Thoughts on doing an accelerated BSN degree (plus pre-reqs) as a post-bacc?

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beanovertokyo

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Hi everyone,

I was wondering your thoughts on doing an ABSN instead of a traditional post-bacc program to raise GPA (I'm at 3.1 cumulative and science GPA, no upward trend). I would have to get the prerequisites for this program, which have strong overlap with pre-med pre-reqs, and it could be a way for me to get clinical hours, which I'm currently lacking.

Thanks so much for any advice.
 
I'm not an advisor, but I think nursing is a really strong choice for a first time undergraduate who really needs to work throughout their education and is a strong planner. An RN can be a 2-year associate's program + 1 year online bridge to the BSN (while working clinically, often reimbursable by a hospital)...then you can focus on your premed requirements through a DIY post-bac and take the MCAT.

It will take slightly longer than just being pre-med through and through, but great for the risk-averse (of which I am a card-carrying member), since being rejected from the medical school process still means you would be highly prepared to pursue CRNA/NP, and would be a top applicant in those pools with a ton of basic sciences nurses don't generally take + the work experience you developed over the course of your post-bac years. Even if you lose in medicine, you can still be a big winner in nursing if you are pulling ~4.0 semesters.

For academic repair, though... I don't know that I'd do it, because there are too many single points of failure and you've already invested time into your first degree, and I imagine you need to keep it moving.

An ABSN is still roughly 2 years and you would not have work experience until after you're licensed. Most hospital jobs (you might actually want/stay off med-surg) require a "nurse residency" that takes a few months before you're really on your own. It might be too much of a detour for you if your ultimate goal is strictly medicine.

You're looking at 4+ years, which may be worth it to you if you suspect you will not be a competitive MD/DO applicant and are hedging your bets, but if you do make it in, that's 4+ years of blood, sweat and tears that are made immediately obsolete upon becoming a medical student.

If time and money are an issue (as they so often are these days), I think you just need to pick one and pursue it full-force. You can do both, but you will invariably look back on your path one way or another and ask yourself why you wasted so much effort.
 
Hi everyone,

I was wondering your thoughts on doing an ABSN instead of a traditional post-bacc program to raise GPA (I'm at 3.1 cumulative and science GPA, no upward trend). I would have to get the prerequisites for this program, which have strong overlap with pre-med pre-reqs, and it could be a way for me to get clinical hours, which I'm currently lacking.

Thanks so much for any advice.
I think an ABSN would be a waste of time for a reinventor. It’s an incredibly expensive way to get clinical hours and you’ll still have to take other prereqs.

If you want to work as a nurse before attending med school, it’s not a bad option. It’ll give you clinical experience and some room to save money before school. In this case though, I would just do an ADN in this case since you already have a bachelors and the ADN will be significantly cheaper then ABSN.
 
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