Tiffany, I can't imagine why you'd WANT to take an upper level course before being CPNE-ready. Seriously. Why waste time when you need to be moving towards the RN?
As to statistics - I am a math don't-be. I would, were there a classroom available, take more, but there is no way I could do it on my own. I do NOT look at an equation and think, "Well, of course!" I stare at it blankly and freeze. It isn't math anxiety, I just don't see it. When someone (like a teacher) points it out to me I'm fine, but I don't have the mind for it.
I think I'm going to CLEP out of chemistry.
I'm doing the RN-MSN in clinical informatics at by the time I'm done I'll be close to 60. I'm not too worried about other schools.
One nice thing about living where I do is that we are very rural and a lot of people use distance learning. It's viewed as an advantage, not a less-than colution.