ADN first or straight to BSN?

[xlightx]

I am a 20 year old student and am clueless on what to pursue first. I can either apply for my ADN at a community college in 2018 or go straight for the BSN at a university. With the ADN, I could work as a nurse while doing online courses to achieve a BSN while the hospital would pay for most of the tuition for the courses, or I could go straight for the BSN and work without having to worry about taking courses to get a BSN but I would be in debt. It is said that 85% of students graduate debt free from the ADN program at the community college. I just need some insight on what to do since you all would know more about this than I do. My end goal is to eventually become a nurse practitioner but I am not 100% sure on that yet. So my questions are... should I get the ADN first or go straight for the BSN? Is it really stressful for the nurses who work and take online BSN courses? And if worse case scenario, would a University look down on my pre reqs for the nursing program if I was to take them all at a community college versus a university?

[xlightx]

Bump? Can anyone help ?

[llg, PhD, RN]

The answers to all of your questions depend on the particular town and schools you are talking about. In some regions of the country, there are good ADN programs at local community colleges and the graduates of those programs have no problem finding good jobs. If that is the case where you live, then it is usually cheaper to get that ADN first and then work as an RN while you finish your BSN.

However, in other parts of the country, either the ADN programs are not very good and/or the best local employers don't hire their new graduates. If that's the case where you live, getting the ADN first might not work well for you. It might be best to start with the BSN -- especially if you can get decent financial aid so that your student loans won't be enormous -- and assuming the BSN program is of good quality.

Your questions can only be answered once you know that type of information about your region. Your own personal preferences enter it as well. There are too many factors that determine the "best choice" for you for us to answer on basically "no" information. Is there someone you can trust who can give you good information about the quality of schools and job market in your particular area?

[ottersloveoysters]

If you can get a job with a ADN, that sounds like a good move. In some areas of the country it is difficult or impossible to find a job without a BSN.