Pre-Nursing Student Looking for a BSN

[Cinderella21]

Hello Everyone! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chrissy and I very interested in going to school to become a nurse. I currently working as a cosmetologist onboard the Pride of Hawaii, a cruise ship that runs around the Hawiian Islands. I love my job but this is my second contract and I wish to go back to school in May. I live in Washington state, in the Seattle area. I have researched options and what schools are out there and I am currently torn between going to a Community College first or straight to a University in hopes of obtaining my BSN. I adventully would like to be put in an agency and do the travel nursing thing. Plus I was wondering if it was possible to get part of my schooling when I am out at sea, maybe online. I am very ambitious and excitied in going back to school, any advice or information would be greatly appriecated!

Thank you so Much!

[ILoveNursing82]

Choosing to go the ADN or BSN route is all up to you.Do you need to earn a decent salary quick? Would you like to supervise a staff oneday? Can you afford a BSN program? You alone can decide which program is best for you.After receiving your ADN, within 1 year or 2 you can obtain your BSN.Keep in mind that the associates degree programs might be tougher to get into .Most of the schools who offer them are public junior colleges.They have very limited resources, less space, less teachers and can only take a minimal amount of students.Make sure your gpa is high because you may be competing against 50 students for one seat.The private universities have more money and can higher more teachers, therefore, they accept more students and usually don't require a very high/competitive GPA(as oppose to the public schools).I do not know where you would like to attend school, therefore, I cannot refer you to any universities/colleges .Good Luck !

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

It would be best if you knew what the requirements of the university you're interested in has, and what they will allow in the way of transferred credits. Some of my classmates in the CC got our ADNs and then transferred to the university nearby for the BSN. Many others will complete the RN-BSN via the online route (once having obtained the RN through the community college).

You can get some of your schooling done online for an ADN; look into the pre-requs required for the school you would ultimately hope to attend. Be sure your credits will transfer. And remember, once pre-requs are done, and you've been accepted into the nursing program, you will need to be at a physical location for clinicals each week.

Your first step is narrowing down where you'd like to physically attend school, and meet with an advisor about their specific requirements. There's no point in doing much else until you're sure you're not going to be wasting time on courses you don't need or have to repeat later.

Best of luck to you :)