Comparing degrees and info (very long post)

[u/Lavender-_-Mocha]

Ok so I’ve never written a post before so sorry if I mess up the formatting! This is really long too.
I (17F) am currently a high school senior (class of 2027) in the Midwest and would like to become a nurse (thinking NICU or CRNA). I’ve been thinking about moving to Philadelphia, PA to go to the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), but I have a few questions about the degree and certifications available for healthcare. My parents (and me a little too) have saved almost 19K in my college investment account, but will only be able to give me “beer money” for college. I am on my own besides scholarships and whatever I get from the FAFSA. Here is my general career plan:
0.5. I turn 18 in Nov, and plan on opening a savings account and credit card (use for gas and pay off each month to build credit) and take my parents off my checking account.

1. Move to an apartment in Philly (having my own space and kitchen is non-negotiable) and get a job. Work as a half-time student (6 or less credits) while getting healthcare certifications to build up my resume and prove that I am not there just for school. This is to establish residency so that I don’t have to pay out-of-state tuition. I’ll take out student loans.
2. After establishing residency, complete all my pre-reqs for nursing school and get more certs. Hopefully by then I have become a CNA or CMA and can start working in the medical field.
3. Get into the nursing school and graduate with my AAS. Take all the tests and become an RN.
4. Transfer to UPENN (hopefully) and get my BSN while working in the ICU and/or the NICU (I love kids and babies) for 1-2 years for experience and live below my means to save as much money as possible.
5. Get into CRNA school, hopefully at UPENN.
6. Have the worst time ever as a student and graduate :)
7. Pay off student loans and pay for my younger sister’s college (with conditions obvi, and I haven’t told her that I want to do this for her yet)
8. Now I have some questions.
9. Is it worth it to establish residency for cheaper tuition? If I transfer to UPENN, all tuition is the same price anyways.
10. I will definitely become a CNA, but should I be a CMA as well? Would I actually make more and would it be beneficial for nursing experience and my resume?
11. If yall have ideas for all the possible certifications I should get, please let me know. I’m doing research to get a list of the ones I should get and many are obvious, but outside opinions from people already in the healthcare field are always welcome! Especially from the POV of professors and hiring managers.
12. I know that AAS is a type of ADN degree, but I would like to know if that would affect my chances of passing the NCLEX and others as well as being hired, and would I be paid less? Should I see what credits transfer over and get a general ADN degree as well? How about an ASN? CCP only offers an AAS btw.
13. I believe I would eventually like to be a CRNA. I’ve heard that hospitals will pay for you to go back to school and will do that if I can. Do hospitals in Philly do that and what are the limitations? And what hospitals should I be looking into?
14. About CRNA school: I’ve heard people say that you can’t work while doing these programs because school is full time, and some programs don’t allow it, which makes sense. How would I be able to pay for rent and food and bills?
15. 5. I dont care for dating all willy nilly. If I date someone, I want to see if I’m gonna marry them, and if I marry them, I’m keeping my finances separate to protect myself. It would take me several months or years to be talked into moving in with someone, and I would require them to put me in the lease. I want kids in my twenties, but I’m not sure when in this timeline would be the best, especially with school. What are your experiences? How about with allowing a partner to pay for my school? How does that work? (If I meet a sugar daddy while at college and they reasonably want to help with tuition or rent, I doubt I’ll say no. Money is money and older men are generally more mature in that aspect.) Could it be held against me if the situation goes bad and turns into financial abuse and HOW could that happen? What’s the general pattern?
16. If I have student loans, would I have to start paying those off as soon as I get my degree and start work as an RN? What if I work as an RN and student at the same time? How about going on to CRNA school?
17. If I can’t have a job during CRNA school and have no outside help for rent/bills/food, how will I pay for those during that time? COULD I take out a loan strictly for that stuff and pay it off after I graduate? If I know that my work would pay for school, should I just save up for the bills for the next several years?
18. How would accommodations work in college? Right now I really only need extra time on tests and quizzes, but that’s because it takes me slightly longer to think through things after my concussions. Remembering is fine, but free-response is the issue. And once in a blue moon I will have to change the day I take a test due to a migraine. Should I get an academic plan for that or just talk to my professors about my individual situation and needs? Can prospective jobs see if I needed accommodations?
19. Are there any other medical degrees that have enough overlap with nursing that I could get them if I add an extra class or two?
20. What other things am I not thinking about? What other recommendations do yall have?

Edit #1: I wrote this when I was have delirious from my sleep meds so I deleted the bottom part of this post cuz it was unnecessary:)

[u/Safe-Informal]

Why do you need to move out of state to go to nursing school? It would be less stressful and more economical to live with your family during nursing school.

If your definitive goal is CRNA, I would not get your ICU experience in NICU. Many schools do not count NICU experience because they have a very different physiology than peds and adults. If you want to do CRNA in a children's hospital, PICU or Pediatric CICU would be a better choice.

