Student seeks advice...

Hello all. I am a 48-yr-old guy who is about to begin a new career in nursing. I have been accepted into a highly-regarded accelerated BSN program which begins this summer. I am waiting to hear from another school, which offers a direct-entry MSN in various fields, including anesthesia, and I have applied for that track. However, I was told that the anesthesia track is highly selective, and that if I'm not accepted into it, I would be offered another track, say, acute-care nurse practitioner.

I want to work as an anesthetist. I won't bore you with complicated details about my background, but I know that a career as an anesthetist is the right one for me. I am highly motivated, did exceptionally well on my prerequisite courses, and had a very successful career in a professional line of work where I made enough money to move on and finally do what I've always wanted to do, without concern about income in the future.

However, I am also a realist. If the direct-entry MSN declines my application for anesthesia, should I: (1) pursue the accelerated BSN, then work and apply later to an anesthesia program?, or (2) pursue another track in the direct-entry MSN program? I ask because, at my age, I want to work as long as possible, but I also want to be challenged to the fullest. If there is no likely chance of an anesthesia program accepting me in the future because of my age, then I would like to know this and pursue, at the beginning, something equally challenging (like an acute-care NP track or a clinical-specialist track). I will be 50 when I finish the accelerated BSN.

Thank you all in advance for your thoughts and consideration. No matter the outcome, I have to say that I have never been so excited about life as I am now, poised at the beginning of a new career in a profession I have long wanted to be a part of.