LVN or RN

Do your research into all of the programs you're interested in. You should apply to as many schools at you want to. In my area community college programs give first preference to people living in their service area (I'm not in Cali). If I had to choose between being waitlisted for two years or getting into a lpn course this year then I'd definitely go with the lpn. In two years you could be finished your lpn program, working in field and maybe in a lpn to rn/bsn program rather than just starting out in a rn program.

I live in Orange county, and decided to go with a one year,private LVN program, and then bridge my license afterward. I have all my pre-reqs completed, so I can apply to LVNtoRN programs as soon as I'm done. Of course, my first choice was to go directly to an RN program, but all of the CC programs either use a lottery [700 applicants for 64 spots] or have 2 year+ waiting lists. The way I see it, best case scenario is that I get accepted to an LVNtoRN program right after I graduate, in which case I effectively have my RN license in 2 years. Wost case, I have to wait a while to be accepted, but during that time I'll be making LVN wages, which are more than I'm currently making [not to mention gaining experience as a nurse]. Either way, I'm better off than if I waited around for an RN program to accept me, as I qualified for enough grant money to pay for about half of my LVN program, and my parents agreed to pay for the other half [then, once I'm working, I'll cover the rest of my education].

Thanks to both of you. The program for the LVN has a long list as well, so I

enrolled in a CNA class because it is helpful if you are one. The drag is it's not

a sure thing to get in, because it's not private - and so I decided to start my

pre-reqs too. So far I enrolled in the 7 credit CNA class, Chem 20 (the easiest

chemistry) and I'm waitlisted for Anatomy. I think I am at the maximum load for

credits, I'm just hoping the CNA will have alot of Anatomy so I will be studying

the same stuff.