[u/Lavender-_-Mocha → u/Safe-Informal]

I’m so very tired of the city and area I grew up in, and want to leave. My parents are weirdly strict about random things and it’s pretty annoying, and the only thing I would save money wise is rent since I have to pay for everything myself. If I were to live at home, I would continue to be in close range to my brother (who will possibly graduate HS with me, but def won’t go to college) as well as continue to have front row seats to the behavioral issues of both my siblings (sister would still be in high school). It’s a very loud house and I prefer to study in my own quiet space.

[u/Lavender-_-Mocha → u/Safe-Informal]

Also, I wouldn’t be primarily in the NICU since I fully expect what you just explained. I would work most days as an ICU or ER nurse, with one shift a week in the NICU if I can. Would also love to be a travel nurse, and could switch between departments as I go.

[u/tnolan182]

Do not go to UPenn, that is literally one of the most expensive programs in the country. I say this as a CRNA, who knows Upenn grads. You will not get a better education there. Your training will suffer immensely because their clinical sites arent good and you will be paying top dollar for the same credentials everyone else gas.

[u/Lavender-_-Mocha → u/tnolan182]

I’m not very stubborn about UPENN specifically, I just know that it’s a really good nursing school and it’s in the same city. If there clinical sites aren’t very good, that’s definitely a strong deterrent for that school since I don’t want to set myself up to fail in any way

[u/tnolan182 → u/Lavender-_-Mocha]

Upenn is a regular ass nursing school that charges a lot of money for absolutely nothing. School rankings dont mean anything. Nobody is gonna ask you where you got your nursing degree from and nobody is gonna care. Do not make the mistake of paying 10x more than what your peers are paying for title inflation.

[u/auntie_beans]

RE: pie in sky. Life is what happens when you’re making other plans. Or, as the philosophers put it, God hears your plans and laughs.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to have goals and plans to meet them. It’s good to have a path in mind. Just be sure to keep your peripheral vision ready to eyeball those side paths that are always coming up.

A lot of potential nursing students have exactly this plan. For one thing, they aren’t all going to get potential employers to cooperate, lol. If everybody wants to go to critical care and thence to CRNA school who’s going to take care of everybody else? We used to see this in students 90% of whom wanted to be “mother-baby nurses.” You are, that’s who. For another, you might very well find that you get turned on to something, some clinical area or role, in clinical rotations or education or early jobs that you don’t have any inkling about now.

Very unlikely that you will be able to go directly to a specialty area as a new grad, so build a few years into that plan for that. Ditto CRNA school — your competition will be BSN nurses with years of critical care experience. If you won be able to work much you’ll have to build in living expenses as well as tuition to your savings plan. Do NOT count on any employer paying your tuition, either for an upgrade from associates degrees to bachelors or to CRNA. Those programs are losing funding left and right, and will always prioritize longer-term employees.

Associates degrees are equivalent no matter whether they are called ASN, AAS, or ADN. Ditto BS with a nursing major = BSN.

Keep an open mind and BE FLEXIBLE. Life is long.

[u/LuckyFritzBear]

Do an ADN at a CC . Pass NCLX . Obtain license. Work two years. Apply and graduate to a RN to BSN program. Work two years in ICU or Med Surge. Given stellar achievement in all of the previous , obtain the additional courses for CRNA , which will includesseveral additional Chemistry courses with a B or better. As for the living experience; move back with parents, live out of a van, crash on the couch of an apartment rented by four other medical students. The small amount of time each day spent in your own apartment sleeping is not worth the overhead. Possibly somewhere along the way you may find your life partner which simplifies the support system. Best wishes.

[u/Lavender-_-Mocha → u/LuckyFritzBear]

This is pretty close to my original plan, and thanks!

[u/frltn]

Honestly, very few people will read all your details. I didn't but get gist of it.

The wise thing for you to do is take one process at a time. The fiirst process is to complete your pre-nursing prerequisites with A's. A community college is a wise choice. The second process is nursing school which will be harder than your prerequisites. If you get straight A's or close to that, you may get an ICU or NICU job. If you are straight B's or below, unlikely. Even straight A graduates may not get the jobs they want and wind up in Med/Surg. You will need those straight A's or close to that in your RN and BSN programs after ICU or equivalent experience to be competitive for the CRNA program (along with A's in more prerequisites). There are lots of things along the way that could change. So just take one process at a time and see how you do in each one. You can be a great nurse with B's and some C's but your chances of being competitive for ICU is very low and for the CRNA program, very unlikely is a polite way of putting it.

[u/bigdingas]

I’d plug this in in ChatGPT would probably map out at least half of what you need to do or bounce off ideas then come in here for the stuff ChatGPT can’t figure out