What to do.. career change @ 40

[craeg]

Hi all,

Apologies if this isn't the right place to post this. I don't spend a huge amount of time on this site because honestly, the posts stress me out!

I am changing careers after a 20-year career in technology. In that career, I managed people for 15 years. I'm burned out on tech and decided 2 years ago to return to medicine which was my original intention. My UG is in Psych. My ultimate goal is to be an FNP and I am all in on making that happen.

My original UG GPA is 3.25. My recent 35 hours of prereq school work has a 3.8 GPA with nothing lower than a B. I have over 250 hours of nursing volunteer experience.

I've been applying to direct entry MSN and MSN/NP programs.

MSN/FNP/DNP: OHSU and Vanderbilt declined. SMU waitlisted, but very far down the list. Columbia declined DNP but accepted MDE.

direct entry MSN: PLU waitlisted. Waiting on USF. Waiting on WesternU after the interview.

ABSN: NYU waiting.

I'm turning 40 this year, so time is a huge concern for me, and I don't think I can wait for another round of applications to try again.

I have accepted @ Columbia. I'm located in SoCal so this is a huge move for me - but I am originally from NY.

What would other people do? Right now, Columbia seems like the fastest way to an MSN and would likely open a lot of doors as I move forward to D/FNP - but at a large cost.