Hey everyone,
I am a sophomore and am planning on majoring in nursing in college. Does anyone have any advice on what classes to take, ECs to participate in, what colleges to begin looking at, etc?
My schedule so far in highschool is:
Freshman-
World Studies
Spanish 2
Integrated science Honors
Computer Science Honors + College Credit
English 1
Geometry Honors
Sophomore-
AP United States History
Spanish 3 Honors + College Credit
Biology Honors
Health/Business (1 semester each)
English 2
Algebra 2 Honors
Thanks for your input and advice!
Be sure to check schools you potentially might like for admission requirements. For instance, University of Iowa nursing requires 4 years of a language and 3 lab sciences including bio, chem and physics. So if you want to go there you should make sure you get physics done and the 4th year of Spanish. Another example is University of Michigan. They require four years of science or more and 3 years of math including algebra 2 and geometry. It will put you at an advantage to plan that out now in your sophomore year to avoid missing out on something and not being able to get it done. Good luck
Thanks! Do you know of any other schools that require physics as a requirement for nursing because I was not planning on taking that in high school… if you don’t it’s okay!
If you have not already, it looks good on college apps to have ec’s pertaining to your desired major. In this case of nursing I would suggest possibly volunteering at a hospital or even seeking an opportunity to shadow a nurse at said hospital. I’d check out some hospitals in your area… hope this helps!
@kkendall thank you very much! This helps a lot!!
@Aurora23 I don’t know off the top of my head so you have to check the ones individually. Another for instance- Penn State requires three years of science but not specifically physics. So with Integrated Science Honors, Biology and Chem you should be ok. You are taking Chem right? Chem is wanted by most. I agree with kkendall re the ECs. There are plenty of people who get in without medical experience but since you are early in HS try to work at a hospital or clinic for an EC. Keep your grades up of course. HTH
I think the University of Connecticut requires physics.
A lot of people shy away from physics, or say not to take it because nurses don’t need it. My daughter, a freshman in a direct-admit program, took a dual-enrollment physics class her senior year. The hardest class she has ever taken, with the most amount of work ever. It taught her a lot of skills outside of physics, such as perseverance in the face of a huge workload for one class and how to puzzle out things that don’t lend themselves to sheer memorization.
I believe it made her stand out a tiny bit in her applications, in conjunction with AP Calculus. She’d already taken bio, chem and anatomy in high school.
Just wanted to put a plug in for physics, in case anyone is interested in the subject. Not saying you have to take it, but in case you want to it’s not a waste.
@readthetealeaves Yes I am taking chem and by looking at the way my school does AP chem, I have to take a full year of Honors Chem before I can take AP chem so in the end I will have four science creds, two being chem. Thanks for your help!
@bearcatfan Okay thanks! I will have to strongly consider those classes. Thanks for your advice!
The most important course is AP bio. Anatomy is valuable if it is offered.
Most nursing programs only require one semester or two of chem. I agree with the comments above that physics is rarely required.
Take a look at the curriculum of a couple BSN programs where you want to apply, and try to take some of the same classes. Material will be easier in college if you have studied some of it before. For example, psychology and stats are useful. I would not waste my time and energy on advanced math classes, except possibly AP stats.
My daughter’s nursing program required 128 credits to graduate. Therefore, she was really glad she had earned some AP credits in high school so she never had to take more than 15 credits in each semester.
See if there is any type of health care career explorers organization in your area. Look for opportunities to do paid or volunteer work in a health care setting. Sometimes it is hard to get into hospitals, but it is easier to volunteer for emergency medical corps or nursing homes,
My kids were both lifeguards. My city provided free training when they were hired. That provided them with free advanced first aid and cpr training,and steady summer jobs.
Spanish is extremely helpful in all parts of the US.
@Charliesch Unfortunately my school does not offer AP Bio. I really wish they did though. And okay I will look at some college schedules. Thanks you so much!! 
Speaking of Spanish, my daughter’s program just started offering a Spanish for Healthcare nursing elective.
@bearcatfan does your daughter happen to go to University of Cincinnati? That’s one of the schools I’m looking into the most along with OSU
@Aurora23 Yes, she does!
In case it matters to you, Ohio State is no longer direct entry for freshmen. It used to be, for honors students, but it stopped that recently. Someone confirmed that it is no longer direct entry when they visited over the summer, and I think their web information now reflects that.
@bearcatfan Yes that will be one of the more important things I will be looking at when applying. I’m assuming Cincinnati is direct admit? Thanks for letting me know that about OSU!
Yes, Cincinnati is direct admit.
Whereabouts do you live/want to stay near? She also applied to Wright State, Ohio Northern, Capital, Otterbein, Xavier and Walsh University. Those were the direct admits she liked enough to apply to, but there are more.
@bearcatfan I live about 20-25 minutes from Walsh University. So I will be applying there as well when the time comes. And good to know the rest of those are direct admit as well!
And I would like to be at most 4 or 4 1/2 hours a way
Walsh is lovely - it was my daughter’s second choice if she didn’t get into Cincinnati.
We were disappointed to learn Kent State and University of Akron were not direct admit; she was interested in those until she learned that. Also, be careful about Youngstown State. Make absolutely sure you understand their definition of direct admit. She was set to visit and apply until someone at the university told me the students don’t find out they are directly admitted until orientation. I asked a couple different ways and got that same answer. So, if you apply make sure you go in with eyes wide open on that one. Weird to say the least.
If you have any other questions, feel free to PM.