My understanding is that RN is an associate degree, BSN is a undergraduate degree and PA is a graduate degree. First thing that might be helpful to decide is what level of education do you want to receive before you enter the real world. For some of us, we cannot afford to go to school for 4 years and the better option would be to get an associate degree that is most likely to get us a job after graduation. Once you enter into the profession, you can get tuition reimbursement to pursue higher degrees. But, there is a catch. The catch is it is very hard to manage work and pursue a competitive degree program such as PA at the same time. But, it is not impossible. It depends on you, your dedication and your patience. Because of the nature of the work of the medical field, which involves patient care, it could be very stressful at times and one may not be able to focus properly on their studies.