degree changers, was nursing harder than your previous degree?

[Infofreak411]

Just trying to guage how difficult the programs are.

[lovinglife2015]

ETA: plus, at a lot of programs there is the saying that "Ds make degrees". In my nursing program, a 78 is passing.

I've never heard that saying. Every university that I've ever attended had a policy that below C grade had to be retaken if credit was to be received. So, no D's made degrees.

[Bbett, MSN, NP]

We say "Cs get degrees" in my nursing program 😂 but in a actuality an 83 is considered a C.

[nursemeanie]

I did a double major in 2 social science fields and graduated in less than 4 years and it was easier than the accelerated nursing program I completed.

[B52, BSN, MSN, RN]

My BA in Journalism was much easier than my ADN in nursing, even though my GPA in nursing was higher.

[Carrie RN]

Nursing was harder than becoming a social worker.

[Anna S, RN]

My best friend says her BS in Marketing was a breeze, and her AAS in nursing nearly "killed" her.

[DawnJ]

I have a BS and a Masters and my ADN was much harder than either of those

[anon456, BSN, RN]

My BA took longer, of course, and I had to learn to grow as a student and refine my study techniques. I learned critical thinking, creativity, and how to see things from different perspectives. It was a time-consuming process to write long papers. I had to research in a library without the use of computers (it was a long time ago). I grew so much as a person. When I graduated, I missed being in college.

Nursing school (ADN) was a condensed, fast-track program. All of it, including pre-req's, was intense and mostly focused on memorizing things I had no personal experience with yet. I didn't feel like the teachers really cared about me personally and some had chips on their shoulders. I don't feel that I grew as a person as much as I can say I survived it. When I left it, I was burned out.

Now I'm doing my BSN. Those classes feel more like my BA degree classes and I am enjoying them more. That's not to say I am not resentful for having been made to do it in order to get further or even remain employed in my already established career.

[BCgradnurse, MSN, RN, NP]

I did my degrees over 20 years apart, so there was a whole different level of dedication and maturity involved. I thought my BS and MBA were hard, but I didn't put the effort into them that I did into nursing. I went to an accelerated ADN-MSN program and it was much more work than my previous degrees. However, I was older, worked harder, had better study and critical thinking skills, and did much better than I did in undergrad. FWIW, a passing grade in my program was 86 or above.

[ShelbyaStar]

I've never heard that saying. Every university that I've ever attended had a policy that below C grade had to be retaken if credit was to be received. So, no D's made degrees.

Interesting. You couldn't get straight D's without ending up on probation since you needed to maintain a certain GPA, but a D was passing for individual classes. I can't think of any classes I took that had a higher bar than that.

*ahem* I had a few.

Now as a nursing student I'm getting straight A's but that has more to do with maturity and a change in job climate than anything.

[CamillusRN, BSN]

My ASN was actually more demanding time-wise than my bachelor's in Sports Medicine. The critical thinking and science knowledge were pretty much already there from my previous degree (which I thought was way more difficult and intensive than nursing), but the workload for most courses was way more than any of my courses in my bachelor's program.

[ready2baRN]

I would say nursing is just a smidge harder than my previous degree. I received my bachelors in exercise physiology and I think it prepared me very well for the science part of nursing. Learning the nursing process though to me is a whole new ball game it's challenging but fun, I don't ever get stressed about it but I do get anxious over my grades because we are not allowed to get below a B in any course.