There are a variety of options and each offers it’s own benefits. I would get your BSN done and go to work. Most hospitals offer tuition reimbursement for you to continue your education. That way you don’t have to pay for it all and you can make a decent income while you go to school. The Masters Program is offered online (at some schools) and at an excelerated pace, so you could finish it in under 2 years.

The BSN program is expected to take 4-5 years to complete. While in highschool, you can take some college courses. Start now and get some of the General ed requirements out of the way and you could get your BSN in just a couple of years.

Good luck!

Go to a trade school for very little money. Get the licensed practical nurse degree in 15 months.

Then go to the university. Major in nursing. But you have already done your clinical training in LPN school, so you don’t have to compete with others for those clincal rotations bcause our LPN clinical experience transferred to the univeristy.

Also, while your other friends are studying, you can work as a nurse (as an LPN) on the weekend and actually observe the illnesses they are studying about. And get paid. And get experience.

So then you graduate from the university in 3 years, and pursue additional education.

All the while youa re working weekends as a nurse, ever since you were 19, right? And getting all that practical experience. So when the time comes to pick the person to enter the training program to be a physician’s assistant or be the midwife, etc. , who is going to get that spot in the training program, based on all the experience you will be bringing to that role? You of course.

This is a very back-door approach, but it is the one that allows you to learn while you earn and saves on stress while you wait to see if you can get into the clincal rotation based on GPA while in the university–because you already finished your clinicals while in LPN school.

Univ. of Florida is an excellent choice, and Florida St. would be ok, too. Stay away from the Univ. of South Florida — horrible place!

Univ. of Miami is a good school, but it’s private, so would be expensive.