New to Atlanta

I can't answer your Atlanta questions as I live in Augusta. But which route you go really depends on you. If you can afford it then get your Rn. It will save you from doing 2 clinicals. I wish I had gone that route. LPN in Georgia will run for 15 months with your prereq's and RN will run you 2 years with prereqs for an Assiciates and 4 yrs for a Bachelors. This is provided you go full time the whole time. Don't expect to glide right in to either program. The more prereq's you have out the way the better. The better your GPA the better esp in the Sciences.

Even if you decide to do your LPN don't let any school talk you into doing those diploma level prereqs. Go ahead and do college level courses. If full time isn't an option there's always the Excelsior program that's completely at your own pace and just a weekend clinical at the end. If you're good with the computer you can do most prereq's online. I did all mine that way including the sciences. Algebra was the only class i took in the classroom. That's was purely because I didn't trust myself to do it.

Nursing degrees are not like other degrees because of how the program is set up. I am a full time nursing student in my final year of an ADN program. It is one year for pre-req's and two years for the nursing program. That means it will take 3 years to get an associates degree. The BSN programs in this area can be completed in four years, generally two years pre-req and two years for the nursing program.

I chose the ADN route so that I could get my RN the fastest, as I am the sole provider in my family of four! I plan to bridge to my BSN which will only take 12-18 months full time. Plus most of it is online! I believe that in most ADN programs, you can sit for the LPN-NCLEX after your first year with permission from your program director. So going to an LPN school then bridging to RN may not even be necessary. Call local schools and find out. I wish you lots of success on your journey and welcome to Georgia.

Sincerely,

Jay

dctmommy -

Really what degree you choose depends on several things:

1) How quickly do you want to get into the workforce? If time is of the essence than I would suggest an ADN - it is much cheaper than a BSN degree and it is only two years. If you already have a previous bachelor's degree in another area you may want to consider doing an accelerated BSN program - however there is no way you would be able to work doing the accelerated option.

Also, many hospitals will pay for you to go back to to school to get your BSN degree once you start working which would be very nice!!

2) What are your long term career goals? Are you interested in bedside care only or are you interested in an advanced degree or nurse management role - these options would require a BSN degree and then you can work towards your advanced degree.

3) As for the LPN route, I think you will find that many LPN students have difficulty finding a job after graduation. To me, it would make more sense at the very least to get the ADN - the extra semester needed to get this degree would be worth every cent.

4) Keep in mind that the public programs are very difficult to get into due to the sheer volume of applications. Not to discourage you in anyway - where there is a will, there is a way. You may want to look at some of the private colleges in the state that offer the BSN degree - yes they are much more expensive, but they are able to make admittance decisions off of more than just a GPA.

5) Have you already taken all your pre-reqs as well? If not, I would highly recommend Georgia Perimeter for your pre-reqs - they are very reasonably priced for the education.

Hope that helps some.