Triple Major in Criminal Justice, Psychology, and Nursing?

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Hello guys,

i was wondering if someone could could help me.. I will be attending college as a freshman this fall (fall 2017) and I am debating whether or not I should triple major in Criminal Justice, Psychology & Nursing. I absolutely have a strong interest in all three subjects but I can't decide whether it would help to major in all three... I am debating whether to become a forsensic psychiatric nurse, a forensic pyschologist, or just become a forensic nurse..

Can someone tell me whether it would be helpful or not to do a triple major in all 3 (I have little extracurricular activities besides going to my mall job 🙂).

And also if possible could someone tell me which one would make a better career?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Once you start your classes with a clinical experience, your chances of being able to take all the classes required for that triple major are going to be very slim. Personally, I don't think it wise to do any major but nursing and possibly a minor. Nursing classes are intense and not easy.

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Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.
Once you start your classes with a clinical experience, your chances of being able to take all the classes required for that triple major are going to be very slim. Personally, I don't think it wise to do any major but nursing and possibly a minor. Nursing classes are intense and not easy.

I second this - and I think even a minor can be very difficult. I was a nutrition minor but didn't complete it because I had no time for other classes outside of my nursing requirements.

I think ANY double major can be overwhelming, but a triple major? Only if they all have very very similar requirements and are for the same degree.

Nursing is nearly impossible for double-majoring for other reasons than listed by Rose_Queen. For example, you would be pursuing a BSN as your degree. Psychology and criminal justice are not BSNs, so there you already have a double degree, not just a double major. That means you have to complete all requirements for all majors and all degrees (and depending on your school, psych and criminal justice might not even be the same degree - one could be a BA and the other a BS). I do have a friend who completed a BA and a BS but neither major required any clinical studies and both had a lot of overlapping requirements.

Why not complete a psych degree then do an accelerated BSN if you find that you still want to be a nurse at that time? Just a thought.

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Most schools have a limit on the number of units one can take before they are forced to "graduate", so it is possible that completing three separate majors might not be possible. I found completing a minor with a BSN major was difficult back when number of overall units attempted was not an issue.

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Just get your degree in nursing. You will not be hired as a new grad in forensic nursing anyway. After you have a few years of traditional nursing experience, you can do classes to get a specialty degree in forensic nursing. Forensic nurses often have ED and psych nursing experience, so you can also work these areas to help build up your resume.

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Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

Triple majoring in nursing, psychology and criminal justice is literally impossible. Even double majoring in nursing and anything else is highly unlikely. Just get your BSN.

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Specializes in Neuro.

Criminal justice studies likely won't help you get into forensics anyhow, usually forensics require forensic specific courses. My first major was criminal justice, there are good paying jobs for criminal justice, but, they are very, very competitive to get into, unless you want to be a cop (or the like) or want to continue on into law school, my advice as person with a criminal justice degree, don't waste your time. I initially was a nursing major who changed to criminal justice because it interested me (I had law school ambitions until I didn't anymore), I learned a lot and don't regret it, but here I am, 14 years later going back to school for nursing. That and once you're in college, you'll learn trying to "triple major" is probably unrealistic. Pick one thing and possibly a minor. If all else fails, you can always return to school & try something else. Good luck.

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Most people find a nursing major by itself more than enough to say grace over, without adding on any other responsibilities. When I taught in a BSN program several years ago, I only encountered one student who had a minor in addition to being in the nursing program, let alone a triple major.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

Pick one thing and give it 300%. :) Good luck!

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Specializes in Cardiac.

i graduated with a double major in opposite fields. it really wasn't easy (as i'm sure you will gather once you begin your studies), but i had a strong desire to do both and i did! you can too, but know that nursing will suck your life and it might not be able to give everything 100%. there were times i had to leave early in my audio editing class to get to a adult health clinical. my teachers worked with me, but i often wished i could pour more into my non-nursing major. i also did a ton of extracurricular and internships so that added to the busyness. my advice? make sure you will truly need all 3 degrees to arrive at your desired career (sometimes a minor will give you the knowledge you want or a master's down the line will tie everything together). best of luck!

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Thank you guys for sharing your advice. I have decided to major in Nursing and minor in psychology instead. I will extend my degree by one year IF I need to

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