take my time or get right into it?

[jiwonkim89]

I'm a junior in college right now as a music major. I will be graduating with a BA in june 2011. I recently decided that I want to apply to nursing school. I will start taking pre-reqs next quarter. If I get on top of things, I can finish the prereqs by the end of this year...in time for applications that are reviewed during january and february (so I would be applying for fall 2011). But I have to fit these prereqs within my music classes at my university. I will start volunteering at a hospital in february. My top choice is UCLA's MECN program. Now, I don't know if I should wait one more year (apply for fall 2012), have some more flexibility with scheduling the classes and get more volunteer work.."experience" OR get right into it. I just don't want to rush things and apply, just to get rejected to accelerated bsn or the mecn programs...and wait one more year to apply again. Should I just take things slow and garner up more experience?

[contactimprov09]

I know what you're going through because I was in college as a Spanish and Dance major when I decided to get into nursing. I took pre-reqs while in my last semesters. If you get great grades then you should try to get your pre-reqs taken care of so that you can start applying as soon as possible. If your grades are decent then just go with the flow. I had okay grades and applied to nursing school the first semester of my sr year and got rejected because I wasn't prepared enough, so I decided to apply during my last semester and if I didnt get in I would go to grad school and try again later. In your situation I would work on pre-reqs and graduate and then stay around to take your remaining prereqs (you can even use your degree to find a job while you're taking pre-reqs). Then when you get accepted to a school you can go study nursing. In my program I have people that are married, single, old, and young. If you want to pursue music for a while then go for it, but I'd at least have the pre-reqs out of the way in case you want to apply to a nursing program (just be aware that schools are getting competitive and changing their pre-reqs). Good luck!!

[jiwonkim89]

thanks for your advice. Right now I have a 3.8 gpa in my undergraduate studies. I decided that I'm going to go full throttle in 2010 and finish the prereqs and volunteer. I'm going to apply during my senior year (this upcoming november-ish)!!!

[contactimprov09]

Great!! Best of luck!!

[Carrie_MTC]

It all depends on whats going on in your life right now. Make sure you are going to have stability and no conflicts when you are going to nursing school, even the littlest things can turn into issues. If I could go back and redo it. I would have delayed a year so I could have worked more and saved up some money. Its not fun going through nursing school and trying to work. Good luck to you!