<p>I am a freshman at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. At first, I wanted to do pre-med to later do something in the medical field (like a doctor, etc). However, I feel doctor doesn't fit me at all. I want to do nursing, but they don't have a nursing program here at Virginia Tech. They do have a nursing program at VCU and GMU though. I'm thinking of transferring, but should I wait one year, or transfer the next semester (spring 2014). I don't want to be behind in the nursing prerequisites, and they don't offer some of these prerequisites here at Tech. I don't want to waste here at Tech though.</p>
<p>If you were my kid, I’d tell you to make an appointment at VCU’s and GMU’s nursing school’s admissions office as soon as possible. (This is their busy time, so they might not be able to see you right away though.) They may tell you to wait a year, but you could also use the appointment to review the available prereqs at Virginia Tech with them to get their suggestions. You might be able to fill up a year with freshman-sophomore prereqs, and then transfer and take the others as a sophomore (ie, take some of them out-of-order?). They may also suggest that you can take some summer classes to catch up with their nursing prereq tracks. (You could also think about adding prereqs for other nursing schools in your first year if you stay at Virginia Tech, to open up other 2+2 programs). If you have a freshman scholarship or other financial reason for staying at Virginia Tech for a full year, you can find ways to mazimize the value of the credits that you earn there.</p>
<p>Finally, they may tell you to just go ahead and transfer. That is always an option. It guarantees that you’re taking the classes that you need and that School #2 will give you credit for the class. </p>
<p>One of my kids did transfer colleges (twice). A benefit to him was that School #2 did not transfer his GPA from School #1. He earned a much higher GPA in School #2 and was able to leave a few first semester grades behind. When you talk to your prospective transfer schools, you should ask how your GPA from Virginia Tech will be treated in your nursing school application. The nursing school might average it with your sophomore grades, or might only look at GPA earned at School #2. That could be another reason to transfer sooner rather than finishing up the year at Virginia Tech. </p>
<p>I am not familiar with VCU. D had looked at GMU and thought it looked like a great university (she ultimately went with a 0-4 program instead.) </p>
<p>Good luck, and congratulations for making up your mind about nursing early enough to make the change. I know from my kid’s experience that transferring can be stressful, but once he had figured out his end-goal my kid was definitely happier with his college experience.</p>
<p>I’d apply for the transfer soon, to leave your options open. If you decide to stay longer at Tech, you can probably ask them to defer your admission, or could re-apply.</p>
<p>I assume both GMU and VCU are 2-2 programs? </p>
<p>I’m guessing that a university is more likely to accept an application to the nursing program from one of their current students than from a student from another university. If you transfer by the beginning of your 2nd year, you would be a student of that university when you are applying for their nursing major. </p>
<p>I’d ask each of them for their nursing admissions stats. You don’t want to transfer to a university and then find out it is extremely hard to get into the program. If a program is extremely hard to get into, you might want to consider some additional universities.</p>