^^^ Good advice above…but a few warnings:
- CRNA is only for those who desire and can tolerate a higher stress environment. It is not for everyone so definitely take the advice to shadow different CRNAs in different environments i.e. inpatient surgery, outpatient procedures, etc. The salaries quote above are spot on...maybe even a little low for Texas. Some make closer to $200,000
- If you do feel you want to be an Advanced Practice Nurse (either an NP or CRNA) then you need to minimize your undergrad debt because CRNA school will run you at least $60,000-$80,000 for the two year program. An NP program will be anywhere from $20-40K.
I have an NP colleague making over $100,000 per year but she has $60,000 in debt from graduate school. It didn’t seem like it would be bad since she would be making great money but now she has a house/mortgage and two kids and many other things she would rather be doing.
- With your stats, you could get an almost free education or at least FULL tuition undergraduate BSN degree at UT Arlington, UT Tyler, University of Alabama and many other schools with excellent nursing programs and great NCLEX passing rates.
- Sit down....have the talk with your parents ASAP. It is VERY important.