College Help

The college should have a nursing BSN program

In order to save money many students take prerequisite and general ed classes at a local community college, then transfer to a four year school to complete their BSN. Your first step is to research what types of programs are available at the schools you are interested in attending. Look at the info for their nursing program online. Make an appointment with one of their advisors, if possible, to get any questions answered that you couldn't find info about online. Based upon your goals, resources, and what is available, you will then be able to decide which schools you will be applying to when the time comes. Good luck with your research.

I am currently pre-nursing at a junior college and almost finished with my pre-requisites(many of which I had from a previous Associate's degree). I will finish with a two year Associate's RN degree. The information that I am about to tell you is what I have picked up along the way.

You can become an RN in two years with an associate's degree(ADN) from a junior college (which is what I am currently doing) OR you can get a 4-year Bachelor's degree (BSN) from a university and still be an RN. The RN-BSN that you referred to is someone who is going back after their Associate's to get their Bachelors...usually because they will further to their Master's or want to supervise (I have been told that you need the BSN to supervise at a lot of places). On the other hand I have been told that some places will allow you to supervise with only an ADN if you have a really good work background, ethic, etc.

Let me tell you from experience...right out of high school (I graduated with honors eighth in my class) I decided to go to a 4-year college to get my BSN. My mom tried to tell me to go to a community college first but I wouldn't listen since it was paid for and not coming out of our pocket...I went straight to the University of South Alabama and FAILED the first semester!!! I dropped out...there was no comparison to high school...I did well there with very little studying and that is not the case at universities. I would definitely recommend going to a junior college to get your pre-req's and then going on to get your Bachelor's at a university if the Bachelor's is what you want. Why make it harder on yourself just so you can be at the same school the entire time. It isn't worth it. You get the same degree in the end. Just make sure the courses transfer. An advisor at the JC will be able to tell you this. If you let them know up front what you want to do they will help you.

I ended up leaving the University and going to a junior college to get a medical secretary Associate's degree that I never used in order to please my family. I am now 34 and in school again to become a nurse. I will say that the dedication level that it takes to pass some of these pre-req's was something I DID NOT HAVE back then anyway so I would have never made it...I guess it was just meant to be that I waited to be a nurse.

Just be prepared to work REALLY hard in some of your classes to make good grades so you will be accepted in the nursing program that you want. The reason I say in "some" of your classes is because some instructors are simply easier than others. You should go into the search field here and type in "anatomy", "A&P" or "microbiology" and read some of the posts. There are many people who doubt they will ever make it...not trying to scare you...I just want you to realize the dedication it takes so you will set yourself up for success instead of failure(like I did right out of high school). If you WANT to be a nurse you will make it happen...I just wish I would've had a forum like this to get me "mentally prepared" 16 years ago and I would be a 14 year veteran nurse now instead of currently in school again. You are obviously intelligent because you are checking out this site and trying to get info BEFORE you even graduate -- please keep in touch and let me know what you decide to do.


The higher the goal, the harder the climb - the sweeter the success!

Good luck -- Hope this helps!

HSstudent, what year in HS are you in?

Community college.junior college is the same thing, it just depends where you are what it's called. It's a 2 year school where you come out of it with some sort of AS. A BSN is a typical 4 year degree that you can only get at a 4 year school.

I went straight into a 4 year school out of HS and I didn't have a problem. Yes, college is A LOT harder then HS, but that's to be expected. If your not going to put in the work your not going to be able to do well, either at a 4 year college or a 2 year college. I was the student that all through elementary and HS didn't have to open a book and I pulled straight B's. I couldn't do that in college. I'm going back because I felt something was missing in my first degree that I found in nursing: the helping of other people.

Choosing first to go to a two year school if you want to get your RN and then do a RN-BSN bridge (or if you have the grades and can get in to do a RN-MSN [masters] bridge) program isn't a bad idea, but if your looking to have the typical four year college experience, then you might not want to go that route, because you won't have it.

As for pre-reqs, every school is different but they all include (from what I've seen) A&P I & II, Microbio, Chem I. Most including a psych class or two, sociology, nutrition and so on, depending where you go.

You could probably do it in 4 years, if not a little less or a little more. I have no clue how long a RN-BSN bridge program is.

Do you have any idea of where you'd like to apply...like do you want to stay home, dorm, or what?

I'm going to assume you mean NYC. I'm in NYC as well and there are a TON of choices.

Your first bet is to figure out if you want to go for your AS first or go straight for your BSN.

Just looking at the CUNY system you have:

Kingsbourgh
Queensbourgh
Hunter
College of Staten Island
Medgar Evers
York

and maybe one or two more.

If you want to look into private you have...

LIU
Pace
Columbia
NYU

and that's just off the top of my head in the city. You have a bunch out in Long Island as well.

It also depends on your HS grades and SAT score of course. For the CUNY schools you have to be in them for one semester and have some pre-reqs done or in the middle of being done before you can apply to switch to pre-nursing.