It's going to take me 3 years to earn ADN. Does that sound right?

studentnursepupmom · Aug 16, 2011

I'm starting an ADN program on Wednesday. For my program, there is only one semester of pre-reqs; I get to skip that because I have a previous degree and took all of those classes already. I still have 4 semesters (2 years) of nursing classes to complete. The entire program for someone who has to take the pre-reqs would be 5 semesters (2.5 years), so that sounds about right to me.

ErinRN2B · Aug 16, 2011

My ASN will have taken me three years to complete. One year of pre-reqs - A&P, micro, chem, etc. - and two years of core nursing classes. I think that this is pretty standard for CC ASN programs.

chelechele · Aug 16, 2011

It took me three years but I finally got into NS! The first year, I took one or two classes at a time, i went full time the second year but also moved. Because I moved and changed schools the requirements and prereq's were different and so I had to take yet more classes before I could apply to the program. I did finish those but it was too late to apply by then, but finally I was able to apply and got accepted! Now I start NS in less than a wek now and it is one of the best feelings ever! I feel like I have worked so hard and have accomplished alot and still have a ways to go! My program is two years (4 sem) it will be worth it though! You can do it!:)

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Aug 16, 2011

that's the thing. you can get an associate's degree in english in 2 yrs, and an associate's degree in bio in 2 years..but an associate's degree in nursing will take you 3 years in most places. so.... since everyone seems to plan on getting a bs later, why not just bite the big one and do the bsn in four years and be done with it? it's shortsighted to think it will just be another year after your associate's degree; i can promise you it will be longer than that, as some of your credits won't transfer; if you're planning on doing this while employed you won't be able to do it full-time, either.

and what's this with "i hope my employer might pay for it"? hope is not a plan. good luck with that one. most employers who offer this (and they are few and far between) don't let you start on such a program until after several years of steady employment with them.

if you plan / need to have a bsn to accommodate your future, just do it.

Mike R, ADN, BSN, RN · Aug 16, 2011

It took me a year and a half to do the pre-reqs (work full time, school part time), a two year wait list and we have a two year program. So when the dust settles, it will have taken me 5 1/2 years to get a two year degree :)

Despareux · Aug 16, 2011

I think it's fairly typical for a nursing program to take about 3 years to complete; although, when I'm done, it will be 4 years for me--I slow rolled my prerequisites.

Nurse2b7337 · Aug 16, 2011

I agree with everyone here so far. I think it helps you tremendously if you have a previous degree then some of your prereq's can be satisfied provided it hasn't been long since you graduated. I believe when I'm done it will hkave taken me about 2 1/2 to 3 years to complete the ADN program. Good luck and enjoy the ride.

my3mracles · Aug 16, 2011

Thanks everyone! I'm glad it's completely normal. :)

opal86 · Aug 16, 2011

I will be done with my ADN May 2012 and it took me four years. I have a previous Bachelors degree so I was also expecting my ADN to take only 2 but that was just for the nursing program itself, not including all the pre-reqs. Even though I was able to transfer a lot of credits over there was still many more classes to take, of course, and a few of them seemed downright unnecessary and just a way to take more money from the students. It is a very good idea to get all of the pre-reqs and even co-reqs out of the way before starting the program. I know a few classmates that struggled with the main nursing class because they were working and taking a couple classes on the side, and about 1/4 of my class failed or dropped out. A lot of my classmates have had to cut their hours and even quit their jobs entirely because nursing school is so time consuming. So even though you may want to get school over with asap, think about what you honestly can handle, because nursing school is a lot tougher than one would expect.

JROregon, ASN, BSN, RN · Aug 16, 2011

It took me a while to get over the shock that I was NOT going into a 2 year program. Heck, even to stupid catalog for the school showed schedule examples with all the science courses being taken at the same time as the nursing courses. I was one of the lucky ones. I have a prior bachelors degree and took years of math for that degree so I was able to place out of the college algebra and didn't need to take speech or basic English comp. However, I have a few friends who had to take a full year of math classes before they could even start the bio class that was a pre-req for the A&P and micro courses. I started with one bio/chem class the first term.... which I barley got into because the classes fill up weeks or months before the general public can register. A computer glitch got me into my first A&P class which was also pretty much full before my actual registration time. There is only one microbio instructor at my school and can take only 48 students at a time and again I got lucky getting in when I wanted to take that class. So much craziness as school budgets are being cut but enrollment goes up. Just be flexible and ready to make schedule changes. It took me a year and 2/3 to get all of the non-nursing classes out of the way.

busygrl · Aug 16, 2011

It also took me a year and a half to complete my pre-reqs and nursing sciences and now I start my clinicals in a few weeks. I really wouldn't rush nursing school in 2 years. AP's and Micro (and others) are demanding courses with LOTS of info and it makes more sense to know this stuff before going into a clinical setting. Who has time to write Eng Comp papers while trying to focus on nursing. I've seen too many nursing students (in my AP II class) fail out of nursing school because they are focused on their college courses. Don't worry about the time......it flies by SO QUICKLY!! Good Luck!!