not working for a year to get BSN

[nursinghopeful1111]

a little back ground.

last year my husband went to school full time...and it works out that because of the loss of income from that I will get a full pell grant for 2011-2012.

i had originally planned on waiting and going to a BSN program fall 2012 *next class that is open* BUT the idea of getting my school paid for...well its too good to pass up. So ive decided to just go for the ADN this fall and then bridge over.

my question is....would it look BAD to graduate from the ADN and start the BSN bridge right away and NOT work. I only ask because Im interested in applying for a nurse residency program that only accepts new graduate BSN students w/out ANY experience. The residency is at a teaching hospital and is one year in length. The way it was explained to me is they offer 5-6 new grad positions on various floors each month or so..and if you get the job you get the residency as well.

If i didnt get the residency...would it look bad to other employers that I didnt work while getting my BSN?

[BrookeeLou_RN]

I certainly would take the gift of not needing to work to get ASN then bridge over to BSN. Not working should not factor in as you decided to go to

get your BSN right up front, just schooling worked out better by splitting it up.

Question..could you not go to BSN program using the pell grant?? Maybe look at other schools if needed.. the most important thing would be getting your degree and having less loan money right??

[nursinghopeful1111]

With my husbands new job I wont qualify for any pell grant after next year. the only reason we qualified this year was because he wasnt working while finishing up school so we had a loss of his income. All of the BSN programs in my area have already closed the application time for this fall, the earliest I could get in now is Fall 2012 and by then the cost will have to be paid by student loans.

I missed the application dead lines by 2 months for all the BSN programs in my area.

[CuriousMe]

Since you're interested in a specific residency program, I'd call and ask them this question specifically.

Most of the residency programs I'm looking at are basing eligibility from the time you take your NCLEX.

[nursinghopeful1111]

i put in a call again to clarify.

the only thing i can find about a time limit is this

"The program is open to all BSN graduates within their first six months of graduation."