New Grad looking for advice

U.S.A. Connecticut

Published

Hello, I'm a ADN student nurse from P.R and I'm about to graduate in May and I was wondering if anyone could tell me if I need to have a permanent P.R( Puerto Rico) license to take the NCLEX or can I take it with a temporary license or without a license. Also I was wondering how much is the salary for a new grad in Stamford CT or is it better to get some experience in P.R then move to Stamford. See I'm confused can anyone give me some advice. :uhoh3:

abik you have mail

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Thank you so much for all the info you posted, I just joined and saw the postings. I had all the same difficulties in trying to call Interamericana and kept getting thrown around and still did not really get the answers I needed. I recently found out I got accepted to the program and I live in Maryland, so this is a big problem for me. That means I have to leave my job really soon and get ready to go to PR. My general orientation is next week and I called the school today to get clarification, they said I also have to meet with someone in the Nursing dept so they can evaluate my transcripts to see if i can get into the accelerated program, so that confused me. So that means I am not for sure accepted?? I also couldn't find tuition info on their website, so I am going by what you stated, I will hopefully clarify that when I get to PR. I'm still not sure if this is what I should do since it's so short notice. I am working right now so that means I have to take of work to go there next week and based on what I find out when I'm there I will make my final decision. Please give me any information that you think might help me on this decision and flying there next week. Thanks for all the info.

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Morellan keep us updated. Schools usually tell the applicants months in advance if they are accepted or not. They are giving you a month? More and more I am deciding I will not be applying to this school.

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I will try keep you updated on this adventure. I told my boss today, luckily she is understanding and knows this is important for my future and I'm not getting any younger. So I will be flying out there next Wednesday and hopefully will get all my questions answered. By the way I speak Spanish and maybe that's why I was able to get some information when I called the many times I tried. I can imagine how much more frustrating it is for the ones who don't speak Spanish. I hope it goes well.

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Morellan please post here after your visit to the school this week. Thanks!

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Hi, It has been a hectic two weeks but I finally got my Interamericana Acceptance letter. I will go to the Nursing dept. tomorrow morning to meet with my advisor to go over what classes I will take. According to my admissions letter, it appears to me that they have accepted all of my prerequisites and I have met the RN prerequisites. The letter is a bit hard to understand so I am not getting my hopes to high. I will know for sure after tomorrow. School starts on Aug. 1st here and I can't wait to start. I am still going back and forth with the student loan issue. Does anyone there know of any student Aid for Nursing students. I have a BA already and I don't qualify for FAFSA pell grant. I talked to the RN dept. here but they don't help with financial aid questions. I will keep you posted on how my Advising session goes.

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Hi Morellan, Did you make it to PR? I am here already, arrived in June, and I will be having orientation tomorrow. I am also supposed to meet and advisor to help me pick my classes. Quick question, do you know of any student loans for Nursing students? I already have a BA and I don't qualify for the FAFSA pell grant?

Please keep me posted on how your registration process goes.

Good luck,

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Specializes in Psych, Substance Abuse.

I am so incredibly frustrated with Universidad Interamericana at this moment and reading this just scares me even more. My husband and I came over here in June because we want to become RNs and this seemed like the best option because his parents live here and it's an accelerated program with no waiting list. Puerto Rico is beautiful and all, but I'm ready to go back home so I want to get school over with fast and it seems like it will take FOREVER with the way people at this university work.

My husband started this Monday with some of the general studies classes because he has to raise his GPA (goofed off in high school) and out of 4 classes, one has been canceled and the professor of the other class didn't show up Tuesday or today but supposedly the class isn't being canceled. Also, we are receiving the full Pell Grant, but supposedly we have to buy the books. What the heck is that about?! We're poor enough to receive a Pell Grant but we can't charge those books to the Pell Grant, we have to come up with money somehow for the books up front and then get reimbursed. In Florida all I had to do was show my ID at the bookstore and they charged it to my account and took it out of my Pell Grant.

Yeah, that and the university charges you a ton of money on top of the credits and one of the things that they charge you for is for maintenance. Um...have they SEEN the college? Do they really do maintenance there because the building is falling apart?! And don't even get me started on calling them because they never answer the phone and when they do they're not helpful at all. I'm just getting very discouraged at this point. With the way they're canceling classes, the professors not caring to show up, and all the other crap I'm just wondering if I'll end up going to school for 10 years instead of 3. Ugh, someone please tell me that they were able to finish in 3 years without that many problems. I'm ready to get my BSN and get on with my life....in the States!!! I wish I could PM some of you guys that are here in PR right now because it would be nice to have friends that are going to the same college so we can share tips/tricks but I can't PM yet :crying2:

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Who knows how much this school cost per credit or how much it costs at all? Im in RN program and Im taking some classes on line.Any advise where to find cheap internet.The places I called wants $50-60 per month

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:chair:

AM confused and need advice please. I am looking to possibly attend Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico this November

I just got off the phone with NYS Board of Education office of the Professions. Anyway, they seemed to indicate that I should be weary of schools outside the US even though I reminded them that PR is an American Territory. They were telling me of several student graduates from PR who could not get jobs in the US. Am I going to have a problem? Anyone have any advice or experience they can share with me? thanks so much.

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Specializes in Psych, Substance Abuse.

kasia13b - the cost per credit hour is around $170 PER HOUR. It is very expensive IMO. I paid around $80 at the community college in Orlando, FL. Plus there are other fees. My husband took 12 credit hours this trimester and I think the cost was $2,200 or something like that. As far as internet, there are only a few options. DMAX is DSL and is around $50 a month. That's what we have. The other companies are about the same. Centennial and Liberty are two other choices.

diamondgirl - You should have no problem getting your license if you graduate from Interamericana. As for starting in November, you will only be able to take general education classes during that time because the nursing program only starts once a year, in August. Well, that's for the Bachelor's degree in the English trimester program. I don't know if they have other programs that start in November. I'm painfully aware of that fact because they took over a MONTH to transfer my credits from my degree in Florida, and by then the August trimester had already started. So now I have to wait a whole year to start.

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Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico:

Thanks Designer-Mommy! I was under the impression I might be able to start in clinicals in November...its very difficult to get clear answers over in PR. Not sure why everything is so slow..either understaffed or cultural differences. I have spoken with a wonderful woman over there. She is very helpful and on the ball.

Anyway, NYSOP implied that hospitals really care about where you graduate from and that it would be more difficult to get a job in NYS when graduating in PR. Has anyone graduated from there or know someone who has and gotten hired in a good NYC hospital?

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