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I've been told when first starting out the pay is different by about $0.10 to $0.25 an hour. Also, with a BSN you will have a chance of moving up the food chain into supervisory positions vs. the associates. I've never verified it though. Furthermore, most major nursing universities offer bridge programs if you have an ADN to BSN. Apply to both, what do you have to lose? At least there will be more opportunities available to you. :)
Prettyladie:
As far as what to choose BSN or ADN it should depend on your goals. Do you need to make $$ soon or can it wait? Do you put more value in a bachelor's degree vs. an associates? I can tell you when it comes right down to it, it's a piece of paper that acknowledges your commitment to your studies. Expierence is what matters more. I can honestly speek my opinion because I have a bachelor's degree already in management information systems (computers) and in the end it's just a piece of paper that sits in a pretty frame. I graduated with this degree in 2001 and I have not had to retake any course. Plus, if I had to and it was a general course I would see if I could CLEP out of it.
My personal decision came to follow the ADN route because it's shorter in a sense that I don't have to take the extra classes (chem and nutrition) and if I decide to further my education, I'll do the bridge program (I believe it's only 1 - 2 more years). My issue is that I don't want to invest more time in school than what is needed. Every person is different though. Try to make a pro-con list for ADN vs. BSN, you might be able to then tell what you are leaning toward.
As far as your age, you are still very young, don't let that be a factor in your decision to pursue a higher degree. I'm in a pharmacology course right now with a bunch of 30 somethings and a couple of 40 somethings and these are people going for an ADN program.
Prettyladie
1,229 Posts
Okay I have a H U G E dilemma. I have lets say ohhh 100+ hours. No degree. No associates. No bachelors. The reason I have so many hours is because I've taken all the prerequisites for multiple schools. They all want this..and they all want that. I have a 3.45 and most of my schools, and a 3.39 at one school due to the different prereqs. I'm torn between waiting a semseter to try to get into BSN programs for the Spring or going ahead and starting an Associate program. I don't want to know the differences between having an associate or bachelors, I just want to know what would you do. I have A's and mostly B's in all my prereqs. I R E A L L Y don't want to retake things like english, psy and soc etc classes over just to raise my gpa. Also there is no guarantee that I will get into those programs regardless if I retake those classes. Besides I have 12 Bs. So I would spend all summer and partly fall retaking those courses, which doesn't make sense for me to take them in the fall when the deadlines are in september and october. They would still go off of my current grades. There is no way for me to retake all those classes in the summer. I could only take a few, and with those only being 3 hours classes, it wouldn't raise my gpa up that much anyways. On the associate part.. like I said I have 100 hours. I feel like I would be going backwards. I feel like all the hours I have would be going to "waste". But on the pros. I could start in the fall. The deadline isn't until June 9. I've been talking with the advisor and she says I have a really good chance. They select students by points. I have 9 out of 12. And if you have 8 and above points you are called to take the HESI test and if you have one of the 36 highest composite scores you are in the program. Seeing how I've taken the HESI before and scored relatively high on it, I'm not too worried about it. I'm just torn between these two decisions. I think maybe I'm being stubborn because I really want a BSN, but I'm 22 and I'm not getting any younger lol. So any input and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
-Prettyladie.