ADN or BSN? Which Nursing school is better in CA?

U.S.A. California

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I'm thinking of going back to school for a degree in RN, but cannot get good advices from advisors or friends because they all seem contradicting one another. So here are my questions>

1) Is ADN better or BSN?

2) Which school is better?

The sad thing about this decision is I'm turning 30 so dont have that many years to fix any mistakes. So i need to make sure i'm making the rite move now and plan out the rest.

For now, I have Riverside City College as top choice for ADN and Loma LInda University for BSN.

For those RN that live in LA, your feedbacks are greatly appreciated!!!!

Thank you.

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Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

Moved to CA Nursing Programs Discussion forum. I think you might get more responses here from some CA folks.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Med-Surg/DOU/Ortho/Onc/Rehab/ER/.

I recommend getting BSN. Both degrees are good, no doubt about it but with the abundance of nurses, employers are allowed to be picky for who they hire.

That being said, don't go to a private school for your BSN. Your going to spend close to $50,000-$100,000 just for a degree that does not guarantee you a job. Ca is one of those states where BSN is preferred, you will look like a "better" candidate. Try going to CSULA or CSUSB for your BSN. You most likely won't have a job once you graduatr, and if you attend a private there will be huge loans to pay off.

Good luck. pm me if you have mote questions.

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apply to a lot of schools and pick the one that accepts you... right now getting into nursing is getting more diff. and a lot of people applying

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

I am not a nurse, yet but wanted to tell you that I am your age-actually turned 32 this past June, and live in Northern CA and wanted to tell you that many of the nurses that I know IRL have encouraged me to get an ADN, first and then complete the RN-BSN afterwards. They all tell me that they get paid well as ADN's right now. I do have a few friends with BSN's, too and I haven't asked them for their opinion on this. However, I didn't ask the ADN's, either, they just offered the advice to me when I told them I am taking prereqs. That being said, I am going for my BSN because it is personally important to me to earn my bachelor's, among other reasons.

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1) I don't think there is an absolute answer to the question, ADN or BSN...which is better? A lot of it is based on your situation (time, money, location, acceptance, preference, opinion...etc). With my situation, I applied to multiple CCs & CSUs. I was rejected by all CCs (merit & lottery based) but accepted into multiple CSUs (all merit based). So the decision was made for me. I plan to attend graduate school later so as an added bonus, I'm able to obtain a BSN in 2 years at my school when it usually takes the same amount of time to obtain an ADN. So BSN route is working out for me.

2) It's sort of hard to say which school is better. It might be better to compare cost of attendance, NCLEX pass rates, ask current students about their experience at each school...etc. Unless a person attended multiple nursing programs, otherwise I don't think it's valid to compare based on "he say she say". Comparisons like such are probably subjective & biased. Other factors might be involved as well. For example, my school is affiliated with a major medical center in the area. Most of our instructors are employees there (CNS, NP, educator, CCRN...etc) and we do most of our clinical rotations there as well. So in some ways, it's like we're being trained to work there after graduation. In fact, they do offer contracts with stipend to students that qualify. So if you would like to work at this medical center, my school is probably the best for you.

But in the end, my school is the best!! J/K

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