Majoring in something non-science/non-nursing related

masstudent · Jan 18, 2007

My impression of second degree programs is most take people who have a wide range of majors in their first BA/BS. The point of a second degree program is for those of us who decided we wanted to be nurses after we got our first degree. If you look at almost any school that has a second degree program you will see they discuss this idea that people decide to become nurses who didn't work in a related science field or take science classes the first time around. A lot of second degree students end up taking their prereqs after they graduate with their first degree.

The point of a liberal arts education is so you can critically analyze anything and are well rounded. I was a psych major and all of my jobs outside of college have had nothing to do with psych-although one of my college profs would say any job, especially retail, you use psych in. When I started college, I thought I wanted to go to med school and my advisor said I had to major in bio or chem but I was convinced I could get in to med school, even if I majored in Psych since that is where I was interested in having my major. In the end I never did apply to med school.

I say major in Japanese. You may change your mind about nursing. Japanese will be an asset when you apply to nursing school especially if you are fluent since you will be able to help people who only speak Japanese. I wish I had better luck learning a foreign language. I studied Japanese culture in college and enjoyed it.

shippoRN · Jan 18, 2007

I totally agree with vtprenursingstudent.

Definately major in what YOU want to do and not what other people think you should do, trust me when i say you will be much much much happier in the long run.

I too had med school aspirations, and no real guidence as to what it took to get there. So i majored in bio because i thought that was the thing to do, what i really wanted to major in was english and creative writing. I was miserable as a bio major, it was cut throat, and i spent two years confused, failing classes, not knowing what to do and almost got kicked out of school. In the end all i could do was switch majors, nothing i was thrilled with but it was something i could do to finish school, i no longer had the luxury of choosing what i liked. Im not working with my major either, but I did get a job that eventually exposed me to nursing and helped me to make my decision.

Do what you want to do, at the end of the day its you who has to sit in the class, and you who have to do all the work.

puresass · Jan 18, 2007

i'm confused... if you haven't declared a major yet, why not major in nursing right now? & if your university doesn't have a nursing school, why not try to transfer somewhere that does? why spend two more years getting an unrelated BA & THEN try to get into a second degree program? there are so many more regular BSN programs than there are 2nd degree/accelerated programs.

if you are REALLY excited about getting a BA in japanese, then definitely go for it... but if you're choosing it just to choose a major so you'll have a BA to apply to a 2nd degree program, then i'd say skip it all together & work towards the nursing program at your school or trasferring to a school that does have a nursing program.

good luck with whatever you decide! :)

xLexax · Jan 18, 2007

thanks to everyone who responded! I'm still a little confused about what to do but I will make a decision within the next couple of days.

In reply to puresass' post. I initially came to college not knowing for sure whether or not I'd want to do nursing, and when I finally came to the decision I found out that my college doesn't offering nursing as a major. I'm already halfway done and I still want to keep my options open as to whether or not I will go to nursing school which is why I want to major in something non-nursing related. Also, languages is another passion of mine but isn't as easy to find a career as nursing, so I wanted to have a back-up. Both careers I would gladly do.

I suppose my main concern is if it really matters as to what you major in when nursing schools go through the applications. I mean, would they prefer that i take more classes that are science related?

MB37 · Jan 18, 2007

As long as you take - and do well in - the prereqs the rest of your transcript really does not matter. Most of us 2nd degree people had no clue we wanted to be a nurse when we got our first degree. I double majored in psych and history with a minor in business. I've been a bartender for 7 years. It makes no difference. The grades you get in whatever you major in may matter, depending on whether your intended nursing school looks at total GPA, just prereqs, or both, but they honestly will not look down on you for majoring in Japanese. Having a fluency in another language will look very good on any school or job application for the rest of your life, however. I have a friend who's working on her Ph D in Japanese political systems and lived there for a couple of years, and there are jobs - teaching Japanese, for example - that you can get even without going to grad school if you don't wind up doing nursing. If you enjoy, go for it!