OCU Fall 2012 Admission

lizi737 · Jun 18, 2012

Hi, I'm in the same boat, waiting to hear for the BSN only I think I would go with the accelerated route as I already hold my B.A. in health sciences.

I saw online and just got the letter in the mail I got 3,000 in scholarships for being a transfer student with such a GPA. and I'm hoping for grants as is all my expense as an independent, and I never took out any loans or grants or scholarships for my first degree. Other schools that have sent me financial aid info have had grants and federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans and it looked like online OCU receives more aid to give out...

Here's to our fingers crossed we get lots of aid! I've made up my mind not to stress about it, taking out the loans, doing phenomenal in school and then passing the NCLEX and working at a job of my choice b/c I worked my but off so hard in the program, instead of worrying, working part time, and having a tough time trying to go on like my first degree. Hopefully is not just my 24 year old mentality. I plan to go on and get my Doctorate of nursing as a nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist so I don't want to again put myself into a boat where my GPA and such don't allow me to get into a school of my choice.

LovelyOverload · Jun 19, 2012

google "OPMTC" they offer scholarships to nursing students

Apply for the nurse extern position at INTEGRIS they also pay for school in exchange for 1 year of employment

Are you sure you really want to go to OCU? I have a co-worker who graduated from there and she regrets going there because of the cost.

raq_uel · Jun 28, 2012

They aren't clear about the costs- it's actually about 15,000/semester. My fall semester bill is $14,930 - no matter how many hours you take. If you already have a bachelor's degree, the maximum amount of government loans you will receive per school year, not semester, is $12,500 - Student Aid on the Web . The maximum scholarship OKCU will give you is a $3,500 transfer scholarship if you have a high GPA (think 3.7+). They will state this is a "30% discount" which is the "maximum discount students in the nursing school can receive." (??) You can also get a work study for $1,500/semester. I went into the financial aid office and basically begged them for more money several times and ended up getting a Perkins Loan for $2,000/semester (a government loan not eligible for loan repayment programs). Plus an $850/semester "Nursing Scholarship." I was told they had to get special permission to give me this. This gives me approximately $12,000/semester in a combination of scholarships/primarily loans. I do not know of a single student who has received any more than this. So plan on taking out at least $3,000 in private loans to cover tuition per semester (not including books, scrubs, stethoscope, shoes, etc., all costs of living) unless you have some other financial source.

****This does not apply if you take school in the summer. Plan on taking out at least $6,000 in private loans to cover summer tuition. They will not give you a work study, Perkins Loan, or nursing scholarship.

Additionally, most private loans require you to pay monthly interest while still in school so plan on having a way to pay for that.

I think working a couple days a week during spring/fall semester is doable but don't plan on working in the summer if you want to make decent grades.

Some of the professors are pretty alright, others are completely ignorant- will tell you completely wrong/backwards things about major nursing issues literally throughout every single class. Hopefully she isn't there next semester, but keep in mind that you might pay $6,000/class and have to relearn every single thing outside of class time because the six hours you spent in class that week were a complete waste of your time. However, I have been told OCU classes are a million times better than OU classes from a transfer student. I still don't think OCU is worth the money. I wish I could go back in time and just go to OCCC and get my ADN then do an ADN-BSN program while working and not be in a gigantic amount of debt.

raq_uel · Jun 28, 2012

Another thing- OCU acts like they have a ton of aid to give out- they do, but only to business and law school. There is pretty much nothing for nursing. It doesn't matter if you took out loans for your previous degree or not, you will not get any more money through OCU. They will not give you grants. No Pell Grants for people attempting second undergraduate degree. Eligibility of Students on a 2nd Bachelor Maybe in a few years...