BSN sophomore standing for CRNA apps

You will not be accepted into anesthesia school without any critical care experience. No way around that. There should be no problem with you graduating in three years as you will still have your BSN. But you do need actual ICU experience as an RN. That will never be waived. Competition is getting tougher now all of the time. Right now most schools want at least two years critical care, and by the time you finish they may want five. Just take things one day at a time. Take care of getting your BSN first, then go onto the next step.

Good luck with your studies but don't try to push yourself. You may actually find a different area of medicine that you like better. Don't pick something just because you think that is where the money is.

You should be careful not to bite off more than you can chew! You may only hurt your chances of getting into CRNA school if you take more than you can handle and your grades suffer. You obviously sound very motivated, but the courses you are talking about taking (if you will be allowed to take them) while still in high school is more work than you can imagine as a high school student.
I'm not sure you killing yourself trying to do these courses will even save you any time. As suzanne4 said, by the time you are done, the min amount of required nursing experience may actually increase, so you may have to spend a few years working in the ICU before getting accepted to anesthesia school.
Enjoy your college years. Have some fun! But stay focused and get good grades. Burning yourself out too early may only hurt you in the end. JMHO.

Overall, I think your plan is pretty good. I would think most programs would look upon you as highly motivated. But, remember your priorities!

First, you must graduate high school. Yes, you can take some concurrent classes at a community college, and that will help you. But, from the plan you've outlined, it looks like between now and next August, you are going to try to finish high school and take roughly 15+ hours (if there are no labs) of college level work. You may rush yourself right out of competition for CRNA school. All the urgency in the world will mean nothing if you try to do so much that you do poorly in these classes. Or worse, if you concentrate so hard on the college level classes that you fail to graduate high school.

Remember that these classes you are planning on taking are looked at very hard by CRNA program selection committees. Therefore, you must work hard at them, and do well.

I'm also a bit concerned that a HS Senior would tell us that its "urgent" that they become a CRNA as quickly as possible. Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to achieve your goals quickly. Remember, though, that you have chosen a difficult course. You must give yourself time to do this and do it well.

Kevin McHugh, CRNA

Boy are you motivated?? How hard to do all that and go right to grad school? I believe it is essentialy to practice as a nurse for awhile prior to any advanced degrees.. just my 2 sense..

Why do you plan to work 84 hours per week/52 weeks in one year? That sounds totally crazy to me--you have plenty of time to become a CRNA--and when you apply that young--they may look at your other quals, etc....take you time--there is so much more to life than just work--you are barely old enough to share life experience much less--your future life plans for the next three years. Slow down--or trust me-you will burn out.

Best, hty/

First of all, working 84 hrs a week will not give you a year of experience in 6 months, it gives you 6 months experience with some overtime money for you and a lot to Uncle Sam!
I think taking graduate courses and getting A's in them would be more beneficial for getting into CRNA school than showing the admissions committee you can work yourself to death by working 84 hrs a week!
As far as certifications, you will need ACLS to work in ICU. It may be helpful to get PALS and TNCC. After you have experience as an RN, take the CCRN.
I think it's great you are so motivated but your over zealous plan shows how little you know about what you are getting into. You have a lot to learn! Focus on one thing at a time. Keep us up to date on your journey.

Take a deep breath and calm down...I got tense just reading your post. Your goals are great and you are motivated, but you are not going to enjoy the journey as much if you stress out about this. Just take the right classes and study hard to get good grades. Read a lot to build your vocabulary - it's much better than studying lists of words. Take advanced math to help with the GREs. Work as a nurse extern in ICU. Get other hobbies and interests, you should be well rounded.
I was a nurse-midwife at the age of 24 - it certainly can be done. So, I'm giving you advice (I guess that IS why you posted, right?), and I have been there. I don't understand why it is "urgent" to be a CRNA at the age of 24. It's cool if you want to be an anesthetist, go for it. You might be one at 24, or maybe 25 or 26, what is the difference really?
Now, this 80- plus hours a week in the ICU is just enough to make me keel over thinking about it...not just physical exhaustion, but mental...do you have any idea how much hard stuff you will be dealing with day in and day out? If you are the least bit empathetic, you will be affected, and believe me, you need your time away. There are people attached to all those lines and monitors, and families attached to the people. Maybe I'm crazy, but it affects me - some days more than others. I relish my four days off to relax and recharge, and I think I'm a better nurse when I am there because of it. I'm sure many will agree. Good luck, you'll be fine....and then 10 years later you might decide to go back to school to become an midwife.....

Yeah, ditto!

Yeah, and working 84 hrs a week (which is literally HALF the hours in a week) can endanger those people as well as yourself and your license. It can be done, but I imagine it shouldn't be done week after week on a regular basis.

I don't want to be discouraging, I think being a CRNA is a great goal (it is my eventual goal as well). I just think that all of the other posters are correct in recommending that you slow down and smell the roses. Don't get me wrong, I wish I had been a bit more motivated when I was your age, but I would never trade all of the real life lessons I learned. You have the whole rest of your life to work your butt off. Remember if you start working your butt off that young, they'll be no butt for you to rest on when it comes time for retirement!