Future Pediatric Nurse: UC Berkeley vs Sac State

Nursing Students School Programs

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  1. Which school?

    • 10
      Sacramento State University (has nursing major)
    • 2
      UC Berkeley (does not have nursing major)

12 members have participated

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.

Sounds like you've already made your decision, but I just wanted to encourage you.

I went to UCSD and am now pursuing an ABSN. I had to take a year between UCSD and nursing school to finish some nursing prerequisites, so once I finish nursing school, it will have taken me 6.5 years to become a nurse. That's not only a waste of time, but a waste of money/more debt compared to people who get a Bachelor's in Nursing from the get go. I wish that UCSD had had a nursing program and that I was already working as a nurse, but unfortunately I didn't decide I wanted to be a nurse till after I started at UCSD. My advice to you is forget the school names. No matter where you go, you will get an education, and once you become a nurse it won't matter where you got the BSN from; all that will matter is that you passed the NCLEX.

Don't make the route longer for yourself! And don't take the med school route if it isn't something you're interested in because that will make you miserable. Med school is an additional 4 years AFTER undergrad plus residency! If you want to be a nurse, go to Sac State and become a nurse asap!

Best of luck :)

Thank you so much! Even after all of this, people's constant commenting in my real life had started to me. I actually avoided reading it when I got an email notification because I was afraid you would try to convince me to go to a UC. Turned out to be the opposite and I'm glad I read it! I really appreciate it, helped me remember why I made my decision. :)

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This is almost unreal. I am going through the exact same dilemma.

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I SIRD to both schools, I decided to extend my deadline. My issue however is that I've always dreamed of becoming a nurse (so I can have quick patient interaction and more experience faster) so then I can take a break, study for medical school and become a doctor. However, many say that if I go into nursing I won't want to become a doctor and that if I want to become a doctor I should go to the school that'll make it happen faster (Berkeley). Ive decided to decide by May 22, but it is draining me emotionally because my siblings are graduating from the sac state nursing program this semester. I love the idea of becoming a nurse first, but I also love research and Berkeley. I'm in dire need of perspective.

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Hey! We were almost in the same position. I feel your pain, I know how difficult it is to make that decision. I don't want to pressure you to go any which way because I think that is a decision you should make. But, you never know if you'll just fall in love with nursing completely. Also, no one said you couldn't go back to school so the possibility of being a doctor still exists. Have you looked into being a nurse practitioner? Try doing some job shadowing? Feel free to message me if you want to talk about it.

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Also, for me, I think the only reason I wanted to go to Berkeley was because of the prestige compared to Sac State and how other people would look at me for turning down that school. Thankfully, I'm over that now and I understand it's about what I want to do. No one's opinion matters but your own. If you think that its the same case for you, look into this article. https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/-quot-prestige-quot-1102106.html You should make your own post so that way you get some attention because I think my thread has died out now. But I promise it'll get you what you're looking for. I'm so grateful to have posted on here and have people's insight on my situation or else I'd be doing something I hadn't really wanted to do.So I encourage you to post on both nursing and doctor forums since that's what you want to do!

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Berkeley junior here . If you know you want to be a nurse go to community college or another school that offers nursing. Berkeley is over-rated. There are brilliant people at here, but a lot of them don't have stellar GPAs. Pre-health dreams are shattered here. Take your pre-reqs at another institution since your GPA might be forever ruined here. Just being honest, a very large majority of people taking class in sciences here do not have a great GPA. Sciences here are meant to weed out pre-meds and are extremely hard. Don't ruin your GPA, that's forever.

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Berkeley junior here . If you know you want to be a nurse go to community college or another school that offers nursing. Berkeley is over-rated. There are brilliant people at here, but a lot of them don't have stellar GPAs. Pre-health dreams are shattered here. Take your pre-reqs at another institution since your GPA might be forever ruined here. Just being honest, a very large majority of people taking class in sciences here do not have a great GPA. Sciences here are meant to weed out pre-meds and are extremely hard. Don't ruin your GPA, that's forever.
Listen to this guy. I know a couple people that went to Cal with the intentions of doing pharm/md/pt and so on ,but had crappy GPAs because Cal is hyper-competitive. A couple of those people who managed to be decent in their science courses at Cal ended up going back for a nursing degree. I would say go to a CC, get a 4.0 in your courses, then apply for BSN programs.
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I'm at Cal finishing my prerequisites for ABSN or entry MSNs. Lucky for me I will probably be graduating with a 3.7 from Cal. And will probably only have one B on my nursing prerequisites. I finished every prerequisites except anatomy and physiology which I'm taking at a community college. Most Cal grads who got into the competitive entry level master's nursing programs like UCLA and UCSF, which are cheap had a high GPA. It's much harder to get into state schools then private schools due to the cost factor. My friends who got into Yale, UPenn, John Hopkins and Columbia direct entry programs had okay GPA, not stellar. It's easier getting into private top-tier schools like Ivy leagues for nursing because they are lenient with the GPA, cost a lot and look at applicants now holistically (activities and experiences outside of school). There's a few people I've read on forums and personally know of who had just above a 3.0 from a respected undergraduate school but got into Columbia, UPenn and etc., but they're paying over 100k - 200k for a nurse practitioner degree. Not worth it. I also have friends who got into these schools but were fortunate to get the competitive nurse corps scholarship, which funds graduate school tuition and provides a living stipened (free school). In return, students most work in an underserved area for two years.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

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