<p>I am currently a first-year student and it suddenly hit me that a nurse practitioner is what I want to do. However I'm very lost in the whole process.. I realized I need a BNS in order to get a MSN. </p>
<p>I'm confused whether I need to transfer immediately because my school doesn't offer a major in nursing or do I transfer to another school junior year?</p>
<p>If someone can clarify, I'd appreciate it very much!</p>
<p>The sooner you transfer, the easier it will be. Meanwhile, take as many courses that fit into a nursiing curriculum as possible at your current college (such as chemistry, biology, anatomy, psychology and maybe stats and social issues).</p>
<p>Many colleges don’t start nursing courses until junior year. Many colleges don’t let students declare a nursing major until junior year.</p>
<p>Other colleges start 2nd semester of sophomore year - those are mainly colleges that stress “direct entry” programs from high school. Even in those direct entry colleges, they don’t get into the meat and potatoes of nursing until junior year.</p>
<p>Generally, colleges in the northeast US are more likely to offer direct entry, while colleges south of the mason-dixon line often are not direct entry.</p>
<p>You should be aware that if you transfer to a college for your sophomore year that offers a non-direct entry Nursing program that you usually are not guaranteed admission to the Nursing Program for your Junior year. At non-direct entry programs students at the college have to apply to the Nursing Program in their sophomore year for acceptance into the Nursing Program at the same school. Many non-direct entry programs have many more freshman/sophomore students who would like to get into the nursing program but there usually are not enough spots for all to do so. In effect you have to compete with your fellow students for the available positions. In addition many of these schools also allow students from other colleges to also apply for the available slots. So there is some element of risk in pursuing this course of action. Just thought I would make you aware of this. </p>
<p>Trying to transfer into a college with a direct entry Nursing Program would be the least risky way to go as you would be guaranteed a position in the nursing program. Unfortunately this is extremely difficult to do as transfer spaces at most direct entry colleges are very few and the competition for them (even within the same college) is extremely intense (and many schools give preference to students from the same school). You probably would need to have a GPA of at least 3.8/4.0 at your current college to have any reasonable chance of being accepted to these programs. </p>
<p>There are some BSN Nursing Programs that are designed to accept students into the equivalent of the Junior year at 4 year schools. I believe Thomas Jefferson University in Philly is one such program and I believe Johns Hopkins in Baltimore will also do this (there are other similar schools as well). You would need to identify which school you might want to apply to and try and take as many courses as possible in your current school to comply with their admission requirements. So this is another option.</p>
<p>A more costly and time consuming approach is to stay at your current college and obtain a Bachelors degree (in a science area would probably be best) and then apply to an accelerated Nursing Program (usually takes abot 16-18 months) to obtain your BSN. In addition there are some programs which will allow your to pursue a combined BSN/MSN degree. Hope this info is helpful.</p>
<p>Normally nursing classes start your sophomore year.</p>