If you had a choice between 2 year community, or a university....

I think you should go for the BSN. If it's something you're thinking about now, you might end up regretting it later on down the road (the "college experience" and stuff).

MTSU is a good school, although I opted to go to APSU instead. (I had to be different. I bet 95% of people from my school who were going to college went to MTSU)

Well here's another option.

If you go ADN and get a job at a hospital that offers tuition reimbursement you could complete your BSN and MSN and save lots of money.

Then again, you might find a hospital that offers 'earn as you learn' to PCTs. Then you have no loans since the hospital covers your educational costs.

It depends on your location and career goals but I would say go for the BSN. Where I'm at some of the local facilities prefer BSN or only hire BSNs. In fact when I went to my CC nursing info. session they were saying that they expected to see a decrease in the number of applications b/c local facilities preferred BSN.

I was in the same situation before and I chose BSN. I started at a community college, got an associates degree in health sciences and transferred to a university. I recently applied to the BSN program here and I'll find out in a few months! It'll take 2 more years to complete since I've already completed half the program.

I wanted to make sure there would be nothing holding me back going into the job market and according to a few of my teachers, the trend is towards requiring a BSN in the future. Nursing has no degree standard as of now, and many feel that it is holding back the profession, regardless of how alike programs may be. I wanted to be prepared for leadership positions as well as general RN jobs and I'm glad I did! (now I just need to be accepted! haha)

Personally, I'm choosing the ADN route for two reasons, money and campus proximity. I only have three prereqs left for the bsn program, which I could have completed this semester. Instead, I decided a few months ago to go the ADN route and have the hospital I work at pay for my BSN degree. It's one year online, so I can work at the same time.

However, I'm in my early thirties with three kids. I do not want to take money away from my family if it's not necessary and I don't want to spend two hours commuting when I could be with them. I'm in a completely different place, but I can understand wanting the college experience. That is a hard choice. One thing that may make it easier is to research how many new grads are getting jobs right out of school and what the salary is like. First year nurses don't make all that much money and that would be a lot of debt to pay off.

i am doing the associate’s route. it is a local community college and as of right now i do not have to pay a dime. there is another local school that is a 4 yr university and they have an rn to bsn program. this program is set up specifically with working nurses in mind. this way i can be working and getting experience while i am finishing my bsn. many of the specialty msn programs require exp as well as bsn. by the time i complete my bsn i will have the needed experience. additionally, i will be fresh out of school, so my brain will still be ready for the academic challenge. not only is this way cheaper but more efficient in my opinion. at least it is for me.

I was accepted to both a local ADN and to the university BSN program. I chose the University program. I knew I wanted a BSN, I also wanted to minor in chemistry (a difficult thing if I get my BS in an RN-BS program). Additionally, there were a lot more clinical hours in the BS program as it's a three year program with clinicals all three years with the last 6 months spent in a 25 - 30 hr/wk preceptorship. The ADN was a two year program with a 3 month preceptorship.

The tuition is more at the university, but I'm fortunate to have a scholarship that pays the overwhelming majority, so I'll end up with slightly less in student loans than if I had attended the ADN program (the scholarship is for a bachelors degree).

I don't regret my decsion at all. I have friends who started the ADN program the same time I started in the Uni program. I flat out like my program better. My prof's are amazing, supportive and knowledgeable and they create amazing experiences for us to learn in.

I would definitely try and speak with students in each of the programs and see what they like and don't like about their program.

I had two schools in mind, both universities (my CC is not close enough to where I live not to mention the wait list), I chose the ASN over the BSN for a few reasons. 1st the cost of the BSN was nearly double. 2nd the time it takes for me to get the degree and go to work. 3rd most hospitals where I am at pay for the BSN. I would rather use their $. Also, my cousin is a nurse who started with her RN and then went back for the BSN and she said it was so not worth it because she got a whopping $.80 pay raise. I dont know if that is typical everywhere, I am in FL. Another thing for me was the hours for the ASN program allow me to pick up my kids from school instead of trying to pay for childcare.

It's definately a good question to ask yourself. I had the same question myself when I was trying to decide on an institution. I had plan A: private institute= no wait, 42K tuition, 100% job placement and 95%+ passing of the NCLEX on the first try with all their RN graduates. Choice B: community college= 2.5 year wait, 7K tuition, only having to transfer credits to a university to finish the RN program. In the end I decided on the private institution. The money that I might save going to community college doesn't add up to the money I will earn getting my degree in the same time that I wait just to get into the program.

The 100% job placement and NCLEX scores is what sold me. Even if you get your degree, spend the money, etc. It doesn't mean anything if you don't get hired on with a good paying job afterward. In this economy it might be worth spending twice as much for your education if you know that you will be able to use it.

Best of luck

Howdy,

If you choose the ADN although it will save you money..It will not save you time or stress. I was thinking about this for the longest time also, and almost choose ADN instead. But first think about this. (assuming you want to advance in your field and want to get a masters and/or specialize)

1. You graduate, get a job with an ADN degree.

2. You go back to school, while working a full time job and try to finish out the BSN.

This would mean your taking 1-3 classes per semester while you are not at work, or being a mom/wife/husband/dad w/e your situation is.

This would take you forever to finish the BSN compared to getting it while being a student fulltime.

I think if you have the opportunity to get a BSN, do it while you are still young and dont have to try to complete it when you're working full time and have more stresses added to your life. Unless something happens (hope nothing does!) then advance on to the BSN!

she got a whopping $.80 pay raise. I dont know if that is typical everywhere, I am in FL.

That is typical here too from what I've been told. The BSN only makes a big difference in salary later on in your career if you want to advance. In the early years, most places here that hire ADN and BSNs pay them pretty much the same. The debate rages on here why BSNs only make about a dollar more. I wouldn't say its not worth it if that is where she sees her career. It will eventually pay off if she wants a leadership/administrative role.

The beauty of nursing to me though is that there are options.

i'm getting my associates first. a lot of the hospitals in my area pay for continued education, so after i'm an RN, i'll have my employer pay for my BSN.