<p>So I'm about to apply for freshman admission to college, my first choice is UT Austin and i have automatic admission into the school, just not the nursing program obviously.
I know you are a pre-nursing major until you apply for the full on Upper-level nursing after sophomore year, but i'd like to know if i can have a minor in biology also.
My goal is to go into a Physician's Assistant program after i graduate but there are a few pre-req's i need that aren't on the nursing degree plan. However, i think i could could get those in if i minored in Biology, but i don't know if that's possible?</p>
<p>I don’t really see how one would have the time to do something other than nursing tbh. Even a pre-program is very time-consuming and you want to focus on getting into a program. </p>
<p>I can’t say I know much about PA’s (you learn new things all the time!), but i’m not really sure that a nursing background is essential to become one. It strikes me as being similar to pre-med, really. But to be a PA you must go through grad school, to be an RN you do not.</p>
<p>I’m in sort of the same problem. I want to do pre-med prereqs (to keep my options open) while doing nursing. </p>
<p>The problem is that nursing school is extremely demanding. There is just no time to do other classes. You really need to look at your nursing course schedule and talk with an adviser to see if you have time to do both.</p>
<p>You might just need to do a bachelors in biology and -later- do an accelerated BSN course.</p>
<p>Definitely agree with Elleya! Even the pre-nursing course work is demanding!!!</p>
<p>My uni does one year of nursing prereqs and three years of nursing school. I have to do 32 credits this year to apply. I’m doing 16 credits each semester, which is going to keep me busy. I couldn’t even imagine adding on other courses.</p>
<p>Nursing is very flexible, but not in this manner.</p>
<p>I’m going into nursing also and have talked to many who are on the same track, have applied or have graduated from the program. These are highly differing programs. Take it from me, you cannot do all 3.</p>
<p>Choose from one:
- Nursing
- Biology
- Physician’s Assistant</p>
<p>These are 3 differing tracks. For the Nursing major, you take pre-requisites for the nursing program and GE/IGETC before applying, then 2-3.5 years of only nursing courses, upon clinicals which will often require commuting long distances. For Biology, you take science courses specified for science majors only (nursing majors can take that or allied health specific science courses, and nurses take psychology, sociology, and basic nutrition courses). Nursing majors do not need to take Botany or Zoology, e.g., while Biology students probably would or similar courses. Biology majors are geared for the lab, pre-med, or teaching. They are not required to do clinicals in their first four years and it is not part of the major.</p>
<p>The Physician’s Assistant major is geared toward people who did not want to be a nurse or a doctor. They can take non-science majors for undergrad. For example, I spoke to student in my college who would be applying and he took Psychology for undergrad at a State school. If you prefer this track, you may want to look into Occupational Therapy also. As a differing masters program from the other three, but closely similar to Physician’s Assistant degree requirements for entry, applicants can be non-science undergrad majors, e.g., sociology majors, before applying. They then take Anatomy, Physiology, and Non-organic Chemistry (pre-requisites) as well.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>You might also want to consider just majoring in Nursing and then going on to graduate school to obtain a MSN as a Nurse Practitioner (Adult, Family, Pediatric and several others). NP’s in many states can function at a higher level than PAs. They can obtain prescriptive authority in all states and in a number of states are licensed as independent practitioners (do not require an attachment to a physician). You then would not have to minor in biology. Just a thought for your consideration.</p>
<p>Well I’ve looked at the nursing pre-Reqs that I have to do in the first two years, and I’ve managed to complete many of them already with dual credit classes and AP tests in high school. Also, there aren’t many pre-reqs for PA that are even different from the nursing.</p>
<p>I’m aware you don’t need to go into the nursing to be a PA because they are very different. But I don’t want to go to school for 4 years, and graduate with nothing but a degree in biology. I know how competitive PA programs are, and that competition is only getting stiffer as time passes. Just in case I don’t get in the following year after I graduate, I’d like to be able to work as an RN rather than sitting around for a year waiting to apply again.</p>
<p>IMHO as long as you are able to complete (without overloading yourself with too many courses) any pre-req’s that might be required to be accepted to Graduate School to become a PA I don’t see anything inappropriate about your pursuing an undergrad BSN degree. You might even find that once you become involved in clinical Nursing courses in your 3rd and 4th years that a career in advanced practice nursing (i.e. NP) might be more attractive to you (or maybe not). In any event the clinical education and experiences you would receive would still benefit you if you decide to continue to pursue a PA degree. While there are many differences between PA’s and NP’s there also are a number of similarities (many of the same baseline clinical skills are required for both-but then they branch out into somewhat different directions). I have taught PA students, BSN students, and NP students-so I know this to be the case. One is not necessarily better than the other, it depends on your career interests. Obviously pursuing an undergrad degree in biology would not give you the exposure to clinical settings that you would receive by pursuing the BSN. Just my perspective. Others might feel differently. Best wishes to you in whatever career you decide to pursue.</p>
<p>D tried to pick up a minor, and found that her nursing schedule didn’t accomodate it. There were numerous reasons why it wasn’t really an option. She had entered college with nearly a semester of credits to apply to prereqs. (Something to keep in mind is that the credits you have already earned may not be recognized. For example, classes might not be given credit if the school wants students to take nursing program prereqs at their own institution.) Since D’s credits were accepted by her school towards her general ed prereqs, she started taking classes towards a minor. </p>
<p>She quickly ran into situations in which required nursing classes conflicted with the courses that she wanted for her minor. She then found that the classes that she needed for the minor weren’t available during the summer. By then she also felt it was more important to get hospital/nursing experience in a summer job, than to go to summer school.</p>
<p>At the same time, D was getting more and more involved in her nursing program. There are various events, clinical experiences, nursing fraternity activities, internship and shadowing opportunities. Nursing school filled her life as well as her schedule.</p>
<p>Even if she had taken the maximum credits each semester and applied every free credit towards trying to get the minor, she would barely have met the requirements for the minor at her school. (A sibling, on the other hand, picked up a minor at a different school with only 12 credits - every school will have different requirements). D didn’t want to put herself under the pressure of maximum credits, which might have impacted her ability to earn great grades in her nursing program.</p>
<p>I’m not saying it can’t be done. I’m just giving you info about my D’s experience.</p>
<p>An older sibling has friends who graduated and are picking up prereqs for grad school while they’re working. That’s always an option too. In one case, an employer is even paying for the credits.</p>
<p>Anyway, keep summer school classes and post-grad opportunities to meet pre-reqs in mind.</p>
<p>D will finish a minor with her BSN, but it took/will take transferring in some Gen Eds from DE classes in high school (NOT any pre-reqs accepted), summer school, and every j-term. It also meant selecting a minor where some of the classes were also required for nursing. It means that some of the performance classes she takes for her scholarship have to be taken for no credit because she’s at the max number of hours every single semester. </p>
<p>In my 22 years in higher ed, I’ve seen ONE student finish a BSN and complete the requirements for medical school (which are about the same as those for PA school). SHe could not do it in 4 years. </p>
<p>Not trying to discourage you, but you need to know that what you’re expecting of yourself is more than almost anybody is going to be able to do.</p>
<p>You probably need to talk to someone at UT advising - at my d’s nursing school they had official dual degree programs and you could do both a BSN and another degree or a minor in another school. My d did a minor in business - health care management.</p>
<p>When my d was looking at nursing schools they really discouraged applicants that were still thinking of going on to med school - I would assume that PA school would be the same. If you aren’t going to be a nurse then don’t steal someone else’s spot. The two paths are different and if you already know for sure that you don’t want to be a nurse then why go that way? Though you could be a Nurse Practitioner with a masters after your BSN</p>