I’m applying to a bunch of colleges but since I’m mainly undecided, should I go for their arts and science school and transfer two years later or just pick a major and go undeclared with it? I heard that a arts and science school is easier to get into but what are the downsides of it? For ex) Upitt main
Advice: go to a school that is in an area you like and can enjoy. Also it might be better if the academics are pretty easy, so if you want to transfer you can have a good GPA.
It may take some research, but you may want to go to each school’s web site and check if the majors that you could possibly be interested in have secondary admission processes involving high college GPAs or competitive admission. At some colleges, most majors are open to all who complete the prerequisites with a 2.0 GPA or C grades, while at other colleges, some or many majors require higher GPAs or grades, or require applying into a competitive process. For an undecided student, the former situation is better.
Note that popular majors like computer science, engineering majors, nursing, and business are more likely to require secondary admission processes.
If I were to apply as a nursing major for my first year, would I have a better chance of getting in than transferring later on? I just don’t want to pick a major and then decide it’s not what I want to do
If the college has direct admission to nursing (not all do), then getting frosh admission as a nursing major is more favorable than enrolling as undeclared to face competitive admission later (although some colleges have high GPA requirements to stay in the nursing major).
However, if you start as a nursing major and then decide to change to something else reasonably early, then it may be easier to change to a non-competitive or less competitive major than it is to change into nursing.
It depends upon the school. There are some direct admit Nursing programs where you are admitted as a Freshman and do not have apply separately to the Nursing school (you are already in) after finishing the Nursing pre-req’s. There are some programs that may admit you as a Pre-Nursing major, you have to complete the Nursing pre-req’s and then apply to Nursing school so you have time to change your mind. Finally you can just apply as an Undecided or Biology/Science major, take the Nursing pre-req’s and then make a decision if you want to apply for Nursing school or change directions. Some schools may not allow students not in the Nursing/Pre-Nursing programs to take the Nursing Pre-req’s so just do some research on your target schools.
If you are interested in Nursing, you should try to volunteer and get some exposure to the field. Not everyone is cut out for the Nursing profession.
Thanks for the replies! I’m only skeptical about nursing since I heard it involves taking a lot of science courses, and I realized that some classes/topics(chemistry, AP bio, especially org. chem) just weren’t for me. I was interested in the profession itself but after hearing about what’s required, I felt like I’d just be setting myself up for something I couldn’t handle. Not only that, but I just recently finished my essay. It’s about 800 words because it’s based off a personal experience. I can’t say it’s amazing but I also wouldn’t say cutting it down would make it better. Any advice?