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Hi everyone,

I am a stay at home mom of 2 and I'm about to embark on the path of getting my GED. Once I am through that, I am interested in becoming a nurse but I'm not sure which route to take. My husband is becoming a nurse and is interested in becoming a doctor further down the road so I won't have a lot of help with the kids and we have no family near. I'm 27 years old and am clearly very rusty with school. I'm trying to decide whether I should go to Our Lady of the Lake, Baton Rouge a General, LSU or BRCC. I'm not sure if I should get my associate in nursing or go ahead for the bachelor's. And if I decide to get my bachelor's, do I need to take classes at a community college first? I have no experience with university or college so I'm a little lost. Does anyone have any advice or am I better off calling around to each school and or meeting with some schools? Who would I see at the school to get some of these answers? Sorry this is so long and Thankyou in advance.

Welcome to AN :)

You have A LOT of questions; I suggest you spend some time reading through the threads on these boards, and you may find the answers you are looking for on your own.

I do have to ask why your husband is intending to go through several years of schooling to become a nurse if he actually wants to become a physician? They aren't the same medical path....becoming an RN does not put him on the fast track for MD.....and he might find himself wasting quite a lot of time and money by changing paths. Is there a reason for this, or does he/you not know this?

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Welcome to Allnurses.com!

Since you will soon be a GED holder, the likelihood of immediately getting accepted for admission into universities such as LSU or OLOL is slim to none unless you were to attain a phenomenally high score on the SAT or ACT. LSU and OLOL are universities with competitive admissions.

The typical candidate with a GED who wants a degree starts off at an open admissions college such as the local community college, and in your case, this would be BRCC. You can earn an associate degree in nursing at BRCC, or you can opt to complete two years of general education coursework and nursing prerequisite classes at BRCC with intent to transfer to OLOL or LSU.

Or, you can find a practical nursing program that will admit a GED holder, become an LPN, and then complete an LPN-to-RN transition program. The LPN program that I attended many years ago had several GED recipients.

Good luck to you.

Hello there,

I'm sure someone who's in nursing school will be able to answer your questions more in depth, however I wanted to mention that once you pass your GED testing, it's likely you'll have some pre-requisites to complete prior to entering nursing school.

If you look up the requirements to both institutions, you'll find the classes you will need to take. At this time you can try taking one class to adjust to the workload at a collegiate level as well as finding the balance with home life.

If you only take one class however, you will not receive financial aid as you are not a full time student.

Since this will be your first college experience, I would suggest putting a lot of research into financing options. Full out FAFSA look for scholarships try your best to preemptively reduce your loans. Know the difference between the different types of loans as well - direct, stafford, etc

Thanks for all your comments. Yes my husband and I are aware of his situation and there are a vast number of reasons as to why he is going this route and we have thought them through meticulously but thankyou for your concern :).

I was thinking of doing a transfer degree so I could get into OLOL but wasn't sure if they accepted transfer degrees. I already know that they favor their own students when it comes to nursing prereqs. Yes I do have a lot of questions, I suppose I should just speak with a college advisor at some point. Thankyou all for your responses.

Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Good day, Nurse Boots:

I'm am pro nationally accredited community colleges; they are often in the extreme of being economical (i.e. 1/4th to 1/2 the tuition of universities) with often the same or better education. Consider going that route for your associate degree in nursing, then NCLEX, then BSN. Check which community colleges (always go nationally accredited) have dual enrollment agreements with which BSN schools in the area; then if you go the community college route, dual enroll, and give it your all.

Thank you.

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