Pursue nursing vs having the "college experience". Am I being unreasonable?

[confused123]

Hello everyone!

I am a current senior in high school and having some doubts about what I want to pursue. I became interested in nursing after joining my school's health careers program and really fell in love with it after shadowing CNAs at a nursing home and a PACU nurse. However, as college commitment day approaches, I'm having my doubts for some very short-term reasons (aka college experience). Since my state does not have a public, direct-entry BSN program (only public program is OHSU), I am deciding between pursuing nursing at an out of state private university (Seattle U) or studying accounting at a public state university. What I mean by "sacrificing" college experience is:

1. I've always wanted to study abroad but the tight schedule of the private school's nursing program does not allow that.

2. The larger state school has a number of casual dance/performance team clubs that I've always wanted to participate in.

3. 4k vs 20k students

If I were to choose the public school route, my reasons for choosing accounting versus a life science degree is for its stability and pay. If I decided in college that I wanted to switch to nursing, I would rather graduate with a degree I can make a decent living in the case that I fail to be accepted as a transfer to a nursing school. However, I am aware that the "sacrifices" I've listed are short term in comparison to my career which is long-term. Is the fact that I'm having doubts over nursing over such small things mean that nursing isn't for me? Am I just being immature? Another thought I have is that if I don't like accounting, it will be easier switching to nursing than from nursing to accounting if that makes sense and I would still be able to have the "college experience". Any thoughts/comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!

[Taylor13, CNA]

I think that if you are truly passionate about nursing you should go for it! It is usually not an easy path, but if you love what you are doing then it is worth it. I would definitely keep in mind how intense a nursing program can be. I am not sure about other programs, but for nursing you need almost straight A's in your prereqs in Washington state which is where Seattle University is. I also think that it is important to get those experiences that you are talking about as well. Sometimes I wish I had those experiences, but I have ended up in a non-traditional path that has worked out even better for me! Many people wait a few years before going to nursing school, so it's not like you won't be able to after you choose something else. I recommend seeing how you perform in the prerequisites before you commit though. I had many classmates fail out before even being able to apply, and now they are struggling with no plan B!