Pathway to RN through second degree bachelor. Have lots of questions

Roasted.Peanuts · May 3, 2017

Hi, it seems we are both in similar situations. About me: I graduated from CSULB with a BS in Healthcare Administration in 2015. I recently was accepted to both an ADN program at a community college and the ABSN program at CSUSM. I started taking my nursing prerequisites in Spring 2016, so about 9 months after I graduated. I had to take all the sciences such as Anatomy, Physiology, Micro, and Chem because my first degree was not science related. I took some of my sciences in Summer (8-weeks) and Winter session (5-weeks) to get them out of the way quick at a community college. I got all As in my prereqs and was done with them by Feb 2017. I started applying to two ADN programs and CSUSM in March and took the TEAS test. I got a 94.7 on it. I was eventually accepted to two out of the three programs I applied to. As for my research, I looked up a list of all the ABSN programs throughout the country and looked at all the different requirements they had and made a spreadsheet of it.

I have two choices now, go for the ADN+RN-BSN route for 3 years which is more cost efficient, or go straight for the BSN for 2 years at CSUSM which is more expensive in both tuition and living expenses as I have to move there. I've been asking all the nurses I knows since I volunteer at a hospital and they're saying to go for the BSN to get it over with because the job market is tough in SoCal for new grads. I am most likely going for the BSN at this point, but it is a tough decision.

csuf123 · May 3, 2017

Thank you for answering my questions! Also since you are most likely choosing the BSN route, how much will it cost you for CSUSM? and was the TEAS test hard to study/prepare for?

NICUmiiki, DNP, NP · May 3, 2017

One point that I think a lot of people don't consider at first is how they will fund their ABSN and living expenses. Once you graduate, you won't qualify for federal aid for a second bachelor's degree, and most people only work very part time or none at all during accelerated programs. It seems you either must have a lot of money (parents or savings) or you'll need to look into private student loans.

N. Maren · May 3, 2017

What @Miiki said is extremely important. I found myself in this boat. In the eyes of the government, once you have one college degree, you are set and no longer need any financial aid. Moreover, it is also true that most people opt to not work during an accelerated BSN. There were many who tried during the first semester of my accelerated program, only to drop it after a while. That being said, you know yourself best so make the decision you are most comfortable with!

I believe you will find that there are quite a few second-degree students in accelerated programs, so it is nothing to stress out about. Just do your best, do well on your nursing school pre-requisite classes, and hope for the best. From what I understand, most schools focus mostly on the grades attained in nursing prerequisite classes when considering admission, along with your admission test (HESI or TEAS V if applicable).

Definitely do your research when it comes to schools and their requirements however. Some schools have different prerequisites than others (or may not accept certain credits that other schools will take). Also, some schools are a little sneaky with their requirements. For example, one program asked that I take *their* pre-nursing courses at their institution, without even a guarantee of admission to their nursing program on completion. This would have costed additional time / money that other schools did not need.

All of my advice here is generic since I do not live in the California area, but I hope it helps! Hopefully someone from the area can help answer your more specific questions.

Pianoplaya94 · May 3, 2017

I haven't applied to any accelerated programs yet, but am in the exact same boat as you and can answer a lot of your questions. I am graduating in June with a degree in health science.

1) I started preparing to apply for the programs 2 weeks ago (the earliest applications are due is December 2017). I signed up for an anatomy & physiology course, which is required to enter the program. I also printed out all of the schools I will apply to and highlighted the program requirements for each school. The I made a spreadsheet of the program requirements lol. Some of the schools require a CASPer test as part of the application so I bought a book that was recommended to me on nursing ethics to help me prepare for the test. So I would say I am starting to prepare like 8 months before applications are due.

2) I'm starting to stress out about being accepted now and I am still far from applying lol. But I worry too much.

3) I plan to apply to all schools across the country that have this program. There are a few schools that require some pre-requisite courses that I don't have time to fulfill so scratched those off the list. So I plan to apply to 10 schools. Then I ranked them based on how good the school was (and location). My first choice is the best school in the country and where I just finished my undergrad degree from so I really hope to go there. My second choice is in the same city, so it's close to where I live. And the third is across the country but a very good school (that will be expensive though!!!!!).

4) Can't answer because I didn't look at any US schools (I'm from Canada).