BA in unrelated field first a bad idea?

Editorial Team / Admin · Aug 25, 2015

If nursing is what you want to do for a career, I personally would skip an unrelated degree first. You can always go to a traditional 4 year college/university and minor in the things you listed. I took 5 years to complete a BSN (changed majors halfway through sophomore year) and minored in Spanish. Had I been able to work ecology into my schedule, I could have also graduated with a minor in biology. I also went to school with someone who double majored in biology and psychology- required an extra semester.

There are also adult education courses that you could sign up for after you graduate. My local community college offers various educational opportunities to adult learners that don't result in a degree but are taken for personal enrichment.

PA_RN87, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN · Aug 25, 2015

As someone who got a BS in biology before doing an accelerated nursing program, a few things to consider:

1. MONEY. You'll be racking up a lot of extra costs.

2. Those other areas of interest are great, but what kind of job will you get with them?

3. If nursing is your calling, and the others are your passion, major in nursing and explore the others as hobbies.

Yes, having a second degree helps you stand out. Then again, most accelerated nursing programs require a bachelor's anyway, so it wouldn't help there. If you're super rich or don't mind really racking up the loans, more education is always better than less. But if I could do it over again, I would probably have gone straight into nursing.

heb06004 · Aug 25, 2015

Either do a minor or just make your general education classes count and pick ones you're really interested in. I'm in an ABSN program currently and I think I would suggest doing it first time around if you know it's what you really want to do.

PA_RN87, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN · Aug 25, 2015

Also, there are other ways to stay competitive without getting a bunch of degrees (start working as a CNA while in nursing school, volunteer at a hospital, get involved in nursing organizations, etc.)

Jules A, MSN · Aug 25, 2015

Nursing can be very finicky and unfortunately bachelors degrees that aren't BSNs are not impressive in our arena. If you really think you want to be a nurse get your BSN and if you want to take extra courses afterwards for self enrichment, have at it.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Aug 25, 2015

PLEASE discuss this with your academic counselor. If you want to be a nurse, 4 years of study in any other field will be a useless waste of time.

angieperry · Aug 25, 2015

If nursing is really your calling, why waste money and time on some major first. You need to sit down and think really hard on what you really want then talk to your school counselor. Good luck.

RNperdiem, RN · Aug 25, 2015

If you have multiple intellectual interests, you have the options to take a few classes. You don't have to get a degree in them.

If you will be going to a four year college, you will take classes unrelated to nursing; it is part of the college experience. I enjoyed my foreign language classes, history and literature. Even with a nursing degree, you will still get a chance to take classes in other subjects.

loriangel14, RN · Aug 25, 2015

A BA in another field really won't make a difference when hunting for a nursing job. Why waste time doing another degree first

Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN · Aug 26, 2015

I was a classics then a linguistics major before deciding to switch to nursing after sophomore year; I ended up with a degree in both nursing and linguistics. It took me five years to graduate, but that was mainly because I was late in starting the nursing track, in which most of the courses have to be taken sequentially rather than concurrently. The linguistics side has never been useful professionally except as a conversation starter, but I'm still rather proud to have it, and if finances aren't an issue as you say then there's no particular reason not to do it.

ETA: I would recommend a double-major route rather than an unrelated major followed by accelerated BSN. While there are many routes into the nursing profession these days, I think a traditional BSN, if you have the option, is probably the one with the least potential snags down the line.

calivianya, BSN, RN · Aug 26, 2015

As someone with a BA in another field, all I can say is I put off making the money I'd make as a nurse for three years that I could have been working, and I regret that pretty deeply. I could be so much farther ahead in life than I am right now if I had done nursing first. Thankfully, I didn't have to take out any student loans for that degree or I'd really be ten kinds of miserable over it.

It's all fun and games when you're in high school and don't have any serious debt or expenses. Once you're staring down a mortgage, student loans, car payments, etc. and you realize you could have the dang things half paid off already if you had just gotten a job that paid well a few years sooner, it feels different.

Your BA isn't going to get you a job that pays well, and in my experience, nobody cares about previous degrees but you. Your nursing degree is actually going to make you money - so get that first, then you will have the money to spend on the degree you just want for fun while you are working as a nurse. You can work as a nurse and take classes at the same time; it's not impossible.