Looking for feedback from parents of a student that did a direct nursing program and honors program. Are they mutually exclusive? Was it fairly easy to do? Was he or she able to take the classes required of the honors program along with the nursing requirements? Was it too stressful the clinical years? Any info would be helpful thank you
Honors programs varies greatly from college to college. Some may have many requirements (including taking tougher classes), while other programs may just offer more options and alternatives. Some honors programs have many benefits, while others do not.
I imagine you can leave an honors program if you don’t like it.
My freshman nursing student D decided to join Honors Program at SDSU. The requirements of this program are additional courses and so far she is able to do them along with completing nursing requirements. She came in with 33 semester credits from AP/DE and has been able to use to get out of required classes. Freeing up her schedule allowed her to insert the honors courses. She can weigh if she wants to continue for next year when clinicals start or simply drop the Honors program. At some schools Honors programs may afford students better courses, professors or higher priority registration. At SDSU a nursing adviser ensures all nursing students are registered in the courses they need so no priority registration is needed. One benefit she liked is living in the honors dorm. As mentioned, each school will be different with benefits weighed independently.
Thank you @Charliesch and @Banker1 for your input.
@Banker1 Did she consider the Nursing LLC dorm SDSU and pick the honors dorm or just knew she wanted honors? Her 33 semester credits seemed to make it possible to do the inserting. Good to know
At large public universities, many honors programs are valuable to get smaller classes during your freshman year. Some honors programs offer housing in the best dorms and some offer merit scholarships or money for international study programs. Living in an honors dorm may be good for a nursing student who wants a more serious environment, vs some freshman dorms can be loud and distracting.
@readthetealeaves She said she knew right away that she’d prefer not to live in the nursing community. Her reasoning was that she would be surrounded by nursing students in her later classes anyway. Yes the AP/DE classes she took are coming up huge. She said her AP Eng got her out of RWS, and her AP Psych replaced a Psych class. Also her DE Poli Sci got her out of 2 classes so she was happy with that. She wishes she had taken AP Stats and not AP Calc. At any rate she feels good about next semester’s schedule.
@Charliesch yes, I have found that and was looking for some personal reflections to help look at all those differing variables. BTW how did your daughter like York nursing? We are looking at that school as well. Thanks!
@Banker good to know. Thank you!
Read: Yes, my daughter graduated from York College of PA and was very happy with the nursing courses, the science courses and the clinicals. She was not always happy with all of the other courses, but the stuff that matters worked out well. Some of the other required classes were not that challenging (such as the math class that was required for nurses), but that made it easier to concentrate on the very challenging nursing and science classes.
Thanks again. So glad to hear the nursing and the stuff that matters worked Charliesch
I think this really depends on the school. My daughter chose not to do the honors program. The extra required classes were not interesting to her and would have prevented her from getting a minor in psychology with her nursing degree. The honors degree would have been nice but she felt the minor would help her in her career.
York College also did a great job at test prep. My daughter passed the nursing certification test in record time, on the first try. My wife couldn’t figure out why she was home so early. (Once you have answered sufficient numbers of questions correctly, the computer tells you to go home).
@Momof3kidz that is what I was wondering about. Some schools honors programs have set classes that might not go with nursing and be hard to fit in -it is a lot to devote to an already rigorous major
That is great to hear about York @Charliesch
Nursing programs are notoriously difficult and rigorous. Most schools have very heavy courseloads every semester, and we have heard that students should not plan on working while in school or doing athletics or being an RA.
Personally, with a curriculum so difficult already, I wouldn’t want my daughter taking on an honors program as well. There’s not a lot of upside and I don’t think it would help her get a job. I would not want her to have to take additional classes or go to mandatory events when she needed to be studying for her nursing classes.
If your student is not attending a highly competitive college, and is in a direct entry program, It is easier to have time for extracurricular activities, because your non-nursing and non-science classes may be less demanding. My daughter was able to participate in a fall varsity sport for her first 2 years, before clinicals started in earnest. She also was able to work part-time during her 4th year as a nursing assistant in a hospital, which she felt really helped her learn. However, it was only one or two shifts a month when classes were in session, with many more hours during breaks. She also was very involved in a sorority for 4 years.
@vamom4 Every school and honors program is different but that is always a worry that the honors curriculum could interfere with the nursing requirements. Have you found in your research of hiring that honors doesn’t matter?
vamom4 wrote “Personally, with a curriculum so difficult already, I wouldn’t want my daughter taking on an honors program as well. There’s not a lot of upside and I don’t think it would help her get a job. I would not want her to have to take additional classes or go to mandatory events when she needed to be studying for her nursing classes.”
@Charliesch Good to know. I guess the question is whether honors is worth it or should the student spend time on the ECs they enjoy like Greek Life, volunteering, sports or other hobbies?
I would say and agree it depends on the school. My son is currently a direct admit nursing major as well as being in the honors college at a small liberal arts college. He is interested in going on to become a nurse practitioner. After talking to several grad schools about their requirements down the road all of them were in agreement that a nursing major who is also an honors college graduate was a more attractive candidate for admission than not. My son is only a freshman so I can’t comment on the difficulty but so far he is enjoying it and doing well.
A student should have some experience as a RN before they go to school to become a NP. In that case, I believe your work experience and recommendations from nursing supervisors will matter more than whether you took honors classes.