background info: hi!! i’m currently a senior in high school in so cal! when i originally applied i put nursing as my major. but as i was applying i was feeling kind of hesitant and decided to apply to a handful as a psych major in case. looking into the future, i feel like nursing will provide me with stability. but i’m honestly not 100% sure if i could handle the stress bc it’s definitely s difficult and demanding job.
SDSU
in-state
major: nursing
~20 min from home
~8k tuition per year
pros:
direct entry for nursing (can get my BSN in 4 years)
cheaper tuition
familiar area (i grew up in sd)
cons:
big greek life + partying (not for me)
not super safe area
a lot people at my hs and area go here
not 100% on nursing yet
overall: people say to choose a college based on your major, and if i were to solely go by that, sdsu would be the logical option. i’ve talked to people that go here/went here and i’m not sure how the school itself would suite me.
UCLA:yellow_heart:
in-state
major: psychology
~2 hours from home
~13k tuition per year
pros:
better academics
good food
have time to figure it out- can shadow/volunteer during undergrad + after bachelors in psych i plan to go to grad school (can do masters in psych, pt, ot, or other)
can still do masters in nursing or transfer to BSN my junior year if i decide i want to do nursing
cons:
takes longer to become a nurse (about 6 years compared to 4)
have to go back to school
more expensive
am i wasting time + money trying to figure it out?
overall: i’m in a psych class and i genuinely love the subject but i’ve heard from many people it’s not the best thing to major in i’m still open to changing my major if i went to UCLA though! i have an older sibling that goes here and i think this school would be a better fit for me and will allow for me to explore my opportunities first. but, it doesn’t make much sense to choose the longer route if i do decide on nursing.
i’m so torn between the two and any advice on how to choose would be so incredibly appreciated!!
You have to ask yourself, how much do you want to do nursing?
Don’t go to UCLA just to end up going back to community college for nursing or expensive privates like National U or Grand Canyon.
However, if you have doubts with nursing and/or have aspiration for med/dental/vet/pharmacy then UCLA has much more opportunities.
Also as far as I know, transfer to Nursing as Junior is pretty much impossible at SDSU and UCLA. Do not assume this is a viable route.
And no, you can’t get a Masters in Nursing without already having a Nursing Degree. It doesn’t work that way. On the other hand, Psych is not a money making degree in itself. A nursing degree will guarantee a well paying job as soon as you get out ($100K+). Psych, not so much.
I know you are not into the Greek Scene, but Sorority Row off Hilgard is one of the most iconic points of UCLA. Offset by some of the trashiest Fraternity Houses off Gayley. Greek is Huge at UCLA.
yeah i have heard that transferring as a junior is highly competitive and almost impossible also i wasn’t aware of UCLA’s greek life scene so its good to know and to take into consideration. i was looking on UCLA’s website though and saw that they offer an MECN program. i still have to look more into it but i think its allows undergrads with another degree to go into nursing! i’m sure it’s also very competitive too though
according the UCLA’s website, the total cost would be around 42k. and for sdsu that living at home would be around $24k and living on campus would be around $36k. this is all without considering financial aid yet (i already submitted my FAFSA but it still hasn’t processed) and scholarships i’m currently applying to. i could commute to sdsu and i’m considering it, but i’m worried that it’ll be difficult to make new friends or get the “college experience.”
if you aren’t 100% sure about nursing, that UCLA price is a really good deal…
I have no problem with people choosing less prestigious colleges, but you didn’t really provide us with any compelling reason to choose it outside of the nursing thing.
Given that you have a sibling at UCLA, I think you have your answer right here.
Accept that you won’t ever know the “right” answer to this until you graduate from college and have picked a career. Given that you aren’t 100% sure on nursing, I’d personally pick UCLA. Think of the following options as to which you’d rather be in:
You pick UCLA, but decide that you do want to do nursing and have to do additional school after you have your UCLA BA
You pick SDSU, but decide you want to change majors out of nursing and now have your SDSU BA
I’ve seen way too many adults get “trapped” into a career based on an early choice, then deciding that they actually don’t like it, but they are now in too deep for the program, etc. Don’t underestimate the value of the “optionality” that your UCLA admission provides.
Seems like the theme of this thread is more about whether to do a BSN if you are not fully committed, and is less about one university versus the other as the thread title implies.
Direct-admit nursing (along with Comp Sci) is one of THE hardest majors in the country to gain admittance. Congratulations on that!
You may know this, but if you live south of Hwy 56, you are not guaranteed on-campus housing as a Freshman.
Membership in Greek life is only about 10% at SDSU. For those who wish to avoid it, like the nursing cohort, it should be a non-issue.
