Expert: Christine Fader - 3/23/2010

Question
Dear Mr. Kim,

I am currently a high school senior. Here is my situation, my mom wants me to be a nurse. she says registered nurses make a lot of money and that having money is important. Plus it only takes 4 years to study. I understand her thinking. personally i am not very interested in nursing field. i have read lots of articles online and asked experts online on the nursing career. i just don't feel that stimulated by reading about the work. It's not something i can picture myself doing for 30 years of my working life. i want to be doing something more stimulating, something i'm interested in, and something that pays well. I'm interested in psychology. I want to do something related to research, however psychologists' salary ranges from not paying that well to decent money. Psychologist also need a Ph.d which requires about 10 years of studying. as i imagine working/ studying to be a psychologist, it seems to be too much work. i highly doubt i can keep my grades up to straight A's and study hard for so many more years. i don't think i can do it. then again, i find the topic interesting. to add more to the problem, i can't seem to find any other career that i have interest in and doesn't require such intensive education.

there is also another reason why i'd rather not do nursing. All my life, i haven't been satisfied with my social life. I tend to be more on the reserved/ shy side and i have always wanted more friends and more of a social life. I feel like college is the last chance i have to really experience a social life with people my age and have some real fun. the college i applied to for nursing (University of San Francisco) is not much of a party school. now i know, at the core of college, is to further your education so you can become something useful in this world. I also applied to the UC's and the UC's are more like party schools- although they are still put lots of focus in the academics. Deep down i want to have a great college experience with education and fun. i can't picture myself going to the nursing college and having the same experience as if i went to a UC. i have done my research and i have read reviews from former students that attended the nursing school.

one one hand, I'm confused as to what i should do career-wise. on the other hand, i want to have a fun college experience. i don't know what to do. what is your advice? i want you to know that i do not know who else to turn to for help. I appreciate your help! thanks.

Michael Leu

Answer
Hi Michael,

It's great that you're investigating some options before you go on in your education.  You can save yourself a lot of wasted time, energy and money by doing some of this before you get into college.

Many people start college in one program and switch to something else (multiple times!) as they figure out what they actually like and are good at.  You may want to look at colleges that offer both nursing and other programs (like psychology) that look interesting to you. That will give you a bit of flexibility if you are in one program and find that it's not what you thought.  Since nursing is usually a "closed" program with limited numbers of admitted students it's often easier to switch OUT of nursing and into something more general like psychology than to go the other way around.  However, as a college career counsellor, I usually recommend that the most practical strategy is for students to choose courses and programs that they are interested in.  It sounds luxurious and impractical but it's actually very practical since a) if you choose a program you are interested in, you are building skills you'll actually want to use in the job market, rather than having to convince an employer to ignore your degree when you go to look for jobs because you don't want to use those skills you hated learning! and b) you tend to do better in programs that you like and that leaves lots more doors open for graduate school, certain jobs, etc.  c)  you'll have a good time (most of the time) while you're studying at college!  Most of us have a hard time getting over the bumps in something we genuinely dislike.  If we mostly like what we're doing, it makes it easier to make it when the going gets a bit rough (which it does, even in programs we love sometimes).

The other difference (and reason your mom might be encouraging nursing) between nursing and psychology is that nursing is a professional program at the undergrad level.  This means that you usually are eligible for a license at the end of your undergrad degree, allowing you to register as a member of a profession, and have a set of qualifications that people understand.  Psychology is not a professional program at the undergrad level (ie. you can't go out and do counselling) -- as you mentioned, you have to go on to a master's degree or PhD (although many people working in psychology have a master's degree in counselling and no PhD so you don't necessarily need to go all the way to PhD to find a good job that you'll like).  So yes, the nursing degree tends to be a shorter path to bigger bucks in the short-term.

However, lots of nurses don't work in traditional nursing jobs and while I wouldn't recommend you take a program you know you'll dislike completely, it may be something to consider if you'd like to do psychology stuff (you can take elective courses in psychology as part of a nursing program, for example) because you may be able to take a nursing degree and apply it in a psychology setting.  For example, there are psychiatric nurses, nurses who do counselling (or do a master's degree in counselling after their nursing degree), nurses who run sex education programs, nurses who work in parish nursing counselling parishioners.  Lots of non-traditional roles for nurses that would allow you to use your psychology interests potentially.  However, keep in mind that during the actual nursing program/degree you'll have to do very traditional nursing things like take people's blood, assist them with toiletting and deal with their pain and sickness.  Ask yourself if that kind of program sounds appealing to you because nursing is not just a theoretical course -- it's hands on!

Re "fun" college experience:  I think that no matter what school you go to, there will always be party people and always be academically-focused people (and sometimes those characteristics are both found in the same person!)  You can have lots of fun wherever you go and you can study hard wherever you go.  It's a matter of finding the people you connect with.  I work at a school that is known in some circles as a so-called "party school" (even though our students have the top entrance averages in the country and are therefore also very academically focused) and there are certainly students who love to party but there are also tons of students who don't want to.  You'll find your niche wherever you go.  If you're reserved and can afford to live in a residence hall, that's often a great way to meet and bond with lots of fun people in a short period of time.

Good luck!

Christine
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Christine Fader
Career Counsellor
www.careercupid.com
Author, "Career Cupid:  Your Guide to Landing and Loving Your Dream Job"
Follow my blog at:  careercupid.blogspot.com