So I’m looking at classes I could take for 12th grade and there are not very many science class options for me. So I was wondering if it would be beneficial to take a computer class? If not, I think I have some other options but I wanted to first see if you guys think a computer class will somehow help in nursing.
As a junior, my son took AP Comp Sci as he was still trying to decide between majoring in a comp sci field or nursing. Ultimately, he got an A and received either or 4 or 5 (can’t recall which on that one) on the AP exam, but we are finding now that his AP exam credit probably won’t transfer into the gen ed requirements. Some schools have “free” electives, so it could work there, but most schools that my son is focusing on have very specific categories of electives or gen eds where it won’t fit. Plus I don’t recall seeing a computer science requirement in any of the nursing programs that he looked at, so I don’t foresee it being a benefit in bolstering his knowledge base for a required course either.
But in his case, it was a help for him to determine a path to travel down, and he found AP Comp Sci really boring and at the same time absolutely loved AP Bio, so it wasn’t a total wash for him.
Options that would be beneficial (and AP if available): Bio, A&P, Chem, Psych, Stats, sociology, physics (not generally required but in a very few programs), or other higher level math (strong math background could help if you are thinking toward grad school - recommendation given to us by a Nurse Anesthetist).
If you haven’t already, look at the nursing curriculum for schools that you think you will apply to next year so that you can get a feel for what is required. Son found that really helpful in scheduling senior classes and switched from AP Calculus to AP Stats and switched from AP Physics to AP Psych purely based on reviewing the nursing curriculums.
I don’t think one computer programming class would be highly useful for nursing. However, if it is teaching you skills in MS Office or similar common software programs, then it would be useful for anyone.
Wildfelix offers good suggestions above,