whats the most bankable degree for ba

[cookderosa]

Hi Cook,
I saw that too and was interested since its still in the field of helping. But exactly what you said there is no way of getting in without a prior nursing license.
And it takes aprox 1 to 2 years right now to even get into those programs at local community colleges. Everyone and their grandma is signed up.
Thanks though. I am actually going to do a little more reading on that though.

>>

It is taking me 2 semesters (14 credits each) to meet the entrance pre-reqs for an accelerated BSN. It also requires a bachelor degree in a non-nursing field. BUT, come summer time, the program I'm doing is only 15 months. The accelerated BSNs are easier to get into (I think) because fewer people have bachelor degrees. BUT, you still need to ace the sciences, so....back to studying.

[cookderosa]

I was always under the impression that you needed a BSN to become an RN. Can a two-year degree from a community college lead to an RN without a bachelors?

I wouldn't mind going back to a community college for a couple years and then getting the BSN online. However, I don't think I can stand being on a waiting list for 2 years.

>>

You can get your RN with either a diploma, associate degree, or bachelor's degree. But, all must have clinical. You can (like I am doing) take your non-clinical classes online. In fact, the college I am applying to even has a few nursing classes online, but they are only for the enrolled students.

Many community colleges have waiting lists, but many do not! It's the prereqs that kick your butt time-wise. Everyone I looked at require:
Anatomy and Physiology with lab 1 and 2 (1 yr sequence)
Microbiology (A&P 2 is a prereq)
and others....putting you at a minimum of 3 semeters for those...but....MANY schools have biology w/lab and chemistry w/lab as pre-reqs to A&P...many schools require algebra for chemistry lol...you can see the years adding up. Many students will say that it took a full 2 years including summer (6 semesters) to just meet the nursing pre-reqs. I found a way to do it in 3 semesters.
At our community college, they have up to 120 applicants for 30 slots each term. BUT, if you already have a degree, that's big points- and if you have a great GPA, that's huge points. (this is my second choice school, and it's an associate degree)

My first choice has virtually no waiting list because (a) a mountain of pre-reqs keeps the applicant pool small (b) it's expensive © it's accelerated, so you can't work. (this is my first choice school, it's a bachelor's degree)

Off topic, if anyone is looking for online sciences in the fastest way possible, I have saved a lot of links to colleges that do not require pre-reqs for the pre-reqs, just email me.

[pcs]

I agree nursing is a solid field. I work on the Admin side of the medical industry and it is nice to know you have job security. It is a basic need of society and will never go away. The healthcare field is where it is at. On a side note I could not handle the RN side...not for me...that is why I went to administration in operations. Pay is very good and once again job security. The trick is getting your foot in the door.
Good luck

[AirMedic]

I'd say the BSN, but that's not easy to get. You can get the BSN online, but you can't get IN to the program without an RN, which you can't get online. (narrow exception is found at EC, but doesn't work in all states) RNs walk into jobs with zero experience at $25 per hour and full benefits. National average salary for an RN is over $60K, and with a master's degree it can be up near $100K.
Good resources:
The U.S. Department of Labor Home Page
Job Salaries-Performance Reviews-Compensation software- Salary.com

$25/hr to start (more in a lot of places) and $30 - 60/hr with a few yrs of experience, shift diffs, bonuses, etc. TONs of options for work environment, etc etc.

[ideafx]

>>

You can get your RN with either a diploma, associate degree, or bachelor's degree. But, all must have clinical. You can (like I am doing) take your non-clinical classes online. In fact, the college I am applying to even has a few nursing classes online, but they are only for the enrolled students.

Many community colleges have waiting lists, but many do not! It's the prereqs that kick your butt time-wise. Everyone I looked at require:
Anatomy and Physiology with lab 1 and 2 (1 yr sequence)
Microbiology (A&P 2 is a prereq)
and others....putting you at a minimum of 3 semeters for those...but....MANY schools have biology w/lab and chemistry w/lab as pre-reqs to A&P...many schools require algebra for chemistry lol...you can see the years adding up. Many students will say that it took a full 2 years including summer (6 semesters) to just meet the nursing pre-reqs. I found a way to do it in 3 semesters.
At our community college, they have up to 120 applicants for 30 slots each term. BUT, if you already have a degree, that's big points- and if you have a great GPA, that's huge points. (this is my second choice school, and it's an associate degree)

My first choice has virtually no waiting list because (a) a mountain of pre-reqs keeps the applicant pool small (b) it's expensive © it's accelerated, so you can't work. (this is my first choice school, it's a bachelor's degree)

Off topic, if anyone is looking for online sciences in the fastest way possible, I have saved a lot of links to colleges that do not require pre-reqs for the pre-reqs, just email me.

Thank you for your reply.

Are there certain courses that they don't allow you to CLEP? I do have a BS in an unrelated subject with 42 CLEP and 6 DSST credits. Most of them are general ed. Obviously, the NaturalSci CLEP that I took won't count, but what about math, English, humanities? Does it make a difference?

[Levi]

Here are two slideshow links from the CNBC website revealing the:

"College Degrees in Most Demand: 2009"
College Degrees in Most Demand: 2009 - Slideshows - CNBC.com

"Highest Paid Bachelor's Degrees: 2009"
Highest Paid Bachelor’s Degrees: 2009 - Slideshows - CNBC.com

I thought these were pretty interesting....many of the degrees on the slideshows have to do with computers or engineering, but there are others. The top-paying bachelor's degree according to CNBC? Pharmacy.

[cookderosa]

Thank you for your reply.

Are there certain courses that they don't allow you to CLEP? I do have a BS in an unrelated subject with 42 CLEP and 6 DSST credits. Most of them are general ed. Obviously, the NaturalSci CLEP that I took won't count, but what about math, English, humanities? Does it make a difference?

>>

Based on my experience, I would say you can use CLEP. I'm sure there are a few programs that say no, but based on the feedback I read at the allnurses forum, and the 10+ colleges I specifically looked at, all accepted CLEP. Some college told me credit expired after 5 years, so in that case, you would have to re-CLEP if it expired.

There are no CLEP/DSST/TECEP/EC exams for the lab sciences, and that's the bigger issue.

[cookderosa]

Here are two slideshow links from the CNBC website revealing the:

"College Degrees in Most Demand: 2009"
College Degrees in Most Demand: 2009 - Slideshows - CNBC.com

"Highest Paid Bachelor's Degrees: 2009"
Highest Paid Bachelor’s Degrees: 2009 - Slideshows - CNBC.com

I thought these were pretty interesting....many of the degrees on the slideshows have to do with computers or engineering, but there are others. The top-paying bachelor's degree according to CNBC? Pharmacy.

That was interesting!! Trade degrees (nursing) are not listed since they only award associate degrees. Yeah, I know, we were talking about BSN, but many associate level trade degrees (nursing, culinary, etc) are no longer terminal degrees, even though everyone seems to consider them as such.

[n_runner]

Those slideshows were definitely interesting...looked like quite a few of the best paying jobs had either to do with technology or engineering.

I know somebody who works for an engineering textbooks publisher (Great Lakes Press), and he says that engineers are some of the most in-demand people in the country. Our country was practically having a crisis with how few engineers we were producing...so I don't think you'll have as much competition getting jobs in those fields.

[Gary]

Oh, I didn't know we were talking about the best paying jobs in America specifically. That would be corrupt corporate leader which covers various areas. Dirty politician is also up there, they may not have the wealth of a corporate leader but if you combine wealth + power that can be pretty intoxicating. Believe it or not, pole dancing in high cost areas is very lucrative AND....no degree required!