Where to start...

sbem10 · Jan 3, 2012

I'd go with the accelerated program. My friend had a degree and she just finished for RN. It took her 2 years. I wish I could do that but I don't have a degree in anything yet. My husband has his masters and from his school experience, he's told me never to take online classes. Some of the online schools are bs. What I did was...(I have a two year old boy by the way), I started my first semester just doing the prerequisites, and I have 2 more left, even for the bach. degree. I hope to just have the nursing classes because I've heard they're not easy. And it def. won't be easy with a child or two. So I think that's going to make it a little easier on me, just focusing on the nursing classes and not having to worry about the prereqs. It took me a while since I wasn't going full time for a few semesters, and also skipped a year of college. But I applied for the nursing program at my school that will start on january! I haven't found out if we got in or not yet. We find out on the 12th! I'm so nervoussss lol but good luck with everything!! I hope this helped you, somewhat :) oh and also, I send my son to the daycare at my school, if you have the option to do that, it would help you out so much. It's hectic at first, gettin them ready and all, but by the end of the semester, you get the hang of it! So glad I did that last semester, I got A's and B's, it was so worth it :)

sbem10 · Jan 3, 2012

I also take a few night classes, my husband watches him after work and I go to class. And during the day, he's in daycare while I'm in class and after class I got pick him up. But I figure, if you have the chance to do accelerated program, when why not? You can finish in 2 years! That's amazing! The night and weekend classes will take you a pretty long time to finish the prereqs and the nursing classes during the day. So if I were you, I'd so take the faster route. No time to waste, right?

number41 · Jan 3, 2012

i agree, I would go for the accelerated. We have quite a few of these varying programs where I live and I think whatever you can do to get in quickest is better. Once you're there, you can work, gain experience, see what you area you prefer and if you then decide to continue your education you'll know exactly what area and the hospital will likely pay a percentage! For me it seems the hardest part is making the initial switch!

I also have my BA, and after 6 years in Marketing switched to Nursing. I'm pursuing my Associate's Degree in Nursing at a local hospital's medical school/affiliate school. For me, it made sense. I could have taken another 4 years for a BSN, but I already have a Bachelors so that seemed off to me. I do plan on going back for an MSN, and there are quite a few MSN & DNP programs here that allow admission to RN's with a Bachelor's in another field of study. So, I spent one semester on prereq's after I applied (conditionally admitted based on the prereq's). Once I was done with prereq's, I was in! It's a 2 and a half year program for me..I will be done next year either December or March. Trust me, it flew by! Like I said, once you make the decision and put it in forward motion it goes quickly! You can do it, my classes are filled with people from many different walks of life and various backgrounds - all who were worried we wouldn't make it through and we're still in it :) I would say meet with the school/s you're interested in. Write out what each requires for you to be admitted, see if you can be admitted conditionally pending the prereq's and then take the prereq's all at one place. Confirm that the school you're interested will accept the credits from wherever you take them before (I've seen a lot of student have to take duplicates courses because of this). Make it easy on yourself :) I took some of them online and I liked it but I do know everyone feels differently about that.

Good luck to you!

REWN · Jan 4, 2012

thanks for the responses!! i'm lucky in that my older child is school aged, so only have to worry about the cost of daycare for one (shes already in daycare so atleast their won't be any transition troubles).

i've found there are actually 5 accelerated programs within an hour of me. which is pretty exciting! i think i'm going to try to take that route. because i went to art school i might have none of the prereqs (don't think my anatomy class counts, but we'll see. if so that would be the only one). it seems like some of the prereqs are pretty similar at all schools (all require anatomy & physiology i & ii, statistics, microbiology, and psychology) and then all seem to need a few other ones that are different (some want sociology, some want nutrition, etc...).

i'm unsure about how to go about getting the prereqs. i see you can't even apply to some of the schools without them, but say for example one school requires sociology and another requires nutrition... should i take them both since i don't know which school if any will accept me? also does anyone know how competitive the accelerated nursing programs really are? all the websites say their program is competitive... i'm nervous i won't be able to get in to any of them! i had a decent gpa in college (3.42) but not sure if that will even matter since it wasn't a related course of study.

number41 · Jan 4, 2012

I would make a list of each schools prereq's so you know which cross over (Micro, AP), and the 1 or 2 extra that aren't needed at all schools will stand out (like Nutrition). Meet with those school's that require an extra prereq and ask if you're able to take that once admitted, can't hurt to ask? Ask each school where they accept credits from (they gave me a list that translated each of their prereq's (say Bio100) to each local school & what that course number was there). Find the common thread (the school they'll all accept) and take them all there. If it's one you're interested in going to, even better! That's what I did. I'd definitely meet with the one you're most interested in if not all of them, find out who seems likely to accept you or where you think you might end up. Sometimes they're friendly and they hint at things or give you suggestions. It'll help you decide where to take all of this.

I took mine at the school I ended up going to because I wanted to go there for Nursing & their credits were basically accepted everywhere else local, so I applied and took the prereq's (Human Bio, Chemistry, Lifespan Psych, Stats and a Math) there. I was admitted pre-Nursing where I had to take AP's & Micro with a certain GPA. Then, I did so and was admitted as Nursing and just finished 101. Make it easy on yourself and try to consolidate all of the classes at one place that almost all schools will accept. Worst case, you don't get in where you took them all, you know you can transfer them anywhere and start right up again. But, if you use that opportunity to show them what you can while you're doing these prereq's, and let them know that, you'll get in Let them get used to you, and your questions, and they'll get to know you, remember you and it'll work out! They all say their competitive.. anything where not everyone is accepted is technically some bit of competitive, don't let that scare you! I had a completely diff. background too.. NO science classes (I was an English major) and once I got in there I realized I wasn't the only one! You can do it, getting it going is half the battle =)

♑ Capricorn ♑ · Jan 4, 2012

I had several options to consider when I began my nursing journey, and pretty much found one that works for me. Its all about finding what is going to work for you. An accelerated BSN would be right up your alley if that's the route you decide to take. If you can find a program that will allow you to keep working and still go to school, you could make it work for you. I have heard that accelerated programs are very demanding. You're pretty much crunching a two year program into a one year timespan.

For now, if you can find a school or program where you can take the pre-requisite courses online or nights and still work, you might enjoy that. However, when you're ready for nursing school you'll need to decide which one is more important, work or school. There have been people who have worked all through nursing school and made it out fine, and others who have had to cut back their hours because of nursing school. Its tough, but not impossible.

I would go straight for the RN. If you're going to do this, do it all the way.

Good luck.:)

rys22 · Jan 4, 2012

Accelerated programs are very tough. You have to be aware of that before choosing that route. It does sound like the best case scenario for your situation but with a family, you need to know you wont have much time for them for the year you will be in the program. The other POV is that its just one year of being consumed by school and then you are DONE and can put it behind you!:) If I were you Id choose a program, look into what schools the program accepts pre reqs from and go from there. The pre reqs you can probably do online (you need to be honest with yourself about how motivated you can be to get through those) but the nursing program itself I wouldnt do online EVER. I think it would just be too hard, personally... Some things you need to be in a live classroom to learn best. Im not at that point in my schooling yet though so thats coming from assumptions and AN posts :)

Let us know what you decide!