im confusing about Biology and Nursing major

[jamiepkn]

I'm a senior at high school and also an international student.. I am interested in medical field and especially in nursing major.. I've heard that people can attend Biology major and Nursing major at the same time in college, or either one is major and the other one is minor, is that correct?

I plan to go to the community college next year, but due to the long waiting list and the complication about the Nursing program, can I be able to major Biology and study nursing prerequisite as a minor major ? Or is it possible that I can take both of them as 2 majors at the same time ? Is it possible at community college for international student ? And, once the waiting list is up, can I transfer back for the Nursing program ?

(I would ask this because i know that the waiting list of nursing program would take to long to wait, and during that time I have to complete the prerequisite classes then wait till been called for the program... thus I mean, instead of waiting for it, I would like to take another major at the same time).

Thank you for all your help and advices!!!

[Scrubs911]

Hi.

Let me get this straight: You're interested in the medical field with Nursing as your top choice. You're trying to do both Nursing and Biology and you want to start with the Biology major while you wait for an opening on a nursing waiting list? I hope I got what you were trying to say.

Yes you can study both Nursing and Biology in college. You can have a Nursing major and a Biology major OR you could do a Nursing major and a Biology minor-- with this option you won't have a Biology degree but depending on what classes you take you can still apply to other health related professions (medical school, dental school etc) OR have classes that may be useful to you should you decide to get a graduate nursing degree.

(I may be incorrect with this but) You cannot have a Nursing minor because you won't have all the classes required by your state board of nursing to have a nursing degree/RN.

Scenario One: Now if you do decide on a double major (Bio and Nursing), the lower level classes will apply to both your Nursing and Bio course work: Bio I & II, A&P I & II, General Psychology etc will work for Bio and Nursing. Your basic Chemistry class(es) will also work for both degrees.

In upper level classes (when you're taking the core nursing courses-- Med/Surg etc), you'll have your work cut out for you, especially if you're taking upper level courses like Biochem, Histology, Cell biology, Organic Chemistry etc. at the same time.

Scenario Two: You go for a Nursing major, and a Biology minor. The lower level courses still apply but you won't take as many upper level biology courses like Biochemistry etc.

Scenario Three: If your purpose for seeking the Biology degree is ONLY to make you eligible for other health professional schools OR graduate degree in nursing (you said you're interested in the medical field especially nursing-- so I'm assuming Nursing is the highest on your list of options). You do not need to have a Biology degree. You can get a degree in Nursing and take extra courses while you are in school to fulfill the requirements for those professional schools. For example, if you choose to become a CRNA after your RN, extra classes like Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry will come in handy.

Now that I've probably overwhelmed you with info :) Here's what I have to say about the Community College bit:

You can enroll in a community college to get those lower level courses I talked about. It'll probably take you 2-3 semesters to get your Algebra, Composition I&II, Bio I&II, General Pschology, Development over the Lifespan (Psych II), and Microbiology. The Nursing school you're interested in will list which of these you need to apply.

You can take these classes while you prepare/wait for nursing school. You probably will not be able to apply to nursing school until you have taken some of these courses.

In many community Colleges students taking the basic science courses declare a "General Science " major or something similar.

If the Community College you go to has a Nursing school, you can apply there and get the Associate degree in nursing and then sit for the NCLEX-RN OR you could go to a 4 year college, do the BSN and sit for the NCLEX-RN (and also take the Upper level Biology courses I talked about earlier).

I hope this helped. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions and speak with academic counsellors at your school for more professional help with these options.

Cheers!

[Jubilayhee]

By doing well in Biology major, you can get into med school.

[coastiewifejenna]

If nursing is your goal, I suggest to you that you take any and all the prereqs as possible. I took all of my chem, biology, microbiology, A&P i and II, and Comp I and II and Speech, Math for Meds, Algebra, and anything else that you did not acutally have to be in the nursing program to take. This is going to take you a little more time but since you have to wait to be accepted into the program, you could do this in your gap year. So yes I am in a two year program but I took classes for a year while I waited to get into the program. So I did two things: I didn't have to take a year off of school and fall out of the swing of things and now I am not as overwhelmed in our program because I only have 7 credit hours for one nursing class this semester, where as the orginal semester was designed to have 17 credit hours at a minimun each semester. Also, taking some prereqs will sometime help you get into the ADN programs and I fell more knowledgable in my nursing classes because I have had ALL of the prereqs done before I sarted.