My dream is turning out to be a nightmare!

I don't know if this will help much, but try not to get too down on the whole situation before exploring all your options. Do you have a previous Bachelor's degree? I'm guessing no, but if you do there are a few options including Regis, Metro and CU. If you don't have one and money is the issue, I might say go for your ADN (or AAS, I believe they are similar and will both work when continuing for your BSN) and then do the BSN while you are working and most hospitals offer some tuition assistance. I think most schools are going to advise against working while you are in nursing school.

Regis has a BSN program for people who work in health care field. You take your classes at night and do the clinicals on the weekend. I'm not sure, but you might need a previous bachelor's for this or have at least taken a bunch of general ed courses. I'm unfamiliar with University of Colorado Hospital, but I know they have some kind of program where after you work there for a year or so, you can go to nursing school there and they pay your salary while your in school. I don't know the details, but it sounds ridiculously good.

Do you not want to finance the entire cost of going to school, like living expenses? I contacted my bank, Wells Fargo, and they said that they will give me a check for basically whatever I need (tuition, books, supplies, child care). Of course its all financed, which isn't ideal, but I would not be able to go back to school if my husband and I couldn't get a little bit of assistance for child care. Now that DSN is fully accredited, you might look into a non-federal lender like your bank and see what they can do for you. Unless you want to get your MSN shortly after you finish your BSN you may want to consider getting an AAS or ADN and doing the BSN while you're working. It would just be faster and then you'd be financing for less time.

I went back and forth for so long on what my route was going to be. I'm married, have a mortgage, work in a hospital and have two very young children. I laid it all out on the table and decided what would take the shortest (or most reasonable) amount of time without the biggest price tag. Now I have a plan A and a plan B and feel so much better about it. I don't want to finance big bucks and be stuck with no job, so I had to make a decision based mostly on $$$. I have a previous BS, so I decided that my first choice would be Regis' CHOICE program where I go to class at night. THat way I can work and that will cover child care expenses. I can't afford to go to DSN or Metro and take out more money to cover daycare, so if I don't get into Regis I'll just get my AAS at ACC and then maybe do a BSN while I'm working. ACC will be around $15,000, so if I have to borrow more for child care, it will still be about the same amount as Regis' tuition.

I realize this is a huge run-on post, but I know there is a lot of info and options out there and you can make it work. I thought my head was going to explode trying to make decisions and now I'm totally at peace with it all. It will work out!

What about moving out of Denver to go to Nursing school? They waitlist are way shorter and the cost of living is a lot cheaper

From my understanding, an AAS (Associates of applied science in nursing) is the same as an ADN (associates degree in nursing). Many times, I will write ADN on a resume rather than AAS. By very virtue of the degree subject (nursing) it is implied that the degree is a science degree.

it is not ideal to work while in nursing school, but you can do it. I worked all through school and I am married and have 3 kids. it is hard, but you can do it. there are lots of scholarships out there and many go unused because no one applies for them. research scholarships and grants. may be you can work part time. other options include national guard or reserves.

My wife and I moved to Grand Junction in 2006 when she was accepted into their ADN program at Mesa State. It was her only option other then waiting for the waitlist at one of the Denver programs or going to DSON. It ended up working out very good for several reasons. I think a program like theirs could really work for someone in your situation, too.

It is a competitive program to get into (no waitlist), but the population of the area is a lot less making your chances better. Your first school year (Fall and Spring semester, not even a whole calendar year) is spent getting your LPN license. My wife was able to work as a home health CNA while she did that. And then after getting her LPN, she worked some home health care, and then for one of the hospitals on a Med /Surg floor. The LPN to RN part of the program didn't start until the next spring, so in the summer and fall she took some GS and prereq courses torward a BSN that she wants to earn in the future. The LPN to RN part of the program ran spring, summer, and fall semester and then she was done.

So, it took her 2 1/2 years on the calendar (not school years) to get her ADN, she worked almost the whole time, and when she graduated she had 1 1/2 year experience working in a hospital setting doing almost everything the RN's did on her floor. She has most of her prereq's and GS courses done torward a BSN. Mesa has a RN to BSN online program she will start in the fall. (There are many options for getting your BSN once you are a RN and most are geared to a working RN).

As far as finances go, besides being able to work she received money from WIA, Americorp, some grants, and student loans. It didn't cost us as much as we were planning for it to.

It couldn't have worked out any better. It will take her longer to get her BSN then if she had gone to DSON, but she started working as a RN in about the same amount of time, and thousands of dollars (if not tens of thousands) less in debt.

One other thing about DSON, although I understand it is a great program, as of right now most grad schools don't recognize their accreditation. SOmething to rememeber if you are thinking about furthering your education in the future.

I hope this info is helpful. Don't be discouraged. If it is really your dream you will find a way to make it happen as long as you don't give up!