I got admitted to UCI for biology but nursing was my first choice. Is it possible for me to take pre-reqs for nursing and get good grades + do volunteer work, etc and get into their nursing program as a change of major student?
Yes, you can change your major after you complete the pre-req classes and meet the GPA requirement however this is not a guarantee. They had 82 students that applied for the nursing major change and only 10 admitted last year
http://www.nursing.uci.edu/bs-change-major.asp