BSN program or BS direct entry Master's Program? Nursing Student Help.

[helad]

Hi!

I am a freshman in college and have decided I am very interested in pursuing nursing as a profession. I currently attend Boston College and transferred into the Connell School of Nursing my first semester. In the nursing program at Boston College, one graduates with a BSN degree after four years and then can go on to a Master's Program. Though I do not know which field I desire to enter, I am thinking of becoming a Nurse Practitioner so will go on to a MSN program after I graduate. Although the nursing program here is very strong and the clinical placements take place in great hospitals in Boston, due to financial reasons and distance from home (I am from IL, about 1,000 miles from Boston) I am considering whether attending a more affordable school closer to home would be a good idea. I desire to attend an academically challenging nursing program, and found a program at a renowned college that is more affordable for me and closer to home, however it is not structured the same as the nursing program here. The program instead is a 3-2 Liberal Arts Nursing program where one graduates with a BS degree (Pre-Nursing) after three years at the Liberal Arts School and then directly transfers to a very well-known Nursing school for the next two years to receive a MSN degree. I have heard that it is much more beneficial for your career to obtain a BSN over a BS because of the advantages of clinical placements through a BSN program. I am looking for advice whether or not staying in the BSN program here (though much more costly and additional expenses for airfare when I travel home) is a better idea than possibly transferring next year into the 3-2 Liberal Arts Nursing Program. It is very important to me to attend an academically challenging school, which both schools are.

Thank you in advance for your help! I really appreciate it.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Stay where you are. BC is a good program for the many reasons you describe, and as you are discovering, it's going to be just about impossible to transfer to another school because unlike math or English majors, the nursing majors in different schools go by different schedules and course content. Any money you think you'll save on tuition and travel will get eaten up in a hurry by the extra semester or two you'll spend. Besides, your other school may already have their classes full.

BC is very competitive. I know it probably doesn't matter to you, but if you leave they won't be able to fill your slot with somebody else, so it will go to waste. (Same reasoning about another reason why it may not be possible to transfer directly into a 2nd or 3rd year somewhere else.)

In the long run, this problem will pale. Travel less, perhaps, economize, and thank your lucky stars you got in there in the first place.

(Maybe you could take geography as a distribution requirement. It's only about 1100 miles to Illinois from Boston :) )

[helad]

Thank you for your advice. And I do recognize my typo, I know that Boston is NOT 3,000 miles away!