Im starting to apply for college. I’m debating on whether i should put nursing as my major due to the fact that its an impacted major. Does your chosen major affect college admission? especially if its an impacted major…?
Some colleges allow you to select a second choice major. Even if they don’t specifically say it on the application, I believe most colleges will send an admissions offer for other majors even if they don’t accept you for nursing.
UMass Amherst stated up front at info session if you apply for nursing and are not accepted you will not be accepted to the school…I did not ask if you could reapply with a different major.
If you want nursing and do not put it down though, you will most likely not get into the program if the school is a direct admit.
That is why it is important to read the fine print for each college. It seems that is a case of laziness by U Mass - they are rejecting many qualified students who can’t make it into nursing. U. Del and Penn State for instance each allowed an applicant to list alternative majors if they did not get into nursing.
If Nursing is an impacted major at the schools you are applying, you need to find out how easy or if it is even possible to switch into the major later. Information regarding impacted majors should be listed on each schools website. As suggested above by several posters, select an alternate major (non-impacted) if possible just in case.
I believe the term “impacted major” is mainly used in California.
Most colleges with a 2-2 nursing program probably do not provide extensive info on their website on how hard it is to get into the nursing major. It is important to ask for specifics about the level of competitiveness - average GPA of accepted students, number applied vs. accepted, etc. The level of competitiveness should affect what college you pick, if you are set on nursing.