<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I'm new here and I actually made my account to ask questions about my specific situation. Get ready for the wall of text and a mini life story.
I graduated high school in 2011 with a SAT score of 1270 (excluding the writing score) and a GPA of around 4.2. I ended up going to a small liberal arts college because they gave me a TON of scholarships. I went there with an interest in human anatomy because out of all my classes in high school, I enjoyed anatomy the most. I figured that since I seemed pretty smart and liked anatomy, I'd try to take the pre-med route. I majored in biology and have a number of core biology, chemistry, math, writing, and speech classes under my belt. However, coming into my third semester I started to realize that med-school might not be for me. I struggle pretty badly with my college classes (I have a 3.9 GPA right now in college, but that's because I pretty much study 24/7) and I know that they only get harder, and then its the terrible MCATS and med-school which dwarf college in comparison of difficulty. Plus, I'd be in school for forever while I accrue a pile of debt, and I know it is worth it for those who are completely passionate about it; however, I only have an interest. It was with this realization that I looked into fields that were similar and I've been really looking into becoming a nurse practitioner. </p>
<p>Now, from what I've gathered, I know that you need to get your BSN from some type of university, have 5 years experience as an RN, and then get your masters in a specialized field of nursing (I think). So is that it? I've been searching the web for a while and I come across a lot of contradictory advice and information, and it's leaving me kind of confused. In addition to that, I don't even know if my classes that I took for my major in biology would count toward schooling for my BSN (my college doesn't offer courses in nursing, so I would need to transfer). I also don't really know what to do once I have the degree or what kind of debt I'm looking at when I go to get my masters to become a practitioner. Needless to say, I don't know everything about the path toward becoming a nurse practitioner, so I was wondering if anyone could help me fill in the spaces that I know my plan has, and correct me on any misconceptions that I have. I'd also appreciate If anyone could offer any advice or just shine some light on my whole situation. I know I don't really have any specific question, I guess I'm just searching for some enlightenment and assurance, because I really want to be sure of my path before I make the big commitment to transfer schools and change my major. Also, if you have an alternate career path in mind that you think I should look into, then I'm all ears (well, eyes i guess).</p>
<p>Anyway, I appreciate anyone who actually took the time to read this whole mess. Sorry if anything I say doesn't make much sense or if my grammar is horrendous. Bear in mind that this is coming from a stressed out college student on no sleep x(</p>