Bit of a Dilemma

[RN-4Ever, DNP]

Hello Everyone, I am in my final semester of an LPN program. I was having trouble last semester and I was fearful I wouldn't pass. Needless to say I brought my grades up and did just fine. During my time of fear, I applied to an RN program to start this fall just in case I didn't pass.

I graduate the LPN program this August. This means I can apply to an LPN to RN program next year. My school does this by allowing LPN's to take a transitional course and join the RN student's second year.

Much to my surprise... I am accepted into the RN program. Now for the dilemma... Do I start from scratch and be guaranteed to graduate with my RN in 2014 or do I take the chance I will be accepted next year? Any thoughts????????????

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

you lost me there, but it seems to me that you're going to finish your education to sit for the rn license exam, so take the fastest one. if you finish lpn this summer and start the 2nd year of the as program in september, you finish in 2013? or am i missing something?

[RN-4Ever, DNP]

Either way I would graduate 2014. The LPN to RN only accepts students in the fall. Which means it will be too late for me to apply this year for the bridge. Basically, the LPN to RN Bridge students take a LPN to RN bridge course in the summer and join the RN student's 3rd and 4th semester.

Right now I am guaranteed to graduate 2014. My dilemma is should I not accept the spot and take the chance I may not get accepted next year?

[justchill, BSN, RN]

So no matter what you graduate 2014? If so, I would just take what you were already accepted to. Does the other program have a LPN entrance test? My school does. Some of them have to start from the beginning or come in halfway depending on their results.

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

I would take the spot you already have... You might get ambushed if you decline a spot in nursing school. At the very least, you should do very well in the Fundamentals course. lol

[RN-4Ever, DNP]

There is an entrance exam, but I already took it for the LPN program. I will be attending the same school so I don't need to retake it.

[RN-4Ever, DNP]

I just keep thinking how burned out I am now. If I do take this spot, I will have to start 2 weeks after graduation. Ugh

[mysonsmama]

If you can take those 2 weeks as a refreshing break I would think jumping straight into the rn program would be best. You will still pretty much be in school mode so there will be no need to make the adjustment back to student life after a year gone. And you already got in so I'd take the opportunity!

[Stephalump]

I've known a lot of nursing students, and I've never heard of anyone starting all over again with an RN instead of just transitioning...i can't imagine why you would be able to get in the full RN program and not into a bridge program...

Do you feel like it's unlikely that you'd get in?

It really seems redundant, stressful, and like a waste of $$$$ unless it's the only way you'd ever become an RN

[Feistn]

Won't you be paying for duplicate courses? Also, will you be able to get financial aid if you already graduated? If it were me, I'd get a job and apply for the bridge program. Have you talked to your faculty? I don't know if they would even let you enroll in a program not intended for LPNs. If your CC doesn't have a system for blocking those registrations, they might be annoyed with you for showing up in the fall, which might hurt your chances in the fall anyway. Plus, you're taking up a seat in a competitive program that isn't for LPNs.

[RN-4Ever, DNP]

@ Feistn, I do agree that I should give someone else a shot into nursing school. I put on my application that I am a current LPN student, so they are aware of the situation. My original plan was to take this year off and finish up my BSN prerequisites. I only applied in a moment of fear I wasn't going to pass LPN school. If I didn't pass last semester, I would be astatic right now. I am hesitant to just decline the spot because I have met 2 LPN student that graduated last year that were not accepted into the bridge program. They had better grades in their nursing classes then I do (because of my 1 C), but my grades are better in the nursing prerequisites. I am pretty sure they only look at the nursing prerequisites.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I will ponder for a few days. I am going to meet with the director of my LPN program and see what she thinks. She may be able to shed some light on why those students were not accepted or tell me to jump on the chance.

I do feel crazy starting over from scratch though. Any other advice is welcome. :)

[EmTheNewRN]

Talk to your nursing staff and get a few more details. Will they still let you start an RN program from scratch after you've got your LPN? How competitive are admissions to the transition program? My school's transition program was very small, and based purely on numbers, so if you had a low score on what they looked at, there was no way you'd get in because each semester there would be new applicants with higher scores than yours.

If, on the other hand, you have a good chance of getting into the transition in the next year or two it would be worth it to have a break from school and focus on learning the job while avoiding extra tuition expenses & redundant classes.