Potential Nursing Major

College Majors Nursing Major
1

<p>As a rising senior, I've been considering going into nursing for a while now, and at this point it's the only field that I feel like "Yeah, I could definitely see myself doing that," as in that's the only major I know I'll apply as at these three schools:</p>

<p>UCLA, UC Irvine, and University of Portland.</p>

<p>For other schools that I'll apply to that don't have nursing programs, like Stanford or Pomona, I don't have any definite ideas for majors yet.</p>

<p>My question is this, CC: Do I have a good shot at getting into nursing programs at the three schools listed (UCLA, UCI, UP)? I have all my stats at other posts I've made...</p>

<p>...but here's a very brief rundown of academics:</p>

<p>2220 SAT, 690 USH, 790 M2
33 ACT
3.9 UW 4.5 W
3 AP's last year: Spanish (3) Lang (4) USH (4)
5 A's 1 B+ each semester Jr. Year</p>

<p>Big pros: Hispanic Male with...enough Spanish proficiency (I say enough hesitantly as I'm definitely not fluent, but I have enough to get by, and I plan on improving vastly in the near future) and I've heard that those two things are extremely desirable in the nursing field. Great EC's
Excellent Essays
Great Scores/GPA</p>

<p>Big Con(s): This is the one I'm extremely worried about--I have no hospital volunteer/paid experience and I know that's a big thing for most nursing programs.</p>

<p>So that's about it for the moment, CC--my question to you is not simply regarding acceptance to those schools tagged, per se, but for their nursing programs. I feel very confident about my other stats and...application goodies...but the fact that I haven't gotten any hospital experience frightens me. Where do I stand, and what can I do to make myself more appealing to nursing programs?</p>

2

<p>bump???</p>

3

<p>IMO with your excellent stats your probably don’t really need hospital experience to be accepted into the nursing programs you listed (especially being a CA resident for the schools in CA). On the other hand you might want to try and get some nursing experience in order to see if nursing is really what you want to do. Often times people’s perceptions of what a nurse does is only marginally accurate. This experience would help you make a more rationale decision if becoming a nurse is really what you want to do. Best wishes to you.</p>

4

<p>bump bump bump</p>

5

<p>You can’t ever be sure re: UCLA. And it’s not the best undergrad program either–incredibly more selective than it really should be. UC-I and Portland should not be a problem.<br>
But, really, could you not muster up even a simple “thank you” to MWAllenMD for his kind, articulate, informative response? That sort of speaks volumes about you there.</p>

6

<p>I would say yes. I would definitely do some sort of hospital volunteer work or shadowing. Nursing schools want to give their seats to students that really want nursing as a profession. Doing some work in a hospital would make your application shine and stand out.</p>

<p>I’m a pre-nursing major right now and I have a job as a dietetic aide in a hospital. I’ve already talked with the dean of nursing and she LOVES ME! A lot of her applicants don’t have any actual experience to get their feet wet. Plus, whenever I need a sponsor or someone to write a letter of recommendation, I have a whole hospital staff that is willing to help.</p>

<p>BTW, I’m a multiracial Hispanic male. I’m not fluent either, but my Spanish skills really come in handy. I work at a small regional hospital and I am the only Spanish speaker in the hospital. The nursing staff likes to call me in to do translation work, which makes me a huge asset even though I don’t work for the hospital directly (I work for a contracting company).</p>

7

<p>IThink: You’re correct that the Spanish skills are very valuable. I think all language skills can come in handy. D (rising Jr. nursing student) has a patient at her summer job who only speaks Ukranian. D is trying to use a little German, but it’s a challenge.</p>

<p>D found it very helpful to go to the nursing and admitted students open houses. She got to know some of the Professors and some Deans. Like IThink, they seemed to really like her. She was told it was wonderful to have an applicant who had some actual experience, and who wanted to work with geriatric patients or as a ward nurse. Several of them laughingly told her that most nursing students either naively only want to work with cute little kids as pediatric nurses, or want to be nurse educators, nurse practitioners or nurse anaesthetists. Three of them told her it was refreshing to find a student who actually wanted to be a nurse.</p>

<p>It’s not too late to get volunteering or paid experience, Commander. Get thee to a hospital and start!</p>