FREE TUITION - FREE BSN - University of Arizona

ONE MORE question.. Do you know anything about how they figure out financial aid for this program? I know that the tuition is paid but I will still need to borrow money to live for the 14 months.. I checked on line and nothing. I will ask when there but just wondered if anyone knew anything about this.
Thanks

hey, my name is Michael but just call me Mikie I just received my interview and I am really excited! Everything is happening so quickly now and I hope the best for everyone, and I can't wait to meet some of you! I am going to start looking at flights and hotels now. Keep in touch...


mikie

Regarding financial aid, I offer the following:

1) I am not an expert. The following is mere conjecture.
2) Because this is a second Bachelor's program for us, if not a third time around for some, I do not believe federal financial aid is available to us as it is to "standard" undergraduates pursuing their first degrees. Additionally, because the program is tuition free, the best we can hope for is assistance with covering what is commonly referred to as the 'cost of living.' There may or may not be federal student loans available to help cover this cost, but I do not foresee federal grant monies surfacing.
3) I agree that the UofA doesn't provide much in terms of financial aid info. on the SON website. However, given that you have now been formally invited to the interview, you should feel comfortable contacting them for specifics. This is especially relevant if the interview requires traveling to UofA from outside of Tucson. Simply stated, you don't want to waste anybody's time and money if you can't afford to get through the program.
4) As a long shot, there is always the chance of "hitting up" your hospital sponsor for a loan if nothing else works. They'll know where to track you down for the money after you've graduated.....

Hi everyone! Congrats to all! On to step two- the interviews.
I called the university months back and asked about the interview format. I was informed they are done with a panel of university and sponsoring hospital staff interviewing a group of 3 or more applicants at a time. That's all I know from the CON, but I won't be able to resist lurking around these forums over the next two weeks soliciting unsuspecting graduates/current students of the program.
It looks like we are all coming from out of town. Are there any local Tucsonians on these forums who have been invited to interview? I look forward to meeting up at the hospital meeting on Friday.

I'm playing hooky from my UA ASBN studies right now; so, I thought I'd try and answer some questions...
1) The interview questions were not difficult; I think they wanted to see how you respond (from what I understand the 1st year they didn't do interviews and found that some of the accepted applicants were not quite suited to be nurses. i.e. communication skills are *really* important in nursing!).
2) Financial aid: lots of this years class took student loans. I didn't but my 401K is is really taking a beating.
3) If you get an offer it will be from 1 hospital and you will owe them the contract time. I did 4 years in the USN so I know about being under an employer's thumb! I think me signing on to the program tells you what I think of the contract stipulations and risks...
4) I stayed at the Lazy 8 motel /www.lazy8motel.com when I was researching the program (inexpensive, clean and relatively close to the school).
5) Good luck with the interviews; I'll be in the reception area if you have a morning interview.

Mark
P.S.
I probably will not have time to get back on here for a while; we have a stiff load of quizzes and tests for the next couple of weeks.

Thanks sooo much Mark... Have an am interview!!!! Good Luck with your continued studies.. One more question if I may when you have time...(if) do you know how they choose the hospital? It says that we have to give them our top 3..
Thanks
Dawn

All,
I managed to get a hold of a couple current/previous UofA ABSN students, and this is what I have compiled:

Interview tips:
-It's a panel/group interview, so anticipate 3 potential students speaking with 3-5 interviewers, both UofA and hospital reps.
-Limited timeframe, so expect 5 questions asked in an open ended context...addressing nursing as a profession, previous experiences, etc.
-You should have some familiarity already for the 4 partners, their strengths, specialties, and the best match for you from an outside perspective. Don't rely solely on the information sessions for a complete picture of the partners.

That's it. If anyone else hears more, go ahead and post.

GF

I'm off to Tucson tonight!!!
I wish everyone the best of luck and safe travels to Tucson.
See you there!

I'm fairly late here, but I just joined allnurses. I also got an interview for the 2009 ABSN and these forums have really helped me anticipate what will happen in the interview process. Thank you!

It took me 3 tries to even get this interview (3 times a charm, eh?) Luckily, I live in Tucson already. Thanks to my husband I've been living in the area for over 2 years now (moved from Seattle). Looking forward to meeting some of you on Saturday morning. I'll be at the info session the night before too. Good luck to everyone!

I am a lil sleepy right now but really excited! my plane leaves early tomorrow morning

mikie