It’s usually better to use the university’s published Cost of Attendance and work back from that. The $42K OP posted includes UC health insurance (almost $4K), which can be waived with proof of other coverage, so that brings it to $38K. The discretionary categories total another ~$3K, but that still only brings it to $35K if you never buy anything (shampoo, boba, clothing) and never pay a dime to travel anywhere.
I have a D who’s a sophomore at UCLA and is not involved in Greek life. She has a full and wonderful social life, with mostly friends who are not Greek, but some who are. If you are a freshman, going to frat parties is generally the most visible party scene, but there are tons and tons of ways to have fun without setting foot in one. My daughter does a mix—she has friends with apartments who have get togethers, she goes to dinner in Westwood sometimes, she hangs with her suite mates in the dorms. And, she lived in a trashy frat house for a summer session last year (very common thing for post-freshman year summer school)—she had a blast, but, wow, did we scrub that place clean before she moved in. Don’t even sweat the Greek scene. It’s there if you want it, and not a problem if you don’t.
PS—her roommate is from San Diego and most of her roommate’s friends are at SDSU. Those friends confirm that SDSU is much more Greek life driven, especially for the women. Of course it’s a huge school and you can avoid it, but between the two, UCLA is less Greek life oriented.
Columbia has a direct entry MSN for non nurses who wish to become an RN, so a masters can be done. It is expensive and there are less costly ways to be a nurse, but it’s there.
Given you are not sold on nursing and do not particularly like SDSU (outside of nursing) I would choose UCLA ….if it is affordable. There are always ways to be a nurse if you change your mind down the road.
How would you feel about SDSU if you started as a nursing major but switched? Would you regret not choosing UCLA?
thank you so much to everyone that replied with advice! I appreciate it and will definitely take it all into consideration. i’m leaning more towards the UCLA route now… but if i were to major in psych what could i do with my bachelors degree if i don’t end up taking the nursing path? i’ve heard from a lot of people that at least a masters is necessary to get a job or have stability. i’ve been doing some research and i’ve learned that i can also use my ba in psych to work in other fields such as marketing, sales, tech, etc. is this common? has anyone taken this route and do they recommend it? UCLA also offers a variety of minors as well and i was thinking that could be helpful too.
You can say that about many majors - what will I do with this degree?
Hopefully you’ll find an internship - some hire any major - and get to experience the industry or job role.
And yes, you might end up one day in grad school.
But in the meantime, you’ll learn how to write, research, and communicate - and these are skills that can take you anywhere.
I’ve long worked with psych majors - they have the same type of role that I have - whether it was marketing when I did that or account management as I do now. Others end up in HR. And that’s just my experience - I’m sure psych majors end up in roles that run the gamut.
If that’s your interest, then that’s what you should study.
You can get a job with a psych degree, but it might not be something you like or see yourself doing long term. There are plenty of entry level, gap year type jobs out there …where you can work while you figure it out. I know psych majors who worked as research assistants etc. It is also possible that you will find a job that you enjoy.
At the end of the day you will need grad school. There are many fields that you can go into.
You don’t need to think of it as being wedded to a psych major specifically. Majoring in psych is a popular intention for students entering college, because it’s a field most are aware of, and the basics that one encounters in an intro course or just through independent learning tend to be interesting and relevant to the personal concerns of emerging adults. It’s a fine major, too - I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it. (I got a second degree in psych back in the day, while studying PT, back when you could be licensed with just an undergrad degree.)
But, a few points:
The study of psychology, at an upper-division level, is often somewhat different from what many people loved about their intro courses. It’s less about “what makes people tick” and more about “how do we design, implement, and critique research that proves what it claims to prove” than many students anticipate. (Which, again, is fine and worthy, but some students feel a bit “baited and switched” because it isn’t what attracted them to the major.)
It’s a pretty general undergraduate degree which, as you say, can be taken in many different directions… but many of those directions will require graduate study, or at least the intentional acquisition of skill-sets outside of the major itself. It’s a perfectly fine pre-health major, for sure, but so are many others.
Psych is in L&S at UCLA, and you wouldn’t be locked into the specific major. There are plenty of L&S majors you might like as well or better, that you just haven’t had much exposure to yet. Anthropology, for example. Cognitive Science, which is inside the psych department but is more interdisciplinary, with more math/CS content in addition to a sampling of anthro, philosophy, and linguistics. Sociology can be a fine major that actually captures a lot of the inquiry that people expect from psychology. Statistics & data science emphasizes the analytical skills that you also study as a psych major, but imparts a stronger skill-set that can make you a valued member of a research team in psych or any other field. The linguistics department offers blended majors, including ling+anthro and ling+psych, that could be interesting. Even a foreign language major, combined with the proper prerequisites, can be great for an aspiring health professional. There’s also a brand-new disability studies BA, and heaven knows the health professions need more people with that background, if it’s of interest! My long-winded point is, your decision isn’t between SDSU Nursing and UCLA Psych; it’s between SDSU Nursing and UCLA L&S - there isn’t unlimited mobility across L&S majors, but there are a lot of options that would be accessible. (And of course there are plenty of SDSU majors you could pursue if you decided to switch out of nursing, but it sounds as if you’d regret ending up in a non-nursing major at SDSU that you could have done at UCLA.)
