The same question that every new person asks...

[a_dblu]

Hello all, and thanks in advance for your help with my degree plan.

I've looked through a lot of threads and I've found lots of awesome information, but now I'd love to receive some advice on personalizing it.

I currently hold two A.A.S. degrees and a combined total of 174 credits from community colleges.  I am looking for the most efficient way to turn that into a (useful) bachelor's degree (or two.) I will come back tomorrow and add transcripts, I'm having scanner issues tonight.

A secondary goal I have is using my paramedic license to springboard to an RN license through excelsior's associate's degree program. 

I also have some ACE credit from the National Fire Academy and FEMA's Emergency Management Institute. I will be getting quite a bit more by Dec. 2019, and a fair portion of it will be upper division credit.  I will list specific classes I have on my transcript now and those I have been accepted for tomorrow when I post my academic transcript.

Some Degrees that seem both Useful and Interesting to me:

TESU:
BA - Psychology
BA - Liberal Studies with concentrations in Psychology and Social Sciences
BS - Professional Studies
BS - Organizational Leadership
BSBA - General Management - OR - Human Resources Management/Organizational Management
BS - Homeland Security and Emergency Management

If I am reading their policies correctly, I should be able to take the BA - Liberal Studies degree with concentrations in Psychology and Social Sciences then be able to complete the BS - Professional Studies while only having to take the minimum of 24 hours that they require to be different if earning a second bachelor's degree. I feel like that would give me two very well rounded degrees that would complement each other very well.

COSC:
BS - Public Safety Administration
BS - Psychology
BS - General Studies with possible concentrations in:
               Human Resources, Organizational Leadership, Public Administration, Public Safety Administration, Applied Behavioral Science, Religious Studies, or Fire Service Administration.

ExCel:
BS - Business (General Business)
BS - Business (Human Resources Management)
BA/BS - Psychology
BS - Homeland Security and Emergency Management - Agency Management
Associate's Degree RN (I plan to take this without regard to completion of the bachelors)

WGU:
BS - Business Management
BS - Business - Human Resources Management

I filled out a FAFSA in January and I am eligible for around 5000 $ in grant money. I would like to spend that before we roll into the next academic year, as I doubt that I will have that much grant money in the coming year.

What should my first move(s) be?

If I have a bachelor's will I be able to get federal aid for the associates RN degree? (Do I need to finish that first to get the most opportunity to use federal grant money?)

Should I knock out all of the courses that I am obviously going to need before I talk to an advisor?  I.E. A.C.E. credit for gen eds I know I have to take no matter what.

Will the colleges allow me to continue adding ACE credit after I am "officially" a student there?

Which degree(s) should I pursue? 

You can see how crazy this is driving me... LOL  

[Ideas]

You can't get the grant money once you have a Bachelor's. You can get federal aid in the form of a loan.

What kind of career do you want? One of the best would be get the RN then get a BSN.

[Cheeseburrito]

You can't get the grant money once you have a Bachelor's. You can get federal aid in the form of a loan.

What kind of career do you want? One of the best would be get the RN then get a BSN.

RN (ADN through excelsior is a good option) to FNP. There are a few programs out there that bridge or will let you test out to get your NP if you have an unrelated BA and ADN.

[a_dblu]

You can't get the grant money once you have a Bachelor's. You can get federal aid in the form of a loan.

What kind of career do you want? One of the best would be get the RN then get a BSN.

I'm licensed as a paramedic now, that makes getting an RN license a little easier than it would otherwise be. I'm not so much interested in nursing as a career, however, the license qualifies me for many, many career opportunities in a variety of settings. It makes sense to me because it gives me flexibility and options in the future.

You can't get the grant money once you have a Bachelor's. You can get federal aid in the form of a loan.

What kind of career do you want? One of the best would be get the RN then get a BSN.

RN (ADN through excelsior is a good option) to FNP. There are a few programs out there that bridge or will let you test out to get your NP if you have an unrelated BA and ADN.

I have considered APRN/FNP or CRNA its not the direction I want to go right now, maybe in the future, hence getting the RN license now.

I also think that a more general bachelor's would be more useful to me than a BSN right now. I see a BSN kind of like I see a Fire Administration degree: great if you are going to work in that field, but not as readily accepted outside the profession.

[Ideas]

By the way, if you do summer courses, that uses 2017-2018 FAFSA money. Then fall and winter uses 2018-2019 FAFSA money.

[cookderosa]

My money is also on the BSN. Since you're doing the RN requirements first, and you already have 2 AAS degrees, you're probably full in the electives category. If I were in your shoes, I'd be working on the gen ed list since that's probably what you need first, and is the cheapest credit to earn!

[clep3705]

RN (ADN through excelsior is a good option) to FNP. There are a few programs out there that bridge or will let you test out to get your NP if you have an unrelated BA and ADN.

No, no, no, one does not test out to get an NP. This forum is not the place to get nursing advice. Go to http://allnurses.com/ where there are at least a thousand and probably ten thousand times as many nurses as here.