<p>Hello, first of all i would like to thank anyone who is reading and hopefully answering to this post.
I wanted to become a doctor but i know that being a doctor takes a very very long time and i cannot afford that.
My father abandoned us got divorced from my mom and married again he never really cared about me and my little sister. My mom never graduated high school and she hasn't worked in years..My little sister has dreams of becoming a great doctor some day and i know she can because she is super smart!
Because i want to help my mom and my sister i have decided to drop my dream of becoming a doctor in order to be able to graduate faster.
Someone told me that if i still wanted to be something in the medical field i should try becoming an RN, however i have done some research and it seems there are two programs one that is supposed to pay more that is 4 years and another that is only 2 but some people say they pay the same? also after finishing my RN degree i want to become a Nurse Practitioner but i don't know how to become a Nurse Practitioner after i take my 2 year RN?</p>
<p>I have tried asking my counselors but they are clueless and nobody in my family has ever gone to a college or university. I want to graduate as a nurse as soon as i can..
I have been wanting to be in anything in the medical field all my life because i love helping people and all the doctors and nurses i have ever met are my heroes :]
Oh and if anyone knows any colleges or universities that offer these programs in Texas or Preferably in Houston where i now live that would be great!</p>
<p>My GPA is 3.3 and i graduate high-school in 2013 also i have signed up for a program that when i graduate high-school i will be a certified pharmacy-tech..</p>
<p>The least expensive way to become a RN is to go to a program at a community college (usually 2 yr.) or at a hospital-based program (usually 3 year). The 3 year hospital based nursing schools have been disappearing, but at least in PA. there still are several good ones. Some are also connected to a local college that does allow getting a bachelors degree. You can then take the RN test. The community college and hospital based programs are typically cheaper per year than 4 year college programs, in addition to being shorter. Some of the hospital based programs are known for providing the most practical training.</p>
<p>However, employment choices are better with a 4 year bachelors degree. If you take the shorter route, there are many colleges that offer bachelors degree programs for people with a RN, which you can take part-time while you work or full time. You may find an employer who is willing to subsidize that education.</p>
<p>There are many reasons to put aside med school. One is the debt. The other is the uncertainty about whether you will be admitted. I believe something like 50% of applicants to med school are not accepted anywhere, and hundreds of thousands of “pre-meds” never even make it to the point of applying. Some of the med school admission numbers are really scary - I just saw the incredibly high ratio of applicants per seats for the new Rowan-Cooper Med School in New Jersey.</p>
<p>A RN opens up many opportunities for future education, certifications and specialization.</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d apply to a mix of public colleges, community colleges and hospital-based programs to keep you options open. You can then make a decision in April of your senior year about which is the best option for you, considering net cost after aid. If you believe you will be eligible for college grants from your state, it is usually best to stay within your own state. People do not pay sufficient attention to that factor.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, I just looked how my local PA. community college handles RN training. They stress that the program is selective (vs. the open admissions that is offered for some community college programs). You officially start as a liberal arts major and then apply to nursing after the first semester after you have taken some prereqs. You need to take the latest version of the pre-RN entrance exam (which doesn’t seem to be used by 4 year direct entry programs). The program is 2 years long, after which you are eligible to take the RN test. </p>
<p>Also, when you look at RN programs, there is more than one reason to find out the RN pass rate. In addition to serving as one screening mechanism to help identify the better programs, the pass rate also tells you whether a program may be in danger of losing accredition. I don’t know the details, but if graduates of a nursing program don’t pass the RN test at a certain minimum rate for a certain number of years, the program is put on probation and can lose their nursing accredition if they don’t fix the problem. I’ve seen at least one program at a PA. state university that has a boldface warning on its nursing admissions website that it is on probation.</p>
<p>My suggestion is because you want an advanced degree in nursing, go for the BSN if you can. BSN programs are more academic, have a broader scope and you have numerous opportunities to try management or research etc. When I was getting my BSN 30 years ago, they encouraged us to take statistics because they wanted us to go on and get a masters</p>
<p>AA programs will get you out working sooner but they are more skill focused and do not necessarily encourage you go to on for your BSN. It is difficult to work and go back to school to then get your BSN which you must have to get any advanced degree in nursing regardless of what it is in. So the AA route is a multi-step process that will take much longer and it would be easy to get hung up trying to get through it.</p>