A.A to A.S.N to B.S.N.? or A.A. to B.S.N.?

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hi so I just started college at Valencia in Orlando, Florida. I have the option of completing my A.A. degree and then moving onto the A.S.N. degree offered here and then transfer to complete a B.S.N. degree at UCF. I also have the option to complete my A.A. degree here at Valencia and then directly transfer to UCF to complete the B.S.N.. All of the credits are transferrable to UCF from Valencia however, I'm not sure which path is more beneficial. Both the A.S.N. degree at Valencia and the B.S.N. degree at UCF are competitive to get into and have wait lists, but I believe UCF is harder to get accepted to and and the wait list is lengthier. Of course I would want a more inexpensive way of obtaining my bachelors degree, but I would also not want to waste my time completing an associates degree in Valencia for nursing if I'm going to obtain my bachelor's degree anyway. The traditional B.S.N. (the one not requiring a RN license) at UCF is a full time "lock step" 5 semester program. The A.S.N. degree at Valencia is also 5 semesters long. The ASN-BSN program at UCF also is 30 credit hours and be completed in 3-10 semesters depending on the pace you want. Anyways I'm not quite sure which one I should go after. I do want to start working right away, but at the same time I want the best education I can get. I also want something affordable. In your experiences what have you seen to be more beneficial time wise, job finding wise, education wise, and financially? Which route would you suggest?

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From what I gathered doing adn or asn and then doing the bridge program RN to Bsn is a good way to save money. You can work while doing the bridge program. Many have considered doing online programs as well.

Im currently in an adn program and I plan on doing RN to Bsn afterwards.

If you have the competitive edge and funds for the bsn then by all means.

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If you get your nursing associate's degree and then pass the NCLEX - since you are in Florida, there are quite a few of the small state colleges that offer an RN-BSN online for around $110 a credit.

Polk, Pasco-Hernando, State College of Florida, Edison (or whatever they just renamed it to), etc... - there's probably a dozen more, all online, all for around the same price.

The benefit of going that direction is that you can start working with your RN after you get the associate's degree, and then work toward your BSN through a state school online while you work, often with your employer providing some level of tuition assistance - but for $110 a credit, even without the tuition assistance it is incredibly affordable.

You also have the opportunity of not having to worry about how competitive the rn-bsn online programs are at the smaller state schools - Polk, for example, has minimum requirements - and if you meet those, you're in.

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Finish your AA and then apply to both the ASN and the BSN programs. Both programs are affordable and have similar NCLEX pass rates.

Go with whichever program accepts you first.

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