Opinions on 2 majors & a minor vs. BSN

Nursing Students ADN/BSN

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Hola! I am mulling some things over my head and would love to hear your opinions!

I am currently enrolled at a private university which has an affiliation agreement with a local nursing school where if I take classes here in addition to all of the nursing classes at the NS, I can graduate with my BSN (from the nursing school) and a major in healthcare from the university. Additionally, I will have a minor in Biology from the university by the time I graduate. Unfortunately, it is so expensive and alot more work! If I were to just attend the nursing school, I would probably save almost half in tuition (I am paying about $8000/semester now and it would cost me around $4000 or $5000 per semester at the NS), but I would only receive a BSN. I still have two years left of school after this year. As I'm weighing my pros and cons, I would be interested to hear your opinions on whether the extra major and minor will give me a competitive edge upon graduation (and even in the future as I apply for master's programs)... or am I just wasting my $$ :eek:

Thanks! :nurse:

I would personally save time and money and just get your BSN. I have two majors and two minors from a university and the # of degrees you have is of little importance unless they are bachelors, masters, PhD, JD. Also, few people care about your minors (even though knowledge of Biology is very important).

If you go straight to BSN, you can use your saved $ for a masters! Or whatever you would like to use an extra $10-15k on :)

Hola! I am mulling some things over my head and would love to hear your opinions!

I am currently enrolled at a private university which has an affiliation agreement with a local nursing school where if I take classes here in addition to all of the nursing classes at the NS, I can graduate with my BSN (from the nursing school) and a major in healthcare from the university. Additionally, I will have a minor in Biology from the university by the time I graduate. Unfortunately, it is so expensive and alot more work! If I were to just attend the nursing school, I would probably save almost half in tuition (I am paying about $8000/semester now and it would cost me around $4000 or $5000 per semester at the NS), but I would only receive a BSN. I still have two years left of school after this year. As I'm weighing my pros and cons, I would be interested to hear your opinions on whether the extra major and minor will give me a competitive edge upon graduation (and even in the future as I apply for master's programs)... or am I just wasting my $$ :eek:

Thanks! :nurse:

What is it that you want to do in the future? How would this extra degree help accomplish that?

Thank you so much for your replies! You have no idea how helpful it is!

CuriousMe, I have not yet narrowed down exactly where I want to work. I am very interested in research and am also thinking about teaching as a long-term goal. I know that I will be getting my master's degree at some point, I'm just not quite sure where I'll focus my studies yet. The only way I can see it helping is if 1) the field of nursing continues to be so competitive for new grads and 2) when I'm applying for grad schools, it might look good.

I am the Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid at a school of nursing. While I cannot speak for all 300+ graduate programs in the country, I can address how our Top 20 program looks at your questions.

A second major or minor makes no difference to the faculty on our graduate admissions committees. The faculty focus on your relevant clinical experience post-NCLEX, your gpa from the BSN program, and what you have done as a professional nurse (committees, advanced certifications, leadership opportunities, are you a member of specialty organizations, etc). They also look at how you write in your personal essays and what your recommenders say about you.

If you really want the second degree, then go for it! But I do not think it would make much of a difference for entry in a graduate nursing program.

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