BA to LVN or BSN in CA?

SquishyRN, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2014

Generally speaking, your GE requirements from your BA will not "expire." Of course, this varies from school to school, but most commonly in nursing only the science pre-requisites "expire" while all other GE's such as English, Math, etc have no time restriction. Also, you need to consider your registration status when planning how long it will take you to take your science pre-reqs, especially if you plan to take them at a community college. The science pre-reqs are highly impacted in California community colleges. Unless you have an early registration date, you are likely to be waitlisted for these classes or not even be able to take them at all without loading up on unnecessary classes just to boost your registration priority. This will completely throw a wrench in your plans to complete your pre-reqs in "about a year." This is why so many people opt to go the private college route -- their pre-reqs are tied into their nursing programs and they don't lose time waiting for classes or being wait-listed to get into programs. However, I highly don't recommend that option since you don't want to be straddled with $160,000 in debt with two children and no job security. Your concern about this is definitely valid.

My advice to you would be to try to get into an adult school or ROP LVN program. These programs generally cost under $10k and do not have pre-reqs. Every school has a different selection process, but I believe the majority utilizes some sort of entrance exam. They are highly competitive though, as most public schools tend to be. Community college LVN programs are also cheap, but they typically have the same pre-reqs the RN programs do, so that doesn't save you time concerning pre-reqs. By going to an adult school, you can be working as an LVN while working on your pre-reqs and throughout your RN program as well.

Some schools to check out are Baldy View ROP, Downey Adult School, El Monte-Rosemead Adult School, and Hacienda LaPuente Adult School. I know the majority of these are far from Riverside, but I went to one of these and I had classmates coming from Riverside, Rancho, and Garden Grove.

I was in a similar position as you about 5 years ago. I graduated with a B.A. in History in 2008 and could not find a job when the economy tanked, so my family suggested I go into nursing. I had zero pre-requisites completed and could not afford to not start working sooner considering I just completed a degree and had yet to really enter the workforce, so my primary concern was being able to start working faster.

I started an LVN program in June 2009, it was 5 days a week of 8 hour days (2 days lecture, 3 days clinical). I did not work, but my parents paid out of pocket monthly and the entire program cost less than $5000 because I went to an adult school. However, many of my classmates worked part-time during the weekend, and about 3 of them worked full-time as CNAs with 11-7 shifts. They had families, so not working full-time was not an option.

I finished my LVN program in June 2010 and started my pre-reqs that Fall. I only needed Anatomy, Physio, and Micro plus Psych and Dev. Psych because all the other GEs I had already completed for my B.A. I worked full-time hours as an LVN while I took my pre-reqs and it wasn't difficult to do at all, I managed straight A's for all my pre-reqs. I only took 1-2 classes per semester because it was difficult to get classes and I was waitlisted for all 3 of Anatomy, Physio and Micro, so it took me 3 semesters to finish despite having a decent registration date.

I started my LVN-ADN program at a CC in June 2012 and graduated in June 2013. I worked full-time as an LVN throughout the program as well. Because I was already a working LVN, I had a job as a new grad ADN at my place of employment. New grad ADNs are generally having a harder time than BSNs finding jobs right now in SoCal's dismal job market, but it's not impossible. You just need to take a good hard look at your priorities. Is getting your first job in a hospital important to you or will you be ok working in non-hospital settings?

I'm currently in an online RN to BSN program while working full-time as an RN with an expected graduation date of May 2015. So by May 2015, I'll barely be getting my BSN but will already have 5 years of nursing experience under my belt. This was definitely the long road, but at least I've been able to pay for my entire nursing education out of pocket.

Anyway, hopefully that helped. Good luck on whatever you decide.

mkonji23 · Oct 23, 2014

I also graduated from an ROP LVN program and I can tell you right now that I wish I went straight for my BSN. Although having your LVN is nice because you get to work while you are waiting, there are so many restrictions for LVN bridge programs. If anything I feel that it is harder to get into a nursing program with your LVN.

If your already have a non-nursing bachelors, I would go for the accelerated BSN programs. In just 1 year you can have your Bachelors in Nursing, the only minus of course is the demanding coursework and time....I would only do this if you have the time and support.

Even though I have my LVN, this is the pathway I am going to have to take anyways. I will have a non-nursing bachelors next year and try to get into an Accelerated BSN.

If you do your lvn, you then have to go from lvn-adn.....after that you need to go from adn to bsn...this process can take 3-5 years.

I would just use the time to get really good (A's) grades in your prereqs and go for an Accelerated BSN. This will probably take you 2-3 years.

Some schools that offer BSN's with a non-nursing BA=

Concordia

CSULA

UCLA- has a 2 year Masters with a non-nursing BA

CSUN

there is a lot more schools out there,

Hope this info helps!