Future Pediatric Nurse: UC Berkeley vs Sac State

[habi14]

Hello everyone,

I live in California and I have been admitted into UC Berkeley which is an amazing school and would be my dream school if they had a nursing major. Unfortunately, they don't. Whenever someone at my school finds out I got into UC Berkeley, they expect me to go there. It's a lot of pressure. I talked to my school counselor and she helped me in sorting out all of my feelings and I decided I wanted to go to Sacramento State because they have a very reputable nursing program and as a future nurse, that is my dream school. However, one of my teachers insists on me going to UC Berkeley. Also right after I spoke with my counselor, the college and career lady at my school came up to me and asked what my plans for the fall were. I told her was I was planning to attend Sacramento State this fall, even though I got into UC Berkeley. I explained how Sac State has the major I want and she was shocked. She said she didn't want me to be "selling myself short" (as a nurse and attending Sac State) and that she thinks I should be a pediatrician instead. Then she talked about doctors salaries and how her sister is a doctor and is happy. Everyone keeps bringing it back to the money but honestly, I don't care about the money! I just want to be a pediatric nurse. I have to make my admissions decision by May 1st. Can you guys weigh in on this? Are there any UCB students out there pursuing nursing? No one is taking me seriously because I'm choosing a school that isn't that prestigious over a school that is really prestigious. As a first generation college student, I don't have much guidance and I feel like the guidance I am getting at my high school isn't really helping. Can any nurses tell me the pros and cons of their careers? Do you guys have any advice for me? What would you tell the high school senior version of yourself? Thank you so much guys, sorry for the very lengthy post. I really appreciate any help.

[caliotter3]

I have also attended other schools, not with the name recognition of UC. Back in my day, a UC education separated people, perhaps more than today. Through the years people have shown interest in my education at UC, but made no mention of the other schools. Even only two years of nursing prerequisites at UCB could possibly open doors for you. When entering a profession as flush with applicants as nursing, one should maximize their competitiveness as much as possible.

[SFnursetobe12]

One more comment. If you decide not to go to UCB then maybe start looking into how you should go about getting that nursing degree. Did you get a scholarship to Sac State? Are you looking for the traditional college experience? Are you ok if it takes longer to do the nursing prereqs?

If money is a concern, or the inpacted state schools, and you don't mind living at home for 2 more years, then why not a community college? It'll be cheaper, you could finish the prereqs faster (I know this from my experience and having a comparison of friends in state schools) and you could apply to all nursing programs, including sac state after a couple years

I wish you good luck! If you do decide to go to UCB just know that if you are out of there in 4 years and go into an ~18 month ABSN program you may be finishing quicker than others who went straight to state schools as a pre nursing major. You could always major in a degree that is centered around children at UCB so you have a background that will benefit you as a peds nurse :)

[habi14]

Like someone else said, there may not be a guarantee that you get into their nursing program if you go to Sacramento State for undergrad -- it could give you an advantage, I don't know for sure about that school. The school I went to for undergrad has a well-respected and good nursing program (which I didn't apply for b/c I wanted to do an ABSN which my alma mater's nursing school doesn't offer) -- many students who go there for undergrad get rejected from the nursing school unfortunately. I don't know if Sacramento State is like that.

I feel like with a degree from Berkeley, you would have a good shot at a lot of top tier nursing programs and maybe Sacramento State as well. Speaking of my school again, I feel like someone who has an undergrad degree from a school like Berkeley would be looked upon very favorably during the admissions process (unless that person got bad grades in their pre-reqs) for the nursing school.

With that said, I don't really think you can go too wrong whatever you decide -- you're obviously a good student if you got into a school like Berkeley so I'm sure you will be successful in your path to being a nurse regardless of which school you choose.

(I also get a lot of "but you're too smart to be a nurse, you should go to medical school!" and yes it is annoying but I brush it off, I'm happy with my choice to pursue nursing school, don't doubt your choice you may feel confused at times but ultimately you know what's best for you)

Thank you so much! Sacramento State is like that however, I think I can work hard enough to pull it off. They have certain selection criteria, and the better you do the more likely you are to get in.

