I need advice re: school

Nursing Students General Students

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i was wondering if anyone could help me at all, whether it be advice, consolation, or just some direction.

i want to be a nurse(neonatal or ob), i've been looking around for a hospital with a cna program where i can work while in school. (no luck yet) last week i went to the community college to register for some prereqs and get info and their nursing program. it did not go as planned!!! i guess i was expecting to sign up for basic biology, chemistry, english, whatever, and give them a monthly payment or be able to get a small loan before the first day of class. (it's not that expensive, but more money than i have readily available!) well it turns out they needed the money that day. i only had $50 in my bank account and no credit card funds available, so obviously, they dropped my courses and i'm not in anything now. well the counselor went over the outline of my classes, prereqs, etc for the next few years, and it totally took me by surprise! i know nursing schools everywhere are difficult to get into and have a long wait, but i expected that since this is a cc, i would just "sign up". wrong! i have to take my prereqs first (to get a good gpa and min. 15 credit hours) then apply, (although i don't think its hard to get in) then you have to wait 1 full year before starting the nursing classes. so it looks like it will take me about 3 1/2 years to get a 2 year degree here! grrrrrrrrr!! i planned to get my bsn later, but since i don't like school in the first place, i am eager to get out there and start making enough money to pay my car payments and rent, which isn't happening with my current $7/hr job. :rolleyes:

i'm sorry this is so long, i'm just curious if this is something that has happened to other people (i'm sure it has) and how long are you all going to be in school? i was expecting a few prereqs and with summer classes it would be 2.5-3 years? i did a lot of research but obviously didn't find out what i really needed to know. i'm just upset and kind of without direction, i dont know what to do now in terms of schooling, i dont want to go 4 years to get a 2 year degree. thanks so much for listening to me vent!

*emily*

Hi Emily,

Have you applied for financial aid - FAFSA? You can go on this link http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ and apply right on line for the fall 04 semester and maybe even the 04 summer, I'm not quite sure. I go to a community college and they work the same way - courses have to be paid for before you start the semester, either private pay or financial aid is approved, as the old saying goes "no ticky, no shirty." I've been going to school part time since 2000 and expect to graduate in May. It does take quite awhile to get all the pre reqs done and then get into the nursing courses. But I would definitely look into financial aid, you don't have to pay it back, it's based on your income and ability to pay, and it could take a lot of the stress off of things for you. Good luck!

Well, I may not be the most qualified to answer you but I'll tell you what I can. Keep in mind a lot of this is information I've gathered from others around here.

Nursing school, as a generalization, is hard to get into no matter where you go. Some areas and some programs are harder than others, but I can't recall anyone saying it was easy to go from John Q Public to nurse. What you described as far as course load and waiting list doesn't sound too far fetched. You mentioned that you don't think it will be hard to get in but you have to wait a year....that year is because their are A LOT of people that want to be nurses. If you can find a school that will let you walk in and 'sign up' don't tell anyone, it's already the best kept secret in the country. Remember that a a nurse trained at Podunk CC that passes the NCLEX is in demand as much as the nurse from Yale.

The deal with the CC wanting the $$ now sounds a bit odd, unless you waited to long to enroll. My experiance has always been they have a date that enrollment fee's must be paid by, usually just before or right after the begining of the semester.

Is this something you have looked into? You should be able to qualify for student loans, grants or maybe even some tuition payback type stuff but none of that is instant. Try to scrape together enough for even one class this semester so you are on your way. Talk to the financial aid office, they are the experts at finding the $$, maybe they can swing something for next semester.

Don't mean to preach and others out there will (hopefully:rolleyes: ) add to this with good info.

yes i can get loans and financial aid :) .....problem is they wanted the $500 the day i registered (they had a bunch of signs up saying "register today, pay today!" so i had no time to get any loans or financial aid because i only had a few hours left in the day. i plan to get loans/aid for the next semesters/years but right now just didn't have the time. it saddens me that a cc would refuse to let me even sign up if i can't pay the full amount immediately. like you said, i expected a date payment was due, or some sort of payment plan. :rolleyes: oh well. ...over the summer i hope to get some financial aid and take a class or two and the in the fall i will be full force. i was just trying to figure out if this 3.5 year schedule is typical of a cc and an adn program? any advice whether it is worth it to go to school for that long? i'm willing to do the work, and i know i will be a fantastic nurse! school and i just don't get along. :p

Specializes in critical care; community health; psych.

Keep knocking on those doors and don't give up. Before I even registered for my prereqs, I had to go through the enrollment process. I've been a Florida resident my entire life (which is pretty long) but didn't have any of the documentation on their approved list of documentation. My driver license had been suspended so they wouldn't take it, and I wasn't a registered voter so I had no state ID. I was so disenheartened, I literally cried. The dean in charge of enrollment wouldn't even speak to me while I had bought homes, paid taxes and worked for 40 some odd years in a state where I couldn't be recognized as a resident.

It took me 3 trips to the campus and finally I appealed to the head dean in charge of enrollment for all the campuses. I brought members of my family to attest that I was a resident. I brought mail and even medical records. Finally, the powers that be conceded and I got my residency status changed.

It's over a year later and I'm in nursing school now. My point? Raise a stink. Talk to someone and if that doesn't work, talk to someone else. Someone somewhere has the authority to override the computer that is demanding your money. Your patients will need you to advocate for them. It's a good time to start learning by advocating for yourself. I know it's hard to deal with them right now but most schools have temporary emergency financing.

As for the prereqs, it's best to get them out of the way anyway. Nursing courses are a heavy enough load without those science and math courses to add to the weight. It's also good to know before you spend huge amounts of money on nursing school items whether you can handle the academics, especially the sciences.

Good luck. I'll get off of my soapbox now and apologize for being long winded.

In a regards to a cc the one I am going to it has taken me a year to finish the pre-reqs by summer they will be done. Then I can apply for the program which is another 2 years if I get in after I apply if not add another year for an associate degree. My particular school only admits into the nursing program once a year. I am hoping by 2007 I will be done.

I wouldn't say that 3.5 years is too long for an ADN. Had I gone that route instead of BSN it probably would have taken me about as long with the prereqs.

But, just remember one thing...no matter what you decide to do time is still passing. Whether you start now or one year from now it will still take you the same amount of time to reach your goal. Best to start sooner rather than later.

I'd say go talk to financial aid, too. You know, sometimes you can still add classes during the first week even if you aren't registered for them by going and sitting in on the first day...

Good luck to you!!

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