<p>I've noticed a trend not only on CC, but in real life as of late. More and more people are going back to school for a second bachelor's degree, or spending extra time/money the first time around to get a BA/BS (or something similar).</p>
<p>I've talked to a few adults I know, and I'm genuinely curious why someone would do this. Why not just double major in two disciplines? I know a lot of people are saying they're getting a second bachelor's to look "competitive,", but wouldn't a graduate degree look even better? Also, isn't there a certain limit to the amount of financial aid you can get as an undergrad?</p>
<p>No I've spoken to has come up with a definitive answer, so I decided to ask you guys...</p>
<p>I am getting both a BA and a BS in the typical four years. For me, it was just easy. I was going to be graduating with well over 150 credits (which is needed for graduation). I was essentially done with my BA degree after a year and a half due to study abroad and then realized I really missed science. I was going to graduate with zero science or math classes, as I had completed all of those requirements with AP credit. So I just decided to turn my second major into a second degree. It was only an extra 12 credits of science to get the BS.</p>
<p>It’s actually turning out wonderfully as many of the masters programs I’m looking in to are masters of science degrees that require a BS. </p>
<p>Also, for me, it was only about an extra 10k (probably less actually) worth of debt. I didn’t want to graduate after only 2 years because I wouldn’t have had any internship experience or whatnot. My largest scholarship lasts for four years and the company that sponsors me told me that they wouldn’t allow me to use all of it if I decided to graduate early (like I couldn’t use the senior year’s amount in my junior year if I wanted to graduate as a junior). Financial aid, at my school, cuts off at 180 credits. I’ll graduate with like 190 I think.</p>
<p>The adults I know going back are doing it for a career change.</p>
<p>I went back and got a second bachelor’s degree because several years down the line I realized I hated my job and couldn’t see doing it even one day longer. I completely changed careers, and the only way to do that was to go back to school.</p>
<p>Romani, a friend of mine is in a situation similar to your’s. He knew German very well and came into school with a ton of AP credits, but with an offer to join a special engineering program that offered him research opportunities and internships in Germany. Because he had so much credit, he can graduate in 4 years with a BA and a BS. It doesn’t cost him any extra money, and he can only participate in the research/internship portion if he gets his German BA, which seems like a pretty good trade off.</p>
<p>Nrdsb, does changing careers really require a whole new bachelor’s? I usually thought a few classes at community college, or an associate’s (i.e. for nursing) would suffice. For example, to be an accountant, wouldn’t it be easier/cheaper to get your classes out of the way at CC and then sit the CPA?</p>
<p>You can’t get cleared to take the nursing boards with “a few classes at community college.” You can get an ADN to be an RN, but with my previous degree, it didn’t make sense to do that. Many of my classes from BS #1 transferred, so for maybe one semester extra, I got a BSN. Many hospitals are starting to require BSNs from their current staff and won’t even consider ADNs for new hire. If you want to advance your practice or move into management, you need at minimum a BSN.</p>
<p>Depends how closely the two careers are. I know someone who got a degree in chemistry and then got a masters in petroleum engineering–did not need to get another bachelor’s degree to become a petroleum engineer. But I also know another person who wanted to become a geologist after being a dietician. She ended up getting a new BS in geology along with a masters.</p>
<p>Huh. One of my senior year teachers told us that we should all just go to CC, get a nursing degree, and enjoying the growing field/salaries for life.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s a pretty radical change of direction. Does that make her eligible for mid-level jobs, or does changing your career completely (even with a graduate degree) still limit you to the entry level?</p>
<p>Well, she is misinformed. In certain areas, the ADN is perfectly fine to be a staff nurse. In other markets, it is changing. It’s a tough market right now; depending on the region, many new grads are finding it very hard to find a job. More and more markets are requiring the BSN. If you want to be a nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, or CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist), you have to have advanced training/education. There is talk of NP school being advanced to a Ph.D requirement soon. </p>
<p>In any case, “a couple of classes at community college” to become a nurse is completely wrong. The minimum to be a staff RN is the ADN degree and a passing grade on the NCLEX exam.</p>
<p>EDIT: I just realized that in my first post, I didn’t mention that I’d gone back to school to be a nurse. So perhaps your comment about taking a few classes in community college was just a general statement. I can’t speak to all careers, so can’t comment beyond my own career.</p>
<p>Entry level…let’s face it, there is a lot of learning in her field (oil exploration) that you can’t learn from the books; you have to learn it on the job.</p>
<p>Yes, my comment was more in the general sense. I had no idea that you were going to school for nursing; funny how that turned out.</p>
<p>Probably to become a plumber or an automotive technician, community college would suffice…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Looks like no profession is recession proof. I doubt the demand for nurses will completely diminish, though. Plus, since a lot of baby boomers are retiring and it seems that a fair number of women were educated as nurses in the 60s, it might even result in more openings.</p>
