LPN to RN...PLEASE HELP!!!!

[tommygirl_1999_us]

I am currently an LPN. I have been working in this field for almost four years . I am desperatley needing to go back to college to get my RN, but I have a few obstacles I need help with. First, I work a full time job, 40 hours a week, 10 hour days. I desperatley need every penny that I make. The reason behind this is because my husband is currently encarcerated and I went from a 2 income household down to 1. I am just making ends meet as it is, and I cannot afford to cut back on my hours at work. My husband is not going to be comming home until late 2011, and even when he does, I am not banking on a good paying job to come his way considering most companies reluctance to hire an ex-offender. I want a house, and children one day, and I know that this will never work with the pay I make now and my husbands job opportunities. Can anyone give me some advice on what to do??? First, I need to find college with somewhat flexible scheduling in South Alabama, or find some type of grant or loan that will pay for school AND supplement any income that I won't receive if I have to cut my hours. And, as broke as I am..I don't qualify for Pell Grant:mad:!!!! I'm in desperate need of advice to point me in the right direction! PLEASE HELP!

[Jules A, MSN]

Can you change your schedule? As a nurse you should have a lot of options available. Many of my classmates did the weekend option program while in school that that paid almost as much as a 40 hour position. We didn't have classes on Fridays so I worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I didn't qualify for any financial aid and wasn't interested in taking out loans so I went to a community college so it only cost about $1,200 a semester which is cheap. Best of luck to you.

[caliotter3]

Definitely look into any and all financial aid options at the school you would be attending. You need to start on those prerequisites. If you have to, do one class at a time. Do the general ed courses, like English, first and get them out of the way. Find out if, and which, science courses can not be more than five years old. Save those for last. You should try to work out a schedule so you can attend your local school. If that does not work out, do all of your general ed stuff and other prerequisites, corequisites, and go for Excelsior College. Check them out at http://www.excelsior.edu The good thing about Excelsior is that you can take tests for a lot of courses, CLEP and DANTES. Talk to an advisor with any questions once you look at the website. But go for your local program as Plan A, as it is the best option for getting through the clinical portion of school. Also read up on the distance learning forum and the student forums here. You can get a lot of input and ideas that might help you out.