[habi14]

Go to Berkeley. I take it you are 18 years old, right? So you might change your mind a lot before deciding on a major and it might not be nursing! If you are still feeling passionate after you get your Berkeley degree, go for an ABSN or a direct entry Master's (your Berkeley degree will help with that!). I am in a Cal State BSN program and one my classmates has a BS from Berkeley. She had one career and is now launching another. Living in the East Bay, I know tons of Berkeley grads, and while their education may not necessarily be "better" than a Cal State, that degree will open doors for you.

Yes, I am 18. You made some good points. I think I might go to Berkeley and then apply for the ABSN. Thank you so much for commenting!

[blackberrymousse]

Yes, I am 18. You made some good points. I think I might go to Berkeley and then apply for the ABSN. Thank you so much for commenting!

I think that is an excellent plan!

[PANYNP]

I'm dismayed that people at your high school are trying to direct you toward a university that doesn't offer your major, based on prestige alone.

What are the financial comparisons between UCB and Sac State? Are there other family or social considerations that would have you favor one school over the other?

There is a school of thought that says it doesn't matter from where you earn an undergraduate degree, but it's more important to obtain your advanced degrees from a high name recognition and rigorous institution. In your case, perhaps Sac State, with excellent grades for undergrad, and UCSF or UW or OHSU for graduate work.

Best of luck!

[allycat77, BSN, RN]

I am also someone who went to nursing school as a 2nd degree. Here are my thoughts. Now I don't live in CA, but I do work in Denver, where everyone and their sister wants to live and work as a nurse. It is very competitive, but generally speaking, getting your foot in the door working in a hospital as a CNA or some other job part-time is what can help get you hired. I really don't think that all hospitals look at your resume and will go "Oh Berkley, we should totally hire her," over someone who they already know, etc. School is expensive, and unless you are getting a free ride, I say go somewhere that has the nursing program you want. If you were accepted into Berkley, chances are you'd get accepted into a nursing school mostly of your choice. Are you limited to only going to these 2 schools? And back to the money thing, I would just remind you that you if you become a nurse, you may want to further your career one day with a master's or doctorate. Just my 2 cents.

[allycat77, BSN, RN]

Oh and one more thing, would it be possible for you to shadow at a local hospital with a Peds RN? My hospital offers programs like this. We also tend to hire our volunteers/current employees :)

[jdwong]

As someone who went to UC Davis, not in the same caliber as UC Berkeley, but is now applying to some ABSN programs I would say there are obviously pros/cons to both.

I first went to Davis with the mindset of becoming a doctor, straight out of high school, that didn't happen of course. It wasn't until after my third year of college that I realized I wanted to go into nursing and had already switched to a Human Development major at this point and was determined to finish my degree. Long story short, if I could go back in time I would've gone to a school with a nursing degree. With that being said, currently at Sac State all their admitted nursing program applicants have close to a 4.0 in science pre-requisites and high TEAS scores as well as a multitude of things like speaking a second language, etc. You're obviously very intelligent but this does place a lot of stress on you as soon as you enter college.

As much as I wish I would've had the hindsight to go into a college with a nursing program, I would never want to give up the experience I had at Davis. Sure it's going to take me a little longer, but I had time to figure out if nursing was what I wanted.

[blackberrymousse]

Don't most schools not have nursing or Pre-nursing as a major? I know at my school even though we have a school of nursing, as an undergrad Pre-nursing is not a major. You can only indicate it as an interest just like with Pre-med and Pre-law. Most of my peers who are planning on going to nursing school have to major in related things like Community Health where there is a lot of overlap with the nursing school pre-reqs.

[Wildcatkt]

Similarly, I had debated between becoming an RN and a PA, so I applied to UC Berkeley and a few CSUs and was accepted to all. After a job shadow, I decided nursing was definitely the right move for me, so I went to CSU Chico and got my nursing degree; I've been an RN for 1.5 years now and I've never looked back :) I've always been proud for getting into UCB, but a degree from a prestigious college does not necessarily a happy career make!

