help me decide what to do! :(

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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soooo I need lots of advice im a senior in highschool and everyone is going through the college application process right now but i havent decided what i want to do. I have 2 choices.

1. Go to my community college for a year to take my pre-reqs then transfer to the university to get my bsn

or

2. go straight to the university for all 4 years.

my dilemma is that the community college is 5minutes from my house and the university is 50minutes. i would be driving 20minutes and taking a train for another 30minutes. plus freshmen get horrible schedules so i want to apply for the honors program because we get first pick in schedules but classes are much harder.

and i have a bunch of scholarships like around 10k that i will be getting and obviously i wont be using all of the 10k in the community college so would i lose all my money? i just dont know what to do :(

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Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.

There is nothing wrong with going to the CC first then transferring to the 4-year University.

I don't know how many University/Colleges are in your state, but keep your options open when it comes to the NS program. They have become very competitive due to the high volume of applications they receive. With that said, make sure you do well in all your classes, especially your sciences.

Wish you all the best!

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You will need to ask the sponsors/donors of your scholarships whether those awards need to be used now, or whether they can be used at a future date.

I would encourage you to look at both options. Acceptance to prelicensure nursing programs at both the ADN and BSN is competitive, and I encourage people to keep all options open and consider applying to both levels. If you have two acceptance, then you're in a great position and have a choice to make!

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Commute as little as possible. Trust me. Your education is not as good if you commute. Something has to give.

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there is only 3 programs near me. one is a cc but only for ADN which i dont want. 2 for BSN but one is private which i cannot afford so i am left with only one option.

one more question!

another thing that worries me is transferring. is that a difficult process? because the cc would be much more convenient. & also all these teachers and high school counselors are so overwhelming they think i am "above" going to a cc and it makes me feel bad.

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I was offered 3 spots. I declined the BSN for the local ADN after much input. What I found "for my area" is that it doesn't really matter if you're an ADN or BSN, they all make the same. I can take my RN to BSN online which will save so much time, travel and money. Thirdly, I just wanted to be closer to my family. Good luck with whatever you decide if best for you.

Also, don't listen to every teacher, etc. My MD said I was "too good" to go to the local cc. Doesn't mean you can't transfer... which by the way is easy.

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Thanks for your help! I'm choosing BSN because i have a full scholarship so i might as well take advantage of it now.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.

Even though it has been more 10 years for me, I want to share with you that the Valedictorian from my school decided to start at the CC and then she transferred to the 4-year school. She never thought of herself as being "stupid" for going that route. It's about what you want, not about what people think you should do.

Btw, good for you for going BSN.

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Since you know what university you are likely to transfer to, check their website for information about transfers from that community school... it might be under "class equivalents." Sometimes it is in the student affairs office of either school. You could also ask the university advisors only I'd wait a couple of weeks to do that, they are particularily busy right now.

You have more than two choices. You could take classes at the university two days per week and classes at the community college three days per week or vs vs.

If I were you, I'd map out several choices.... look up things like if the university gives preference in getting into the nursing school to its own students over transfer students, how much does the commute cost (would you get a part time job if you had an extra 10 hours per week, will you need that time to study), make a trip in and see if the ride is smooth enough and/or quiet enough for you to study on the train, how far is the train station from the school, read the fine print on your scholarships to see how they can be used, figure out if it will cost more than $10,000 to go to the university even if you commute (losing some scholarship money doesn't matter if you are getting a full ride) don't forget books, lab fees, etc.

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Do the pre reqs at a JC if you can.

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I would recommend taking pre-reqs at CC, then transfer for your BSN. You would still receive your BSN degree in your choice of university; it would just be more affordable and conducive to your school-life balance (ie; commute time is less). However, since you have a full ride a university, then I would say, you made a good choice for the 4-yr school. Congrats and good luck

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