HELP! Accelerated BSN or Accelerated DE MSN

U.S.A. Massachusetts

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Hey Everyone... I am extremely interested in nursing. I have a BA in Psychology and joined a teaching program after college that is a 2 yr commitment. I am about to begin my 2nd and last teaching year and being in my program I realized I did not want to teach/be a school psychologist like I had intended.

I began volunteering @ the local hospital and fell in love with teaching. So I plan to go back to school the nontraditional route to accelerated programs in Boston.

UMASS offers an accelerated BSN in 15 months (I'm beginning my requirements now)

Boston College offers an accelerated direct entry MSN program where you graduate with an MSN NOT a BSN.... but I think you have to specify depending on your interests and as of now I really enjoy peds....

So Idk which one I should do :uhoh3: I really do not know what to do.... before I heard of Boston College's program I thought I would be an RN for some yrs and then do a graduate program specifying on what I would like. Also if I like being a crna I cant do that with the BC degree because I would need a BSN degree which I would not have...

I would really appreciate any advice :D

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A few random thoughts, none of which directly answer your question:

  • Be sure you research all the Accelerated and Direct Entry programs in the area. There are many.
  • Get A's on all your prerequisites. Competition is intense. The UMass Boston Second Bachelors program had 700 applications for 40 seats. Other schools generally have about ten applications for every opening.
  • Consider burnout in a 18 month vs 36 month program. Many find nursing school extremely challenging. Others find it not particularly challenging, but still workload intensive. But I've never heard anyone refer to it as fun.
  • Counterintuitively, Direct Entry Masters programs seem easier to get into than the Accelerated Bachelors programs. My guess is that older students are less able to make a three year time commitment.
  • Anecdotally, at least, New Grad Nurse Practitioner jobs seem easier to come by than BSN positions. However, it's impossible to project 4 or 5 years down the road.
  • Research tuition. Some schools charge nearly twice as much as others for a similar 1 1/2 year Accelerated program. UMass seems to be the cheapest in the local area, but not by much.

Good luck!

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Thank you so much for your advice! I have really good grades and GPA from undergrad now I have to focus on my pre requs which I will begin this semester! I am nervous because I will be taking 2 classes and will have a full time job and a husband but no kids yet so that might mean being up late nights... but that's not too bad :-)!

I will look @ other programs, I always see how expensive they are and really do not want to owe a lot of money since I also pay loans from my undergrad college but we'll see how this goes!

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Regis College's program is a direct entry MSN program, but you get a BSN as well. Just fyi! :)

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reallly? wow I need to look into it :)! thank you so much! i would love anything that also allows me to have a BSN :D

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
http://www.regiscollege.edu/graduate_programs/department.cfm?id=Accelerated_Nurse_Practitioner_BS_MS This is a link that describes the program. I am in my third year (the MSN year) there now. A lot of people in my program have left with their BSN/RN to work for a little while before they come back for the MSN/NP portion. I think Regis gives you 5 years off to come back for the MSN portion if you take time off. If you go past the 5 years then you'd need to apply again just to the MSN portion when you decided to come back (and most likely you'd be accepted with no problem if you were already a successful student there).
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Oh you are in the program? How are you enjoying it? Do you have to specialize in a certain type of nursing for your MSN portion (like children/women's health/home nursing)? Do you work at all? Do you like the professors? Sorry for the questions.... B)

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Yep I'm in the program :) I am enjoying it. I feel like they have prepared me very well. We do have to specialize for the MSN portion (you don't have to decide until then though). I'm in pediatrics. The other options are family, women's health, and psych. I work part-time as a dog walker haha. Completely unrelated. Some people work as CNAs or have other jobs. You just have to have a job that is flexible. Most people who want to work while going to school make it work and do fine. Other people choose not to work and that is fine too. I like most of the professors a lot. There are of course (which you'll find at any school) a few that I thought maybe teaching wasn't the best decision, but overall everyone wants to see you succeed and is willing to help.

And no worries I don't mind the questions. You're welcome to ask them here or PM me if you have more.

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