If you looked at my recent post, I’ve been thinking a lot. Another thing I am worried about is, what if I do give this school time (to get adjusted and more comfortable) and I end up wanting to stay here, but I still want to pursue nursing. I am currently a Psych and Brain Sciences major, but there isn’t a nursing program here at UCSB. What would be in my best interest: transferring back home to pursue nursing or stick it out at UCSB and hope I could pursue nursing somehow with a degree is Psychology?
Nurses are in high demand & can make decent money.
I know and the school that I plan to (potentially) transfer to is offering me a good amount of financial aid and their nursing program is great. I’m just scared of growing to love this place, then having to choose between my career long term or hoping that my major now will get me far. Idk, it’s a tough situation. I just don’t want to regret anything.
If Nursing is the career you want to pursue, the sooner you embark on getting your Nursing degree, the better in my opinion.
There is no right answer here, you’ll have to think about your goals, how certain you are of them, and options to achieve them.
As far as goals, in your other thread you wrote " working in a hospital has always been something I can picture myself pursuing." Have you already spent time volunteering or working in health care? If not then I’d advise against making changes until you’ve tried out the career. What people imagine about a career can differ from the actual experience. You could volunteer at at Cottage Hospital https://www.cottagehealth.org/donate/volunteer-cottage-health/ or elsewhere in the area
But lets suppose you are ready to take the next step. There are at least 3 options.
In the other thread you wrote “Originally, I wanted to go to school for nursing and I was offered a great scholarship at a university near home” and that some aid is still available. That is an option, but is this school direct admit? If not it may not work out the way you expect. A lot of HS kids haven’t looked into the nuts-and-bolts of how to become a nurse. In a direct-admit program you are accepted into the nursing program as a frosh and as long as you pass your classes you will become a nurse. At many CA schools they are not direct-admit; instead you take 2 years of prep classes and then apply to the nursing program. If you get in, great, if not, well, you better have applied as a xfer to other nursing programs at the same time.
A 2nd option is to leave UCSB, get an RN at a community college (an ADN degree), and then go to one of the RN->BSN programs. Look for a good NCLEX pass rate at the CC. RN->BSN programs tend to much be easier to get into than direct-admit or nursing from pre-nursing BSN programs. See http://www.rn.ca.gov/education/rntobsn.shtml for a list.
A 3rd option is to get your UCSB degree in any major you care, with the intention of then doing a accelerated nursing program (12-18 months) designed to give those with a college degree a RN and sometimes a Masters. See https://www.aacnnursing.org/Nursing-Education-Programs/Accelerated-Programs If considering this approach you’d want to research program requirements to understand in advance any requirements for health-care experience as well as any classes you might want to take while at UCSB
Also as far as your unhappiness, in your other thread you wrote that you met with a counselor but won’t be able to see someone again until December. Did you meet with someone at CAPS?
According to http://caps.sa.ucsb.edu/services/short-term-counseling
If they’ve had you wait until December you can get back in touch with them and ask if there is an earlier appointment available.
Yeah, I’m actually planning to get some experience at my local community hospital over winter break. Hopefully I will have a better idea of what I would like to pursue afterwards. If I do decide that is what I want and I am still unhappy here, my first option would be to transfer back to the school that offered me financial aid because they have a 4 year nursing program. And I know it isn’t guaranteed that I will get into the nursing program after 2 years of pre-reqs, but I want to work as hard as I can to be successful in the field. Whatever happens happens, I will be content with knowing that I followed my heart at the end of the day.
Yes, I met with CAPS. I was thinking about emailing them, thanks for the advice I think I will try to get in touch with them asap
I agree. I’m just gonna wait until I get some experience and see how I feel then. I don’t wanna base my decision off of expectations, I need a taste of reality
my next door neighbor’s daughter took one of the approaches mentioned by @mikemac. She decided medical school wasn’t in the cards for her along the way, but finished her biology degree from UCI, and went on a one year nursing program locally and now 4 years later is making great bucks in Silicon Valley (she was able to buy a house in San Jose, not an easy task for a single person under 30 years old).
Do you know what nursing program she went to?