As a high school student, I’m stuck between going to University of Portland (UP) and Oregon State University (OSU), schools in my home state. I plan on majoring in nursing however, I’m not sure what path would be the best for me. OSU does not have a nursing program so in the end I would have to transfer to another undergrad school with a program in nursing like UP. Nevertheless, I want to go to OSU because it’s a larger school with a big dorm life and it would be slight cheaper. On the other hand, if I were just to go to UP, I will still have a dorm life with school a fifth the size of OSU but I would never have to worry about transferring college credits or anything and it has a nursing program. Any advice on what path I should take?
My recommendation would be UP hands down.
The fact that you wouldn’t have to transfer would be a decision made for me. You may like the bigger school like OSU, but if you can’t even pursue your major, is it really worth it?
And if you chose OSU, you would have to leave all of the friends you make when you transfer after two years anyway.
And I’m not sure if UP is direct entry or not, but if it is, that’s a big plus.
In summary, I would easily pick UP for nursing. Best of luck
Do you have some friends who will be attending OSU? If so, spend some weekends with them to enjoy the big university social life. I imagine there is regular bus service available.
However, if you are serious about being a nurse, you should go to a university with a nursing program. Under many scenarios, you will end up paying much more otherwise, particularly if you do a second degree program (which often does not include any financial aid).
Also, transfers can have a difficult social life, if most people develop their social circle during their freshman year.
It seems that the advice here is to go directly into UP because 1) no transferring and 2) you’d be able to start nursing degree right away.
The counter argument seems to be one that you raised yourself, which is that OSU is 1) cheaper and 2) has fun that you want to enjoy for awhile and 3) classes that you may want to take.
My thoughts surround #3, which is that before you head into nursing, which is a wonderful choice of careers, you and everyone else would probably benefit from a few general liberal arts courses. LA courses tend to be ones that you think: what on earth are these useful for in nursing? Things like art history, macro and micro economics, history of Africa or India or Canada, or philosophy, that sort of thing. The types of courses that your grandmother would ask: can you get a job in that?
Weirdly though these are courses that are really useful, because they tend to 1) teach you how to think critically (which is a fancy word for how to weigh evidence from multiple perspectives and to decide which is the most accurate – crucial for nursing!); 2) teach you about different ways to perceive the world and to problem solve (crucial for nursing!) You’re going to be solving problems every day!; 3) teach you creativity or to bring that out more (again–crucial for nursing!). And then there’s the broad knowledge that you receive, like about different cultures and languages and problem-solving systems. It’s really really useful.
Before you go into nursing, I strongly urge you to take two years of liberal arts courses, and then focus on nursing. You’ll never regret it. You can then transfer into your nursing program. Best of luck to you.
You shouldn’t sacrifice your intended major in order to go to a bigger school. At the end of the four years, it won’t really matter which campus you went to. What will matter is what kind of degree you’ll have, and a nursing degree will be easier to attain at UP.
What happens if you go to OSU and then can’t transfer after two years?
You can take a few elective classes as part of a nursing major, although there is not great flexibility in the curriculum. In any case,you can always take liberal arts classes later.
If you are serious about nursing, you need to figure out a path towards that degree that provides a high level of certainty. Hoping to transfer is by no means certain. The direct entry nursing programs often do not accept transfers, and the 2-2 programs are often much more competitive than the direct entry programs.