Also, in regards to pay, Pediatricians are some of the lowest paid MDs out there, and the student loan debt is massive. If being a pediatrician is your heart's desire, then forget about the money and go for it, but if being a pediatric RN is what you TRULY want, I say go for it! Sac State does have a good nursing program, and you get to do clinicals at specialized Childten's hospitals (such as Shriner's), which will be great experience for your dream of being a pediatric nurse! Good luck in whichever path you choose :)

[habi14]

Hi everyone, thank you all so much for commenting! You have no idea how much I appreciate your insight and I do thoroughly evaluate everything you guys have to say in order to make the big decision. To answer some of your questions, for my whole life I wanted to be a pediatrician. That's been my career aspiration for as long as I remember. I'm a child person. I love babies. I also love helping people. I'm a compassionate and empathetic person and one of my life long goals is to become a humanitarian and/or work with Doctors Without Borders.

Last summer, I had the opportunity to intern at Kaiser Permanente, which I'm beyond thankful for. During my time there, I talked to SO many people and after looking at several different aspects, I eventually came to the decision that being a pediatrician isn't what I really want to be. Instead, I want to be a pediatric nurse. Even during my past visits to the Dr's, I observed the roles of both the nurse and the doctor and quite frankly I think I'd enjoy being a pediatric nurse much more. I've also done a lot of internet research on the roles of both so I think my decision for pursuing nursing is pretty thought out. Thank you so much for the idea of job shadowing, I've been meaning to do that but I keep pushing it to the back of my head and I'll get on top of that ASAP.

I'm on Spring Break right now so I've had a lot of time to think about which school to attend. I applied and got into to Sacramento State, San Francisco State, UC Davis and UC Berkeley. Sacramento State and San Francisco State both have nursing programs and offer Bachelors of Science in Nursing degrees. UC Davis and UC Berkeley do not. I automatically eliminated UC Davis because although it is fairly prestigious and has a much better rep to it than Sac State, it does not have the nursing major I want. I eliminated San Francisco State because it's fairly similar to Sacramento State and I can save a lot of money by living at home. I don't see the point in relocating two hours away for a state school that doesn't give me a better chance of becoming a nurse since it's nursing program is also heavily impacted. It was pretty much decided that I would go to Sac State until I got into Berkeley. I really wasn't expecting it and it had been my dream school before I switched career paths. Now a lot of people are making it seem like I'd be letting them down if I didn't go. So it comes down to UC Berkeley vs Sac State.

Where I'm from, EVERYONE wants to be a nurse too. I don't think they really want to be a nurse though. If you were to ask any senior girl at my high school what they want to be, there's a likelihood that 1/3 of them want to be a nurse. The worst part is that they sound like they're settling for being a nurse, not like they really WANT to be a nurse. What initially kept me away from taking an interest in nursing is the fact that everyone "wanted" to be a nurse and in my town, there's some weird stigma about becoming a nurse. "Oh, you're just gonna be a nurse?" They make it seem like it's not important and they sound disapproving. When the college and career lady asked me what I wanted to be and told me I'd be selling myself short, it kind of hurt me because this is something I'm passionate about and actually want to do. When she turned to my friend and asked her, she looked at her with approval for saying she wants to be a psychiatrist. That's just something I'm going to have to get over though, I know what I want to do and I know what I'll be happy doing. All I need to do is stop worrying about what other people think because it's my life, not theirs.

I've come to the decision that Sacramento State is the best school for me, I've emailed a few Berkeley advisors and they didn't really make much of a case for their school and left the decision up to me, which is what I wanted but I want to make an informed decision. At Sacramento State, I have the advantage of living at home, being a part of the EOP program and possibly the Honors Program as well. I've also received a great financial aid package which I'm sure I can make work. I know everyone says you shouldn't let money be the deciding factor but in reality, that's what it comes down to. If I went to Berkeley I'd have to set up housing, be away from my family, take out a $4,800 loan (which may seem like nothing but is a lot to me because I'm from a very low-income background), the other 4,000 in work study which is perfectly fine with me, but it's the additional costs that hold me back. When I move, I'd have to buy all this new stuff: school supplies, dorm stuff, clothes since I share with my sister, a laptop (which is most likely going to be ridiculously expensive), I don't even have a phone yet either! There are just so many costs.

At Sacramento State, I have to do two years of fulfilling my prerequisite requirements and the next two years I'd apply for the nursing program and hopefully come out with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. (very selective but I know I can do it if I work hard enough)

Thank you all again, you guys were a tremendous help! Although I didn't choose Berkeley, you guys made a strong case and almost convinced me, know that your input was heavily weighed, thought over and re-read in the process of this decision making. :)