MSN close to home vs BSN far away from home?

[contemplating2005]

So got into multiple programs and was wondering what would be best route for me. These are my top two choices atm. The Accelerated BSN program is 14 months long and will total to be around 35k projection however it is really far away from home (across the other side of the country). I am getting a bit of anxiety thinking about it because it will be the first time I will be on my own in a sense. I will have to find housing and all that, plus this will be all the way in the east coast. I have my doubts, but I tell myself to suck it up for one year, study hard, and move back home after I graduate. Then I can work and pay down the loans.

For the MSN program it is closer to my house and a lot of my fellow friends are currently going to that school. One of my good friends will be attending a doctorate program there this fall and I was told I can live at his parent's house. However this program will cost about 100k and 2 years for MSN.

My ultimate goal is to become a nurse practitioner. I already have a bachelors so doing an absn doesn't sound appealing but I think it is the smarter financial choice. What are your opinions?

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[deleted480308]

I would man up for a year and get the bsn

 

[pamac]

Here are some things to think about. Once you get the masters, you can attend an NP program where they will give you a nurse practitioner certification, and they will count the courses you already took for your masters, and you don't have to retake the fluff classes that the NP program will have wanted you to take. You'll still have classes to take like pharmacology and pathophysiology, but you'll end up being able to cut out close to a years worth of courses if you already have a masters. You will just have to hunt for the right NP program that will let you do that. They are all over the place. You could spend $20K to $30k on top of the $100k it took you to get your MSN. As far as time, you are looking at 3-4 years total... probably closer to 4.

Or, in 14 months, you could have your BSN, then attend NP school from there for your masters. The cost with that would be the $35k, and then NP school could be $25k to $100k (if you are foolish and choose an expensive school). A reasonable cost to expect for NP school is $35k. Total cost of $70k, and you can work through NP school. NP school is 2-3 years, but most likely closer to 2 years for most NP programs. Total time is roughly 3 years. So for almost half the cost, and a bit less time, you could go the BSN route. And you will come out financially even better because you will work for 2 years of NP school making around $65k per year, for a total of $130k in wages before taxes and expenses. The numbers really favor the BSN. Its up to you how you feel about relocating. I didn't want to relocate, and that's why I went to RN and then NP school.

In your case, the BSN really puts you really far ahead financially. 14 months is a relatively short time. I'd go to school for that 14 months, and then come back home and immediately start working and also start NP school as soon as you are off your probationary period at work. A $100k MSN just seems too expensive for me, especially if you have other options that are cheaper on the table. $100k debt as entry into an industry is a big chunk of money. Keep in mind that as an MSN, you are still starting out as a newby nurse. Its overkill.

 

[contemplating2005]

So got into multiple programs and was wondering what would be best route for me. These are my top two choices atm. The Accelerated BSN program is 14 months long and will total to be around 35k projection however it is really far away from home (across the other side of the country). I am getting a bit of anxiety thinking about it because it will be the first time I will be on my own in a sense. I will have to find housing and all that, plus this will be all the way in the east coast. I have my doubts, but I tell myself to suck it up for one year, study hard, and move back home after I graduate. Then I can work and pay down the loans.

For the MSN program it is closer to my house and a lot of my fellow friends are currently going to that school. One of my good friends will be attending a doctorate program there this fall and I was told I can live at his parent's house. However this program will cost about 100k and 2 years for MSN.

My ultimate goal is to become a nurse practitioner. I already have a bachelors so doing an absn doesn't sound appealing but I think it is the smarter financial choice. What are your opinions?

What is your thoughts about getting a RN first? Go from Rn then go straight to RN to NP? I heard that can be a really cheap route, but also a bit longer.

 

[pamac]

RN, like an associates? I’m currently doing that, and am finishing up my NP. The opportunity cost of doing that is time that could have been spent making more money in a job you really wanted in the first place. Why put off getting where you want to go and getting there the fastest?

