Desperately looking for help and advice

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hi all first of all i know this is a long post but if any of you would be kind enough to sit through it, i really need and would greatly appreciate any advice. i started community college three years ago (fall 2007) and due to issues in my personal life transferred to two different community colleges that year and then ended up at suny buffalo in the fall of 2009. i had planned to apply to their nursing program for the following fall but got caught up in being away from home for the first time and didn’t focus enough energy on school which lead to me getting a poor grade in a&p 2 and consequently not being able to apply. i figured an extra year wouldn’t hurt me and planned to retake the class and apply for fall 2010 admission. i retook a&p and got an a but when it came time to apply to the program i received an email saying they were not accepting applications due to budget cuts. by the time they sent this email at the end of january most other schools deadlines had already past or had different pre requisites leaving me ineligible to apply. after doing some research and not having any other options i have decided to go back to my community college this coming fall and have been accepted into their nursing program. the problem is that my ultimate goal is to become a nurse practitioner and in order to start a nurse practitioner program i must have a bachelors. right now i am really hoping to hold a bsn in three years but i don’t know if that would be possible. i am looking at two options: applying for bsn nursing upper division programs for fall 2011 even though i will already be one year into a community college program. i would consider this option because i have all my pre reqs done and will have been in school for four years at this point and feel like completing an associates is a waste of time. or accelerated nursing programs that have a one year rn to bsn program. i was wondering if anyone had any advice on either one year rn to bsn or bsn programs that would accept me with the following stats:

overall gpa-3.45 with 80 credits or if i stayed and completed the community college program and received my anticipated grades – 3.6

a&p 1-b-

a&p got a d- but retook and received an a

micro- a-

stats- b-

psyc- a

chem- haven’t taken yet

(any other specific courses just ask)

i am very aware that for nursing my stats are not at all good. i am very frustrated with myself because i am a smart girl and know i easily could have achieved at least b+ in all my classes if i had not let my personal life get in the way and stayed focused. i am currently at a loss and extremely depressed and frustrated with my situation and am very determined to get nothing but as from here on out. i would really appreciate any insight on what i should do now and what schools i should be looking at. i live in ny but at this point am willing to move pretty much anywhere in order to graduate with a bsn in three years.

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Finish up and just get your ADN. Before you graduate, start applying for an RN-BSN program. Hopefully, that'll save you some time.

But, with your competitive stats-- I'd go for a bachelor's :) I wish my stats were as good as yours. I'm nowhere near.

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Finish the RN, then do the bridge to the BSN.

The advantages to this include a better gpa when applying for the BSN and demonstrating that you can stick with a program. A few changes are not a big deal but you have a lot of changes. Even that is probably not a big deal because they are the prereq classes. Changing to another nursing program when you are half way through a first one seems to me to be a much bigger deal, esp on top of all the other switching around.

I'm not sure of the ethics of accepting a place in a nursing program with the intention of leaving it half way. I think a nursing program is at least an implied committment, at least these days with the competition for spots so intense. I know life happens and sometimes people must drop out but that is different.

Oh, and I've heard (never looked into it myself) that nursing classes don't transfer well. People dropping out then trying to continue at a different school had to retake the nursing classes they had completed, even those they did well in.

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Try checking out West Coast University. I believe the last time I've checked, they had a program where you could get your Bachelors in 3 years with certain requirements. If I'm not mistaken.

There's also Mt. Saint Mary's College of Nursing. I'm not too sure what they offer but you might want to check it out.

These are located in California.

Best of luck to you. I understand where you're coming from.

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Yeah... listen to YODA! -->> Saysfaa. She's speaking from experience -- she's got five kids! She has years of experience trying to mold people... Yes, Almighty, Yoda -- she'll do what you say! (just kidding Saysfaa) :clown: I'm just in a good mood, summer is near! Everything's all bright and shiny, except for the unbearable heat in Vegas (eww).

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How long is the program you are in now going to take for you to get your ADN? I would probably finish that program first and then you have 2 options. You can either begin working in a hospital which allows you to maintain an income and go back to school to get your BSN or you can start an RN-BSN bridge program. Personally I would try to get the job first and even if the hospital doesn't pay for all of your BSN they more often than not have tuition reimbursement programs that will cover a percentage of it. Then you will come out after finishing your BSN already with a job in a hospital and won't have to worry about competing with other "more experienced" nurses for a position. Just a thought! :) Don't get so caught up with the time frame unless there is a dire reason why you need to have your BSN in 3 years.

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