Community College or University...that is the question

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I just registered for my last required class (Microbiology) and will be ready to apply for the nursing program at the end of Fall semester. I plan to get my BSN but am currently attending a community college. Would it make more sense to transfer to university now, rather than get my 2 year RN from the community college and then transfer?

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If its two years of school either way get the BSN now.

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Specializes in Medical Surgical/Addiction/Mental Health.

It is up to you. If you go the community college route, I would venture to say you will become an RN sooner. In which case, you can work while doing the RN to BSN route. You take more nursing courses the BSN route…like Research, Management, and Community Nursing. The difference between an ASN and BSN is that a typical BSN in 124 credits whereas Associate degrees are in the 60 range. So, what do you want to do? Would you rather complete a degree sooner and start working…then have your employer pay for the BSN or go straight to a BSN?

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Specializes in Infusion.

Depends on what you can afford, how much time you have for school and convenience factors..... like, I won't drive 90 minutes to get to school and clinicals. If you are a parent who needs to spend time with spouse and kids, CC makes sense. If you are a young something, single, near a big city, I would go to a university.

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My vote would be CC, assuming you can get in. The cheaper the better and nothing costs less than CC. If you have time while in the program, I'd try taking some of the electives you need for the BSN while your in the ADN program. They'll all transer to any state school. Then once you have you're RN, and you're working, get your BSN online at a state school. The only reason not to go to CC, in my opinion, is if you're waitlisted and don't want to wait, or you want to enjoy the 'college' life for a while.

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my vote would be cc, assuming you can get in. the cheaper the better and nothing costs less than cc. if you have time while in the program, i'd try taking some of the electives you need for the bsn while your in the adn program. they'll all transer to any state school. then once you have you're rn, and you're working,
get your bsn online at a state school
. the only reason not to go to cc, in my opinion, is if you're waitlisted and don't want to wait, or you want to enjoy the 'college' life for a while.

how much of the bsn course work is available online? is it less clinical work once you have the two year rn? i'm pretty sure i will be able to get in right away. it's a competitive entry program at my cc...and as much as i wish i had enjoyed 'college life' lol, i have 3 kiddos and sort of did this whole thing backwards =).

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It's definitely more convenient and less expensive...I'm just nervous about what is and isn't going to transfer. For example...I know right now that I will have to repeat my patho course at the university. I think I will stick with the original plan and go the CC route to begin with. Thank you!

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It is up to you. If you go the community college route, I would venture to say you will become an RN sooner. In which case, you can work while doing the RN to BSN route. You take more nursing courses the BSN route...like Research, Management, and Community Nursing. The difference between an ASN and BSN is that a typical BSN in 124 credits whereas Associate degrees are in the 60 range. So, what do you want to do?
Would you rather complete a degree sooner and start working...then have your employer pay for the BSN or go straight to a BSN?[/quo

Very good point...Thank you!

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with 3 kids, go CC.

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If you don't mind me adding my 2 cents.. I have 3 kiddos too, and I've done both CC and the University. I had planned on getting my ADN, and then getting a job with the hopes the hospital would help pay for the RN-to-BSN. Then I got a letter from my CC saying the wait list is 2 1/2 years. SO I applied at the local university that doesn't have a wait list, but is based on GPA and was accepted..yay! I just finished my 1st year of nursing school and was offered a nurse extern job at a fantastic hospital. She said she picked me because I was in a BSN program. Because of the wait list at the CC I'm actually graduating at the same time I would have in the ADN program. I do have to take some pretty awful classes...research, writing, but it's only for 15 weeks at a time..then it is done.

Good Luck with whatever you choose to do!

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I'm kind of in the same boat. I have four kids and decided to go to CC. I'm really glad I did! I got a pell grant which covers 90% of my tuition (having kids has some perks, lol) and I'll leave school in 2 years with $0 in debt. Yes, I had 1 1/2 years of wait time between pre reqs and nursing classes but it's worth it to be debt free. A girl in my Micro class was going to a University to beat the wait and would be walking away with $70k in loans. Ouch! For me it was DEFINITELY worth the wait! :) (I plan to go back after a year or so of work and do an ADN-MSN bridge program online.)

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What are the job placements like for both the CC and BSN program in your town? Here in my town, the twoth hospitals are hiring BSN grads over ADN grads. This means the CC grads either need to work in nursing homes, or leave town to find hospital jobs. The local CC graduates 70 students per year, and there are still many 2009 and 2010 grads unemployed who could not move because of family reasons.

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