Nursing has been good to me, but nursing has its downsides. When you are ready to move on, that fact that you are ready end up hitting you quick and hard, making each day you are wiping a butt or lifting a fat patient that much harder. I really like my current role, and consider myself lucky to have a position that demands very little of me in terms of physical effort and stress, but not everyone is that lucky. I feel it’s best to position yourself to go from point A to point B as quickly as possible, provided that the cost of doing so is reasonable. There’s a sweet spot where you are making good money as a nurse, and are going to cheap NP school while you work, making it worthwhile. However, there is a tipping point where your returns diminish if you end up paying too much for school, or taking too long to obtain your NP. Only you can decide what your priorities are. I make over $80k per year as a nurse in a low cost of living location, have no debt, work in a great job full time while I go to a good, decent priced NP program. I have no debt, and get to spend plenty of family time. But, it might have been nice to be practicing as an NP by now making $60k more and carrying just a bit of debt, and working in establishing myself further, and gearing up for breakthrough savings rate once that debt is paid

The accelerated BSN just seems like the sweet spot. You get a quick BSN at a decent price, as with that BSN you have tons of options on where to get your NP, vs having an associates and then needing to find a program that bridges from associates to masters. Those programs exist, but the are considerably more rare. I personally think $35k for an accelerated program is a good deal. Few other degrees allow you to go to school for a year and allow a job anywhere in the nation that is in demand and as high paying as nursing. Take advantage of that opportunity in this amazing time we live.

 

[pamac]

Keep in mind something else... you don’t make money until you get that RN in whatever form you get it. Once in hand, you can work while you go to school in a job that lets you pretty much have whatever schedule you want (in most cases), day or night, and whatever three day spread you choose. If you want to cut back to watt time, you can do that with maximum flexibility. Few careers let you do that. Most jobs want you 5 days per week, and you fit life around that cruddy reality. So spinning wheels to get an MSN over 2 years means less money than if you got the RN in 14 months. My suggestion is bite the bulllet and do the accelerated BSN. Its a good opportunity.

 

[deleted480308]

Keep in mind something else... you don’t make money until you get that RN in whatever form you get it. Once in hand, you can work while you go to school in a job that lets you pretty much have whatever schedule you want (in most cases), day or night, and whatever three day spread you choose. If you want to cut back to watt time, you can do that with maximum flexibility. Few careers let you do that. Most jobs want you 5 days per week, and you fit life around that cruddy reality. So spinning wheels to get an MSN over 2 years means less money than if you got the RN in 14 months. My suggestion is bite the bulllet and do the accelerated BSN. Its a good opportunity.

That was my thought too

While I’m pleased to have ended up in med school if I had enough fafsa eligibility when I went back to school I would be a nurse right now

 

[contemplating2005]

That was my thought too

While I’m pleased to have ended up in med school if I had enough fafsa eligibility when I went back to school I would be a nurse right now

What are your thoughts on medical school so far? Any regrets? I have my doubts about nursing, but objectively speaking it makes a lo tof financial sense for me. Plus I practically have a foot in in the urgent care I work at right now since I currently work there. I know the supervisors and staff very well, so hopefully I can land a job as a new grad.

 

[deleted480308]

What are your thoughts on medical school so far? Any regrets? I have my doubts about nursing, but objectively speaking it makes a lo tof financial sense for me. Plus I practically have a foot in in the urgent care I work at right now since I currently work there. I know the supervisors and staff very well, so hopefully I can land a job as a new grad.

a nurse can get jobs all day long, so I wouldn't use "but I know someone who can get me a job" as a line item in the pro column

I'm happy with med school. I think it's the gold standard training and in the end works for me. It was longer and harder than I really expected at the beginning but once you're in you kind of have to finish.

My main advice would be that whatever you pick, just accept it and stop trying to dream about "what if" in the other stuff. Just be happy and live your life

 

[contemplating2005]

a nurse can get jobs all day long, so I wouldn't use "but I know someone who can get me a job" as a line item in the pro column

I'm happy with med school. I think it's the gold standard training and in the end works for me. It was longer and harder than I really expected at the beginning but once you're in you kind of have to finish.