<p>I really just depends on the individual situation. I got 2 BS degrees (~20 yrs ago) from 2 different universities. The first was finance and the second was a specialized business degree from a school that is ranked 1-2 for that program. It only took me 1 extra year to get this degree by taking 18 and 21 unit semesters. Along with my work experience, it made me very marketable in that field. Although, if I had to do it over again, I might have spent 2 years instead of 1 and went for the masters instead. But when you’re in your early-to-mid twenties a year seems like an eternity.</p>
<p>There are lots of jobs (I’m not sure about “professions”) that are recession-proof, but the questions is, are there any for which you are qualified and want to do that fit that category. Do you want to spend your life living well and fixing other people’s broken pipes, or teaching English and dealing with the possibility of unemployment and the certainty of lower pay? Certainly there is not one “right” answer - but I think that anyone with options who goes into a field they really dislike just for the money is making a huge mistake.</p>
<p>The funny is, the people who do that won’t be able to move ahead and become the best in their field due to their dislike of it. Someone will eventually overtake them.</p>
<p>The funny is, the people who do that won’t be able to move ahead and become the best in their field due to their dislike of it. Someone will eventually overtake them.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s why I said it was very market dependent. Certainly rural areas are often in need of nurses (doctors as well), and they are happy to take any qualified applicant who is an RN. Other markets are completely saturated. I visit a nursing forum in addition to this one, and there are pages and pages and pages of threads about the tough market-new grads going two years without finding a job. Problem is that many of them who live in saturated markets either can’t or won’t move to where the jobs are. That may be a reflection of the fact that nursing degrees are often sought by people who are are changing careers. They tend to be older than the typical college student, have families and mortgages and are unable to pick up and move like a younger student could.</p>
<p>The nursing market is much better for experienced nurses-even better for BSN prepared experienced nurses. I have gotten every job I have ever applied for. Having critical care experience has helped immensely, and by virtue of having years of experience, I have more contacts than your average new grad.</p>
<p>Nursing is, like many careers, very regional and cyclical.</p>
<p>I do know a college prof ( English), who grew tired of academia, who is in a nursing program. He is very intelligent, but he was having difficulty, he tends to over think the exams, although he does very well in clinic. But almost finished & specializing in gerontology which seems like the field to be in.
Both my niece and ex-sister inlaw are RNs with CC certification ( & working in a city hospital & womens clinic respectively) although my niece is finishing her BA as she wants to continue for her N.P. liscense.</p>
<p>But I can’t say I know anyone who is going for a second undergrad degree. Even when you are changing fields, it is more popular in this area to take coursework at a community college, then apply to graduate school. Some fields will even let you into graduate work at the same time you are taking the pre-req undergrad classes. ( for M.A., not PhD)</p>
<p>If I had the memory ( & the legs) for it, I would get a nursing degree. I don’t mind hard work or gore, but my short term memory is pathetic)</p>
<p>^^^^^With all due respect, being a nurse, I know a whole lot of them. There are many second degree nurses running around. The tide is definitely turning away from the ADN prepared nurse working in the sought after jobs and hospitals, which is causing quite a bit of controversy in the field. </p>
<p>When I applied to nursing school, I could only find one program which was a direct MSN degree with a previous bachelor’s degree, and I would have had to move to attend. Not an option for me. There may be more of them now, but I can say that they really have to work hard to get respect from fellow nurses because many of them seem very knowledgeable but clinically inept. </p>
<p>Again, much of this is regional, but until we see a serious nursing shortage again, the current trend in hiring is leaning towards the BSN prepared nurse or higher (especially at magnet hospitals). By no means does this mean ADNs can’t find jobs, but the new grads are finding it more and more difficult to the point that many are going straight into BSN bridge programs as soon as they get their ADN and RN. They work in LTC facilities or other similar places while in school, with the goal of getting their BSN and going on to bigger and better things such as NP, CRNA, or staff nurse in the most sought after positions.</p>
<p>When I am asked for advice about becoming a nurse, I tell people to get their BSN and go for the specialty positions, because the life of your typical floor nurse is getting more and more difficult due to hospitals’ refusal to staff properly and other issues which would require a thread of its own.</p>
<p>I find it ironic that one has to get a second bachelors to become a nurse but can get premed requirements done without a second bachelors, something I’ve know several people to do. Our local state school, among other colleges, have even set up special premed courses for those who already have a degree and want to go on to medical school and can do so without going through the time of getting a second bachelor’s.</p>