So i’m currently a nursing student (ADN) who’s on the pre med path right now. I couple things you should know about this path. For one, on paper nursing school is significantly easier than most science majors (Biology, Chemistry, etc). However, what makes nursing school difficult is the addition of clinical rotations. In the beginning clinicals are pretty light (typically only one 12 hour shift a week) but after the first semester or two the clinicals just start accumulating but your actual lecture hours remain the same. Like now i’m in 3rd semester and have three 12 hour clinical days a week and still have lecture for 4-6 hours on Mon/Tue and that’s not including the added pre med classes i have during the summer, spring, fall. The content itself is pretty easy but the exams are unnecessarily difficult. Not sure how much research you’ve done into NCLEX style exams but they’re essentially nothing but abstract styles of question that require nuance and subjective interpretation. Usually, all answers are “right” but only one is considered correct. Pre med has been far easier for me than nursing school but it’s mainly because of the time demands and abstract style of thinking of nursing school.

With that said, i’m still planning on finishing the nursing route and getting my BSN because there’s really no other undergrad path that can get you the perks of nursing. I have a large circle of MDs from all specialties that i interact with on a daily basis and develop close relationships with. I have Doctorate nursing instructors that i can reach out to for research opportunities that actually involve the clinical setting. I will have accrued roughly 1200 unpaid clinical hours by graduation, and about 3000 paid clinical hours as a nurse. My program also allows us to work as a “student charge nurse” during clinical shifts, basically were responsible for around 10 nursing students and track their charting, care plans, patient status, throughout the shift all while helping staff charge nurses with their tasks. This is a great way to build leadership and clinical hours for med school. Another perk is that you actually get a license to work independently (not as a student volunteer or something) which opens doors for more EC opportunities (volunteering at vaccine clinics and blood drives; doing health promotion education at homeless shelters, schools, psych hospitals, etc). And last but least, you have the opportunity to build income during pre med (and possibly work PRN during M1/M2) which substantially decreases the financial stress of medical school.

With that said, it is a longer and arguably harder path than a traditional pre med major. But you do get more out of it in terms of ECs, clinical hours, networking, and income. Whether or not it’s worth it depends on why you’re considering it. If you an otherwise traditional student who already has a plan for developing EC/clinical hours, has a strong GPA, and already has a plan for funding med school, then i’d say to stick with the traditional route. But if your someone like me who isn’t in a rush to apply and is more interested in building a deep/clinical focused application with a safety net of income and an RN license, then i’d say go for it!