[angels&heaven122]

Yes, I talked to Jeff Johnson personally and he told me that he had good news, and that the pre-reqs were now included, making the the eleven week quarters go from six to eight to accomidate for the addition of the pre-reqs!! I know I was definitely excited about that too!! I know its not on the website yet, but rest assured that Jeff personally told me this! Also, including the pre-reqs didn't raise tuition!!

[Satori77]

That is amazing! I can't wait to talk to him personally. This school is my first choice, but i thought I would have to wait at least a year to finish my pre-reqs. Concorde is personally closer to me, but I have heard such good things about DSON. Plus, if I take the light rail, I have extra time to study.

[salsaking]

I'm curious as to how everyone is planning to finance their education. Are you guys doing the Sally Mae loan? It seems like that loan is a terrible idea but its my only choice right now.

[Satori77]

Honestly, I don't know. I definitely can't work as much as I do, or I will have to go somewhere else. I will apply for the Sallie Mae, but will probably need a cosigner. I am hoping my mother will help me out with that and with watching the kids. I also plan on applying for every scholarship I can find, see if that helps any. With all that, I will see if we can do it or not. If not, I will have to find another way. The hardest part will be the financing.

[salsaking]

Will they even accept stuff like scholarships since it is an unacreddited institution?

[Satori77]

I never thought about it. I thought any college accepted scholarships. Definitely something to look in to....I know there are tons of nursing type scholarships. And I have never seen any of them say that certain types of schools won't accept them.

angels, is the pre-reqs only for the ADN program, or the BSN program as well? I know there are a lot more pre-reqs for the BSN. 60 credit hours. But I have prior college classes, and have most of those completed, like general ed, psych, stats and english.

[angels&heaven122]

I wish I could answer your question about the BSN pre-reqs but because i am doing the asn I am not sure! I would just talk to Jeff he is really nice and enthusiastic! And I also am very scared and intimidated with the financing issues. But I know that somehow I can work it out. I plan on also applying for the sally mae loan. My other option would be private loan which i don't want or pay as you go. My parents don't have alot of money so I will just have to croos that bridge when i get to it! I hope this helps!! I would also talk to jeff about the scholarship question!

[GizmosMom]

Why are the Sally Mae loans considered bad ideas? Are they credit-score based?

[salsaking]

I highly doubt they will offer the prereqs for the BSN other than A&P and Micro. The Sally Mae loan is a terrible idea for various reasons. It is not really a student loan either, it's more like a car loan.

One of the major drawbacks is that they start charging interest immediately whether you have a co-sogner or not. This basically means you have the chance of getting screwed pretty bad with interest.

The loan is a prime plus atleast 1 depending on your credit score which means your interest rate can go up but it will not go down after a certain amount. Most federal student loans charge 1 point below the fed rate but the Sally Mae loan wants to do prime which in the end is a difference of thousands of dollars if not tens of thousands.

When interest rates get low, you can consolidate however there is no option to consolidate with the Sally Mae loan because you are taking out one loan and the interest will never go below the APR. Once again a difference of thousands of dollars in interest.

[Satori77]

Do they only offer Sallie Mae loans, or can you get private loans on your own?