Does it matter what school you go to?

[floridanurse2b]

Another question, as I ponder whether I'll get into any school, LPN or RN, before I turn old and gray - does it matter where I go to school? Would my pay scale be higher if I graduated from a four-year college or a community college? Do employers look down their noses at tech school degrees? Would I get more job offers/better opportunities/ higher salary to start, if I got into a four-year college as a junior ( because of my previous bachelor's degree and then went on to get a bachelor's degree RN, then if I, say, got a two-year ADN community college degree?

[floridanurse2b]

Hey, I would be happy to get $3,000 more in pay a year! That's a lot of shoe shopping. I know the LPN degree is a roundabout way to get what I want, but the nursing school situation is very challenging these days, with so many people applying for so few slots. If I could just finish up my prerequisites, apply to an RN school, and get in right away, I would do that. But as it stands, I have to finish my prerequisites before I apply to all of the schools I've talked to (I could apply before I finish them but it will hurt my chances of getting in), and THEN even if I get accepted right away, a lot of local community college programs are saying it will be two or three years before you can start school! So oddly, getting an LPN and then going for a bridge program might be faster. Unless I can get into an accelerated second bachelor's degree program, which is something else I will try.

Oddly, I am looking at changing my liscnece to a NY liscence and found that for my BSN I can indeed get about a 3,000 dollar increase in pay per year. Now, 3,000 is not that much in the grand scheme of things, but it is something. However, it is the first time in my life the BSN has done me any financial favors....

As far as schools, I would agree it really does not matter, as long as it is accredited, and has a good pass rate for the boards. If you are really in a bind, getting the LPN is not a bad thing because you might then be able to get a job and have the rest of your education financed by the hospital you work for...but it is a round about way of doing things and you might not enjoy the longer process...