What good does a BA in anything do for nursing

[Big_Mike]

I met this girl in my anatomy class and she said she was happy to get a C in her anatomy course because she has a college degree. She graduated with a Bachelors. Is this true?

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Is what true?

[Big_Mike]

Is it true that a BA degree makes up for a C like in anatomy or gives you a competitive edge?

[Shawn91111]

I have a Culinary Degree. It gives me zero edge, unless I want to make something for the professor to kiss up to them

[N. Maren]

I have a bachelor's of science in biology. The only edge it gives me is that I understand pathological processes a little easier in some classes. In terms of actual nursing employments, none.

[verene, MSN]

In my experience no, not really. The only thing a BA allowed me to do was apply to ABSN and DEMSN programs. I still had to have the grades and other criteria the programs were looking for. Applying to the local ADN programs my prior degree wasn't even looked at, so no bonus points on admission for already having college success. Only thing that mattered was pre-req GPA and HESI score.

[Silver_Rik, ASN, RN]

My top choice ADN program

(I didn't get into) is very competitive and gives admissions preference to applicants with a bachelors degree (in any field) if you have a GPA > 3.5 (maybe top tier is 3.0?) and meet the test (NLN-PAX) cutoff.

I don't know if other schools consider it, or so highly

[PrincessElleRN]

Well did you at least try?

[Semper_Gumby]

Some nursing schools don't care if you have a prior degree, they care what your pre-req GPA is (and maybe overall GPA) and scores on any required entrance exams (I took the TEAS). Your classmate may be quite surprised when her C potentially affects her ability to be accepted into a program. Having a prior degree certainly isn't a substitute for that!

[caliotter3]

The only thing a prior BA provides, usually, are general education courses that may carry over to the new degree.

[Extra Pickles]

I think what you might be asking, Mike, is really about the chances of your classmate getting into an accelerated nursing program. Those students who already possess a Bachelor degree in another field can enroll in a program that focuses only on the core nursing courses since the general education part of the degree has already been completed.

The part your classmate is misunderstanding bigtime, though, is that she needs to compete against students who also have the same degree she does but ALSO did better in their pre-requisite courses than she did. Her C will leave her at a disadvantage. She may be happy with her C but she won't be very happy when she realizes that she should have gotten at least a B, maybe higher, to get into the program she wants.

Not all programs are super competitive but one thing they all have in common is the need for a minimum GPA to apply. If she's a C student in general she won't have that.

Focus on you, and let her figure it out on her own

[SquishyRN, BSN, RN]

The only thing a prior BA provides, usually, are general education courses that may carry over to the new degree.

Yeah pretty much. And once you're done with school, it means absolutely squat in the nursing employment market.