My Plan - Would Love Some Input

[coffeeaftermidnight]

I started back to school this summer after being out for nearly 13 years. This summer I'm taking Intermediate Algebra, Nutrition and Ethics. I'm currently attending a local community college which offers the ASN; however, they also have a program which is partnered with the University for a BSN. When I was in school previously I was completing pre-req's for a BSN program.

Basically I have the following credits:

Chemistry

Psychology

Developmental Psychology

Sociology

Freshman Comp I

Freshman Comp II

For the ASN program I'm only required to finish A&P I, A&P II and Microbiology. However, if I want to go into the BSN program without the ASN I need to have my AA degree in general education.

Because I have three terms of science still to complete (four terms if I include the Biology class required for the BSN), I'm considering completing the AA degree over the next four terms with my science classes so I can move directly into the BSN program and skipping the ASN completely. I would graduate with my AA degree after the fall term next year and have all my pre-reqs complete for both the ASN or BSN programs.

Has anyone else gone this route? Any words of wisdom? My long term goal is to complete my MSN - so skipping the ASN and earning the BSN initially will only push me closer to my goal.

As far as study habits are concerned, I'm an extremely devoted student and currently have a 4.0 this term. My GPA prior to this term (from 13 years ago) is a 3.3. So I'm not real concerned about course load. I'm taking 13 credit hours this fall (Biology, College Algebra, US Government & Religion) but all terms after that will be roughly 7-10 credit hours per term.

[Seyma]

It's ideal to get all your general education courses out of the way and get your AA because when you go into a BSN nursing program, your course load will be time consuming as it is. The BSN program I'm going into this fall has 14 units for the first semester. I'm so happy that I don't have to take any ge courses on top of that so I think you have a perfect plan going on. Completing 60 units of general education while in a nursing program would be suicide not to mention impossible.

[tfleuter, BSN, RN]

Sounds like a decent plan to me. If your goal is MSN, then whatever gets you to your BSN the fastest and with reasonable course loads is usually the way to go. Good luck with whatever path you choose!

[MotivatedOne]

I currently have a bachelor's degree in a field other than nursing. My undergrad GPA was a little below a 3.0 and my nursing pre req gpa was like a 3.2 I think. Anyway, I was going back and forth between a traditional BSN program and a ADN program after being rejected by a school that offered an ABSN program. Because I've reached my max on federal loans I've opted to go to a community college and just pay for my tuition out of pocket.

Once I graduate, I plan to apply to a college that offers an RN-BSN program...most are offered online and I can get it in a year. From what I'm hearing a lot of hospitals are only hiring BSN nurses so if that's a concern of yours than I would suggest you getting your BSN degree especially if tuition isn't a concern.

Good luck!