Help with figuring out the right college path?

[Candace1995]

Hello! I have come to this website frequently when looking up answers in my nursing research, and I have found the people here are quite helpful, so maybe someone could help me with some questions I have. I am a 17 year old junior in high school, and I have been looking into and researching nursing as a career. this is something I really want to do, and I think I have my plan mapped out, but I am unsure of a few things. First off, financially going to a community college to first get my ADN is really the only option I have. I have been looking a CCs in my area, but I am worried that if I graduate, I won't be able to find employment because a lot of areas require BSNs. Is it still practical to take the ADN route? I live in Ohio, in the Cincinnati area, does anyone know the hiring rates for ADNs around here? I'm just unsure of what direction to go in and any help would be appreciated :) thank you!

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Moved to nursing career advice for more answers.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Hi there & welcome to AN.

A community college is certainly the best place to obtain your pre-requisite & general education courses. However, you should be looking at BSN programs. Job opportunities for ADN grads are diminishing rapidly.

For most aspiring students, there are two major obstacles: finances & GPA. Is that the case for you also? First of all, take advantage of any AP classes that are available to you while you are in HS. CLEPing out of college courses is a terrific idea.. saves a ton of time and money. Work as hard as you can to get the best grades you can - your GPA & entrance test scores are critical factors in the admission process.

You also need to explore all of the financial aid that is available to you. If nothing changes in the meantime, most students can obtain grant money that covers most of the cost of community college. You need to start searching for scholarships and meet with college financial aid experts to help you map out a realistic strategy for financing your education.

Finally, please understand that nursing students' "college experience" is very different from the the carefree social whirl depicted in popular culture. Nursing school is intellectually challenging at best... seriously HARD at times & can be very stressful. They are the students studying in the library while everyone else is at the Friday mixer. So - if you feel the need to have a bit of freedom before committing to this level of effort, I strongly suggest that you consider taking a year or so off before going on to college.

Best of luck. Keep in touch with AN - we're here for you.