then you MUST have a minimum of a BSN to be commissioned. the army has off and on for years, considered changing this but has not come to any definite conclusion. the majority of the army reserve officers (nurses) i work with have only an ADN. i am not sure of the requirements for the af and navy nurse.

[jeckrn, BSN, RN]

The Army Reserves is no longer giving commissions for ADN's even thou it is still listed as a option. You only be considered if you have BSN. The AF & Navy also will only accept BSN's.