Should I earn my ASN and then get BSN or go straight to the BSN?

[hannahmarie0116]

I am a high school senior, going to enroll in a local community college and then pursuing my nursing degree. I have one thing that has been stressing me out since day one: ASN or BSN?

I want to get a nursing degree and eventually become a pediatric oncology nurse. I don't know which path would be best for me.

A) Attend community college, get my ASN, then try and get a job at a hospital and then get my BSN at my dream university?

or

B) Attend community college, transfer to my dream university (currently unable to attend due to parents), and get my BSN at my state's highly ranked, locally and nationally high ranking nursing school?

I'd love to hear everyone's opinion and their educational to career pathway. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

-Hannah, a highly stressed pre-nursing student

[idkmybffjill]

These are always highly personal decisions and will depend a lot of what your priority is.

Is your ultimate goal to get into the workplace and be financially independent sooner? In which case, an ADN/ASN would probably be better. You will be able to start working sooner than you would if you get a BSN, and you'll be able to have a good income while getting your BSN. ADN programs are also usually cheaper, thus being more cost effective.

However, if you are looking to have the typical university experience after getting what you can out of a community college and you are generally financially secure because of your family, scholarships, etc, then the second option might be better for those priorities. Your dream university might not have a RN to BSN program (you wouldn't go through the traditional BSN program if you have an ADN), and if it does, it's most likely going to be an online program. Thus, you might not really have that typical college experience, even if you get into the RN to BSN program at your dream university (which I'm not really sure would be the most effective way to go about getting a BSN when you're an RN at that point).

Sit down and make a pro/con list. Figure out what is feasible for your current financial situation.

You're also really going to want to look into multiple programs, regardless of what you choose, as some programs can be fairly competitive. You want to apply to multiple places to give yourself the best chance of getting accepted to a program.