Help! Rn-Bsn or 4 year (NIU, Purdue, or Creighton?) Also, ROTC nursing?

[jstasin34]

Hey guys!

I'm so happy that this site exists! It helps out so much! So I have a ton of questions that I was hoping you guys could help me figure out. Let me give you background information first. I went to Iowa State my freshmen year in college. I completed 26.5 hours and received a 3.88 Cumulative GPA. I transferred to Harper Community College for this year because Iowa State does not have a nursing program, and I can get my pre-reqs out of the way for much cheaper. Right now, I am taking Human Anatomy (4 credits), CNA class (6 credits), Intro to Sociology (3 credits), and Intro to Psychology (3 credits) ~ (total of 16 credits), and by the way things are going right now, I should get a 4.0 GPA this semester. Also, my CNA state exam is in December so I will hopefully get certified by then. I am also going to start volunteering at Sherman Hospital starting in November. Next semester, I will take Human Physiology, Fund of Nutrition, Microbiology, Fund of Speech, and possibly another class (14-17 cr.). And HOPEFULLY, get a 4.0 as well. And also hopefully find a part time job as a CNA or PCT. My ultimate goal would be to become a Nurse Anesthetist or a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. Sooo here are my questions now:

1) Anything else that I could be doing to get more experience?

2) Harper Community College: Should I apply to Harper's nursing program and receive an associates degree, and do the RN-BSN program at Univ of IL at Chicago, Northern Illinois, or Loyola? Which RN-BSN school would you choose? Does anyone know where Harper's clinicals are? Has anyone done the RN-BSN program? Do graduate schools dislike or not accept RN-BSN students?

or should I do the traditional BSN program at one of these schools :

Northern Illinois University NIU is a 4.5 year traditional BSN program. I would be applying as a transfer student. Is anyone in this program or does anyone know how hard it is to get into the program? How good is it? Any chance that I would get in?

Purdue: This would be my dream school to get into. Anyone know any of the student profiles for Purdue nursing students? I want to get in so bad. Any chance for that? Does anyone go to Purdue and can tell me more about it? Is anyone in any of the ROTC programs and getting scholarships for it?

Creighton I think Creighton's nursing program is very good, but I would only go if I was also accepted into the ROTC program as well because it is an expensive school. Anyone doing nursing ROTC at Creighton?

I chose a lot of these schools because they seem very reliable and they are not extremely picky about their pre-requisites.

Also, can anyone tell me about ROTC nursing? Which branch is better? Anyone know of any schools offering nursing ROTC scholarships? Any other schools I should apply to?

Thanks guys, hopefully hear from you soon :)