Welcome to the "PreNursing" Blog -- secrets of getting into Nursing School as quickly and as inexpensively as possible!

You want to get into nursing school.

You are looking at your options.

And there are a lot of them, aren't there?

• Do I choose a 4-year program or a 2-year program?
• With a bachelor's degree, which of these might be right for me?
  
  • ADN
  • Accelerated BSN
  • Entry-Level MSN
• Private school or public school?
• Should I find a school near me, or move?
• How do I get all my pre-requisites?
• Where can I get money to attend school?
  
• Will I be able to work?
• Will any previous healthcare experience apply?
• Will I need to have previous healthcare experience?
• Am I too old? Too young?
• What kinds of jobs can I work at, or training I can get, before I get into nursing school, that will be helpful to me?
  

And so many more questions.

This blog is here to help you find the answers to your questions -- so, please, feel free to ask me questions! I'll be happy to research them and either find answers for you, or help you find where else you might look for answers.

So, who am I to talk?

First of all, I am someone who loves to research. And, as a part of my interest in healthcare, I researched a number of different RN programs, as well as other healthcare programs.

I have also been to many of the "information meetings" for, not only nursing, but a variety of other healthcare careers. Most recently, I attended the information meeting for the Accelerated BSN program which Samuel Merritt is opening in the "South Bay" of the San Francisco Bay Area.

I entered the Spring Quarter 2004 of the DeAnza Community College ADN program. Most of my classmates now have their RN. (I am temporarily "on leave").

I've also noticed the amount of rumors which fly. I was fortunate. When I was accepted into DeAnza's ADN program, it was the last class that was truly not impacted. The class was made up of everyone who applied, who meet the requirements -- and who all pre-requisites completed at the time of application (which occurred in the previous quarter.)

Well, fortunate -- but also, I planned. I knew it would not be long before the RN program would be impacted. I had my primary plan (attending DeAnza), and my backup plan (applying to Evergreen.) I spent many, many hours looking at College Catalogs, at pre-requisites, and how I could get thru them as quickly as possible.

My classes were filled with folks who had been thrown out of work from the "dot com" bust. Looking at their technical work experience, and how it was being shipped over seas, they had decided "never again!" -- recognizing that it would be pretty darned hard to outsource many of the healthcare occupations.

I've also seen what kinds of innovative things other folks have done (a group actually got together and paid the community college district to have a microbiology class one summer...)

By the way...did you know that it's possible to get an RN online? Yep, it's true. However, you need to have certain kinds of healthcare experience -- and not want to practice in California,
because, out of 50 states, the California BRN (Board of Registered Nursing) does not accept an RN from this accredited university.

You may or may not have heard about pre-meds who've applied and gone to medical school in the Carribean -- medical schools designed around the US medical school curriculum, to enable them to go back to the U.S. and practice. Well -- did you know that there is now a nursing school in the Carribean, created with the same idea as the medical schools?

One of the things you do need to be aware of is that you are not only competing with other pre-nursing students. To get into many of your pre-requisites, you will be competing with other pre-healthcare students -- people who want to become Xray Techs, Physical Therapy Aides, and the like.