My main advice would be that whatever you pick, just accept it and stop trying to dream about "what if" in the other stuff. Just be happy and live your life

I need that advice. I just don't want to be disgruntled like all the other people I have shadowed. Most of them say don't do this do something else. Grass is greener syndrome. I know one thing is is that I don't want to be in a lot of debt where it doesn't justify return on investment

 

[pamac]

Once you are a nurse, you won’t need an “in” to get a job, which is exactly what sb247 said. He gave you probably the best advice you can get by suggesting that, in essence, you refocus on living life, and not on “what if”. The “what if” outlook becomes complicated by the fact that we filter our hindsight to see what we want to see. We get in a bubble. If I had achieved some of the things that I originally set out to do, I’d have missed out on other things that are now very important to me. I could be consoling myself for my underachievement, but I’m glad about where I am. But I don’t have a time machine to be able to say if I would have been happy doing something else either.

Don’t purposely sell yourself short by not striving for your goal because the goal is hard. Your mind will always try to avoid the hard things, and then help you make up an excuse to back out. Find out what drives you. Make sure you aren’t basing your decisions on the notion that power and money will provide you with satisfaction or control in your life that isn’t already there in the first place.

I have a friend who is a physician. He saves lives, changes lives, and loves his work. He missed out on a lot of his young family growing up. The more I’m around physicians, the more I respect them. I also realize that based on what they give up, I wouldn’t be happy doing what they do if I was in it for money or prestige. They get money and prestige, but I’d have to be driven by more than that to be willing to do what they do. Decide if that’s you... if you are driven by the right things, and if medicine provides those hints for you in your life. But yes.... if you decide on nursing, don’t imagine “what if”, because you probably aren’t looking at the downsides of being a physician, but rather, you are thinking about what you think they are doing all day.

 

[pamac]

And keep in mind, some debt is ok. Bad debt is paying too much for something you could have had cheaper. If you want to go to medical school, then do it the smart way.same with nursing school. I know nurses with over $100k of debt... for their BSN. They were so fixated on getting any BSN, that they didn’t regard cost. But I also know someone who could have gone to get a reasonable BSN, but didn’t make the jump because they were holding out for something a lot cheaper at a community college. The problem was that for a little more money, they would be done by now instead of RE applying several years in a row. It’s about balance. Caribbean medical school might be worth the cost, but it’s also a gamble for some of the folks that go to them when they try to obtain a residency that they want. I recently convinced someone to choose an NP school that was $50,000 cheaper than their first choice school, and still had a decent reputation. So debt sucks, but some of it is unavoidable.

 

[contemplating2005]

As I get deeper into it I almost feel like what am I doing with my life. I might be surrounded by a lot of freshmans and I already have a bachelors. I just feel like the old guy amongst kids lol. But it is 14 months under 35k suck it up finish and go back home start working making 65k I am thinking. Get some experience Then go to NP school. Other paths I have looked at required more debt, less career versatility, and low pay. I just hope I am not making the wrong choice.

 

[pamac]

An accelerated BSN probably won’t have freshmen there. Those programs are designed for folks that already have a bachelors degree, which is why they can fast track folks through it.

I think of the options you have, it offers you the least amount of buyers remorse due to the price and the time frame involved. If you don’t like it, you invested the least amount of money and time into it, and can move on to something else; but you’ll always have a job at it for you if you need it. $65k is also pretty much the floor these days for RNs... you could be making close to $80k with overtime offer you are off your orientation at work. I know nurses with 2 years experience pulling in $100k, but they work a lot of OT... like one day per week. That still means they get 3 days off. Start on night shift and make great differentials (if you don’t know what that term means, it means they pay you more to incentivize working nights). If I work nights at my hospital, I’m looking at making $7 more per hour. Weekends are $3.

It’s good to have a BSN in your pocket no matter where you want to go in life... professionally or geographically.