BA in Psych and Pre-nursing

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Hello, I am a freshman in college in the second term currently with 33 credits. I have found interest in a nursing program and came in with a Intro to psyc credit, 2 Social science credits and 2 general electives. I planned on graduating college in 3 years and can do this easily taking a few courses in the summer/winter.

I currently planned out some of my studies for a BSN and it would take me 2 years, provided I do 2 summer courses to finish my prereqs for the BSN program I am looking at (UMSON). However, would it been good to just go the extra year and finish my BA in psych and then apply to a BSN program?

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

I'm debating how much flack I'll get for this, but honestly, given that you're just starting out, I would switch to the nursing program now. I decided in my last year of studying Psych to become an RN, and while I enjoyed my major and learned a lot, I would have just done the nursing program to begin with if I had decided it earlier. There really isn't much that having a BA in Psych will do for you as far as careers, getting into a BSN program, etc., unless you'd like to apply for an accelerated program.

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I would switch to nursing now! I did it after 1 year of college and switched to a community college (in MD). I made something from my first year of classes in the other major & will earn both an A.A. in psych & A.S. in pre nursing when I graduate this spring. I am actually waiting to hear back from UMSON (I applied for fall admission).

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I completely agree with zoe92 and carakristin1! I would apply to the BSN program now and start while you're ahead! I am also finishing up with my BA in Psych, and I 100% regret not applying to the nursing program while I was still in my first year. It will take so much of the pressure off of you, especially now since A LOT of people are going for nursing, and whereas the accelerated programs weren't AS popular before, they are just as competitive as the traditional programs now, if not more so!

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.

Switch to nursing.

While I hesitate to say you won't have any need for a psych degree, (mine has definitely been of benefit) your time and money have value.

If you want to be a nurse, be a nurse. A degree in psychology will give you knowledge of cool stuff, but it won't actually give you a job. Nursing will.

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Would it be useful to do prereqs for a BSN and try to apply to schools around the area? Or will going for a ADN be a good method to do and do prereqs in a CC? I live in Maryland. I was considering fast tracking my prereqs for BSN and applying for BSN after two years and if I dont get in I will finish my degree in 3 years and apply for an accelerated program. Any thoughts?

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.
Would it be useful to do prereqs for a BSN and try to apply to schools around the area? Or will going for a ADN be a good method to do and do prereqs in a CC? I live in Maryland. I was considering fast tracking my prereqs for BSN and applying for BSN after two years and if I dont get in I will finish my degree in 3 years and apply for an accelerated program. Any thoughts?

Sounds good to me. If you can, go for the BSN and skip the ADN.

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If you really want to finish your B.A., you could apply to UMSON's Clinical Nurse Leader MSN program. As long as you have a bachelor's in anything non nursing & have completed pre reqs, you are eligible to apply. I know two girls who had psych degrees from UMD & are now in this program. They just had to take general chemistry, nutrition, microbiology, anatomy and physiology 1 & 2 which you could work on in the summer while finishing your psych degree. Its 16, 21 or 23 months & when you have completed it you have an entry level Master's in nursing. Here is the link: Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) | University of Maryland School of Nursing

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As with the other posters, I would skip the ADN if you can. I work at a hospital currently and they are requiring all of our ADN nurses to take classes to get their BSNs within the next 5 years in order for the hospital to reach MAGNET status. I would assume that all hospitals are following this same trend.

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I also wanted to add something that I read in another thread...

"One hospital in DC received over 1300 applications for 40 positions for new grads in 2012; they did not even call any ADN graduates as they had 400+ BSN grads submit applications."

"At a recent meeting of community college nursing faculty in my state, there was a report that up to 35% of ADN grads did not have nursing jobs 12 months after graduation."

Sooo IMO it would be more beneficial for you to just go straight for the BSN.

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Yeah, I heard suburban hospital JHU was asking nurses to all get their BSN soon. Thanks for the information; everything was useful. There should be more resources like this for almost every career out there. You guys are very helpful. Would it be useful or helpful to admissions to have an ADN at all?

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Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

There are plenty of RN to BSN programs that you can apply to if you get your ADN first, so I guess in that respect it would be "useful," as you would be applying to a program specifically for those who are already nurses. But if you can just get the BSN straight away, that makes the most sense, unless you really need to start working as a nurse ASAP.

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