All that said, it’s a tough call, because direct-admit to SDSU nursing is a highly-coveted opportunity. Also, your cost analysis is a little unclear - just comparing tuition amounts is leaving out the huge piece of housing and living costs. If you do choose SDSU, it could be very smart to live on campus for at least the first year; after that, you’ll know whether you prefer to keep living with other students (either on-campus or off) or whether you’d prefer to save money and return to the oasis (or not, lol) of your childhood home at night, having already made connections in the campus community. At UCLA, though, you won’t have a choice - you’ll have to keep paying for housing, and you’ll have to make some tough cost vs. desirability decisions about where you live. (And friend-groups can end up getting sorted by how much people are able to spend on off-campus housing, in order to live together.) So, UCLA will cost you at the time, and it will likely mean a longer ramp-up in terms of earning power after you’re done. All of which is fine to choose as long as you have assessed the projected costs clearly and know that you won’t end up in a bind of not being able to afford your next steps after graduation.
Congrats on having such great choices!
ETA, P.S. Greek life is available but completely optional at both schools. You won’t have any trouble finding like-minded friends at either school. I wouldn’t give this factor much if any weight in your decision. I’m not sure the “good vs. bad neighborhood” differential is significant enough to carry weight, either, although I’ll defer to people who know the SDSU environs better than I. Finally, try not to think too much about how many people from your HS attend. They will be diluted in a very large population of people you don’t know. Although, sometimes this is code for prestige-sensitivity, i.e. “I won’t feel special if I choose this school.” That concern is more important to some than others, and I’m not saying it’s necessarily invalid… but be self-aware about what your real concerns are. UCLA is terrific and it’s an accomplishment to get in. But if you do want a top nursing program, feeling that SDSU is too ordinary would be an unfortunate reason to turn their nursing program down. (Not being sure about nursing, though, is a much better reason!)
I don’t agree with others that are saying you can’t get a job - because I’ve seen it and I’ve been involved in hiring it. And I’m giving you examples below - I didn’t search for city, sorry but you can be assured there are jobs out there.
Many organizations, such as insurance and government, simply seek a new grad- but not just a grad but an experienced one - so take advantage of internship opportunities - whether in retail (grocery stores pay well (management) and aren’t concerned with your major…similarly other retail.
You might ask UCLA - where are their grads?
I pulled this from Cornell - I don’t know if it will come through but they have a very good career dashboard. You may have to re-populate - but they show their grads - 42 - in various places. What we don’t know is if they had double majors.
Social Science and other Research
HR - I think a declining field.
Law
Marketing
Analytics
Early Childhood Education
NGO management
and more
I was a history and journalism major - two - hmmmm - not worth a hoot - and I ended up in outside sales.
UCLA has a DC semester - any majors. Maybe you get a job in government - my daughter did that - and she wrote and wrote and wrote in her internship - and I imagine that can only help later. Maybe someone gets a job as a researcher or grant writer, etc.
Will it be tougher - sure - but will there be jobs, whether tourism, service industries, etc. - absolutely. But it’s the same for the Anthro, English, History grad as well - and people are finding jobs.
Yes I agree there are jobs, and I also agree that developing a strong resume in college will help get those jobs. There is also the possibility that the student will enjoy the job and remain there long term (sales, hospitality, sales rep, case manager etc).
But….most/much of the time psych grads end up in grad school…because they are looking for more …and different. The jobs listed are good for some but maybe not for all.
It is similar to biology. Sure…my kid had a good job with decent pay…but it was not what she wanted long term and viewed it as a temporary job (as did most in similar positions). She worked with lots of young adults who were in various stages of grad/med school apps.
One can become a research coordinator or research assistant with a psych (or bio) degree etc, but the job will not come with much advancement, and responsibility is limited with a BS. Most end up in grad school.
i’m still open to changing my major if i went to UCLA though! i have an older sibling that goes here and i think this school would be a better fit for me and will allow for me to explore my opportunities first. but, it doesn’t make much sense to choose the longer route if i do decide on nursing.
I appreciate it and will definitely take it all into consideration. i’m leaning more towards the UCLA route now… but if i were to major in psych what could i do with my bachelors degree if i don’t end up taking the nursing path? i’ve heard from a lot of people that at least a masters is necessary to get a job or have stability. i’ve been doing some research and i’ve learned that i can also use my ba in psych to work in other fields such as marketing, sales, tech, etc. is this common? has anyone taken this route and do they recommend it? UCLA also offers a variety of minors as well and i was thinking that could be helpful too.