What would you do???

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Upon checking with my Community College, there is about a 5 year turnaround time for their RN course. At 34 years old, this is a lot of time to spend simply earning an AS degree. I have re-applied to our State University as a Pre-Nursing student. Normally I am a 4.0 student but when I went to this school before, I went through my unruly teen years and was academically disqualified. I'm waiting to see if they let me back in. If they do, I have to maintain a minimum of a 3.6 GPA to be competitive enough for entry to their BSN program. They normally allow 2 "do overs" but I'll have used those up replacing my prior bad grades. I do not believe that the GPA will be a problem for me though. It's the time spent in school that's daunting.

Another option for me is to take a CNA class where I am in Fresno then travel 45 minutes (one way) to San Joaquin Valley College in Visalia to take their LVN program. They also have a LVN to RN program. This would put me out of school sooner. I figure if I take this route, I'd work while going through a BSN program. The only thing stopping me here is that I worked so hard petitioning to get back into Fresno State. The other thing is that there is bad fog during the winter months, and I'd be traveling then.

What would you do? I'm totally open to all options. Time is of the essence for me as I'd like to be working by the time I'm 40.

Thanks in Advance,

Shaun

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Specializes in L/D.

5 years, wow that is a long time. I just wanted to let you know that some schools give preference to in county residence, so you may want to ask them about that. I applied to College of the Sequoias(in Visalia), and didn't get in because I don't live in that county. Luckily I did get into my town's RN program. Good luck.

Amber

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I am 50 and I am in my first semester of nursing school. It takes a while to get through the pre reqs. Then two years in the program. It actually goes pretty fast. I commute and hour to work each way, I can tell you from experience that commuting is no fun. If you have to go to school 3 or 4 days a week it would be tough driving that far. You are tired from all the prep work even before you go to the hospital. Care plans take a long time to do. 40 isn't that old.

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Specializes in Looking for a career in NICU.

Why 5 years? What is the breakdown of their courses?

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Specializes in Med/Surg <1; Epic Certified <1.

I'm also 50 and in my first semester...I'd say to try not to kill yourself either way...burnout, stress, etc., catches up with you soon enough without worrying about the commute, weather, etc.

I have family in Fresno -- my, but it's changed since I was child staying with my grandparents in Porterville!!

Good luck!

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5 years, wow that is a long time. I just wanted to let you know that some schools give preference to in county residence, so you may want to ask them about that. I applied to College of the Sequoias(in Visalia), and didn't get in because I don't live in that county. Luckily I did get into my town's RN program. Good luck.

Amber

I looked into COS and noticed they give residence preference. The funny thing is, a lot of their students come here to FCC where we DO NOT give residence preference. I can't help but feel that's not fair. Oh, well. I'll just keep trying.

Shaun

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I am 50 and I am in my first semester of nursing school. It takes a while to get through the pre reqs. Then two years in the program. It actually goes pretty fast. I commute and hour to work each way, I can tell you from experience that commuting is no fun. If you have to go to school 3 or 4 days a week it would be tough driving that far. You are tired from all the prep work even before you go to the hospital. Care plans take a long time to do. 40 isn't that old.

Thanks for the advice. The drive is absolutely a huge negative for me. I appreciate your help.

Shaun

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Why 5 years? What is the breakdown of their courses?

They're RN course is actually only 2 years long. The problem is that they only choose 50 out of 600+ each fall/spring to enter the program. Each semester you have to be put back into the lotto with everyone else. There is no residency requirement, gpa guideline (min. of 2.5) or any other way to get an edge. What's worse is that all the surrounding schools do have a residency requirement so I can't apply to their schools. They, however, can apply to both my school and theirs, thus doubling their chance. The lotto here goes on indefinitely. After 3 years, they put you into a "special lotto" where you get your name put in twice. Still, there is no way of saying whether you'd get in. This is why I'm thinking maybe it'd be wiser to either go the CNA-LVN-RN route or just go straignt through to BSN in 5 years through Fresno State.

Shaun

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