Hi MrJan,
I went into nursing when I was 28, I often see/talk to students as old as 50, so don't think you're too old.
My thoughts on rn/lpn are that nursing school in general is a major pain in the butt. If you want to become a nurse, why go through that for an LPN and go back later for an RN.
Do your RN first if possible (school waiting lists are growing very quickly) and be done with it. Whether they like to hear it or not, LPN/LVNs are second class citizens in the Nursing field.
My concerns for schools would be their passing rate on the NCLEX, attrition rate of new students (how many complete the full program, how many drop out), and teacher to student ratio.
The most important thing is to make sure nursing is for you. I've been a nurse going on a decade, will stay in nursing a few more. However I am not, recommending it to most people.
Read a few of the articles on this site:
Nurses' Views of the Nursing Profession
http://www.nursefriendly.com/views
They'll provide some details about nursing you won't hear from your guidance counselors or nurse recruiters.
Hope that helps,
Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursingschools.com