In three months I’ll be a senior in High School and will have to start applying to colleges. Nursing, Art and Environmental Science are very important to me. But I have no idea what to choose.
An art major would be no problem since I just have to work on my portfolio and maybe an essay.
Con: Anyone (capable of decently drawing) can sell their drawings and paintings for money.
Pro: The job of being an art psychologist interests me.
A nursing major would be amazing so I want to help people, in any way possible, during their injuries and sickness. But I haven’t taken any nursing courses during high school.
During my second semester as a junior, I tried to change my Media Tech endorsement to a nursing endorsement but they told me it was too late.
Will nursing colleges still accept me even if I didn’t take any nursing classes during high school?
Now I would love an environmental science major for becoming an engineer or scientist to help the Earth more. I want future generations to live in a healthy environment without constantly worrying about the thinning of Earth’s atmosphere or animal extinction and etcetera.
Could I possibly double major in nursing and environmental science? Or nursing and art? Or art and environmental science?
I’m mostly looking to apply to colleges in Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Illinois, New York (maybe or around NY) and, Texas.
Yes you can go to nursing school somewhere. No problem.
Nearly zero high schools in the USA offer nursing courses.
College programs will evaluate you against their other candidates but there is a wide range of selectivity in nursing programs from the Penn BC UVA types to the much smaller schools and much more accessible public schools.
All end up with the same exact degree! So don’t worry there’s a place for you somewhere.
I would be more concerned that you have taken and passed some honors or ap level bio and enviro sciences classes and ap or honors algebra and calculus. Not just to get into school but to make sure you can do well.
Being able to combine nursing with a minor in psych or enviro science are school dependent.
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I would also consider some of the harder realities of life after college. Of those majors, which do you think is more likely to help you start a career with decent pay and benefits? I pursued a degree that really interested me (forensic science- and many years before CSI turned it into a popular field). The downside of this decision was that getting a job in my field was incredibly difficult. I often wished I could go back in time and get a nursing degree because of the demand for nurses, scheduling flexibility, and career progression opportunities (nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist etc.).
May I suggest that you take a look at the post in the Nursing forum. There are many discussions on schools, prereq. courses, (chem, bio, math), NCLEX pass rates, types of nursing programs, (direct admit BSN, 2+2, etc, LPN to RN ), scores and GPA. It is very important that you do a crash course in learning about what nursing will require, and the colleges that accept nursing students. You also have to realize that you will be at a disadvantage not having any exposure, (volunteering, job shadowing, working), in a medical environment prior to applying. The competition for acceptance into Direct admit programs is fierce and have higher GPA and standardized test score requirements than what is listed in their institution profile for other majors.
If you are uncertain, look for colleges that offer both nursing, (not direct admit), and environmental science majors. You would have the opportunity for the first 2 years to take your science course for nursing and some environmental science courses as well. I doubt you would be able to major in both areas as the labs and clinical rotations would conflict.
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Have you considered a career combining your interests and doing medical drawings?
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@chaphillmom makes some great points. Start by thinking about your post-college life and where you want to be, and then work back from there. I’ve been trying to get my kids to talk to people who work in the fields they are interested in to find out what they jobs are really like, how hard it is to get in to the field, etc. I wish someone had told me to do that 30 years ago because it would have saved me from going into a major I didn’t like.
As for your question on double-major, it’s very unlikely you’d be able to do a double-major with nursing. Nursing programs have a very specific sequence you have to follow, and you spend quite a bit of time in clinicals, which makes it very difficult to take extra classes outside of the program.
@Longhaul I didn’t even know that was a thing. What is medical drawing?