mdegges

I've been studying at a university for 2.5 years. By the end of this Fall I'll have completed (most) of the requirements to transfer into nursing school: anatomy w/lab, physiology w/lab, chem w/lab, sociology, psych, nutrition, math, stats, etc. My grades in these pre-req classes are really good, but not so good in my other classes (I am a Comp. Sci major.) I'm trying to get into a nursing school for Spring 2013 and have begun to start my applications. However, due to health problems and a lot of stuff going on, my university gpa is VERY low (about a 2.4). I'm wondering if it would be better to apply as a regular freshman and do nursing school for the full 4 years, instead of applying as a transfer student. My high school gpa was really good (a 3.4, I think) so I'm thinking my chances of getting into a good school would be better if I didn't mention my other college classes.. Is that possible? I've already applied to JCHS for spring as a transfer student, but I want to have some backups.. and all the schools I've looked at have a minimum gpa requirement of 2.7~3.0. What are my options here?

There's tons of ways to get experience and apply for these positions, evne though you may not meet all of the requirements. I see webmaster/ computer software engineering positions all the time. But to land any of these you must have participated in some pretty cool internships and really know how to program. A lot of CS new grads can't find jobs because they didn't do anything to make themselves stand out. Also, imo, CS is a super hard major and unless you actually work on real software programs (ie an open source project) then you won't have an idea of how the work field will be.

Thanks for your post Stacy. Both of my brothers are in the CS field and have been really successful.. and they are totally passionate about programming and have been doing it since they were very young. I think that's why I automatically chose it, I thought I would feel the same way about it as they did. Anyways, I'm glad you've chosen to go with it! It's never too late to go back to school and change your career.

Not worth it. Lol

I would rather go to school for four years, then earn some money, and go back to school if I find myself unhappy.. but being $160,000 in debt by the time I'm 26 would kill me

Thanks for the advice. :) I guess after being in school and seeing what CS is really like and what job opportunities are available to grads, it doesn't appeal to me as much. I thought it was all about hacking into government agency files and leaking top secret information, haha. But in reality it just doesn't seem as rewarding as nursing. To me, fighting to save lives is much more important and worthwhile than writing software programs [not to say that technology isn't important, it's just a very different kind of problem solving!] I just don't think I would be satisfied working for a company all my life, stuck behind a computer screen. I want to be involved in something greater. :) I think I have already made my decision and need to find a way of pursuing it. I hope you are able to go back to school, even if it's only part time, and figure out what it is you want to do! The way I see it, we're going to be working the majority of our lives and if we choose something we aren't passionate about, it won't even come close to what it could be!

Hi everyone, I have finished my first semester at IUB as a CS major, and even though I love it because it's challenging, I can't see myself being in a computer engineer. I'm taking summer school classes and got an internship that is going to start in June, but I'm having second thoughts about everything. I have not really had a good experience at this school (probably because I started in the spring and missed all the freshman stuff that most people go through), and I'm just not sure I want to stay here for 4 years. Before I came here, I also applied to Jefferson College of Health Sciences in VA and got accepted. I had a hard time choosing between CS and Nursing, and I mainly chose CS because a close relative lives close by.. which is really not a good reason. I'm trying to make a decision to either stick with it and see where it goes, or to reapply to Jefferson for the fall and make a fresh start. If I do that, I'll be forfeiting the internship.. but to be honest, I'm not that excited about it and I don't want to stay here for another 2 months just for a little cash. I think I am motivated and excited to go through nursing school and to become an RN. I have looked at many posts on this site and am still not sure if nursing is for me. But does anyone really know? Or do nurses just pick their career and stick with it, and eventually just find things that they enjoy? Another option is just to take the rest of the summer off, apply to Jefferson, and shadow an RN to see if it's the right fit for me. If it is, I will go, but if not, I can stay at IUB for another semester and then decide what to do. I think I'm just worried that I'll stick it out with CS and when I graduate, have no idea what to do with myself. Is it better to stick out your neck a little and hope for the best? Thanks for reading. I would appreciate any advice :)