by lovelyanne

Updated Aug 02, 2009 at 02:51 PM by lovelyanne

Hi, everyone I have read many threads concerning this topic but I wanted to clarify a few things, because right now I am just as confused as ever.

My parents are suggesting I go to college in the philippines because then I wouldn't have to worry about student loans in the future and such, and to also get me to learn the experience of school there. I'm an American citizen (born here and for the most part raised here - I lived in the philippines for about 5 years, when I was 5-10 years old in Cebu) and I live in New York. The thing is, though, that I heard that nursing is now a 5-year course in the Philippines? My parents and I are hoping that I can get in Cebu Doctors (hopefully - is it hard to get in?) because it is a great school supposedly in Cebu, and we have many relatives around the city.

More questions I have are: what exactly is an NLE and do I have to take it? And will I have a problem after graduating going back to New York concerning.. more test-taking, difficulty finding a job, and such, and in general will it be long after I graduate in the Philippines before I can actually get to work back in NY (how and why, please?)

an advanced thank you to everyone who answers! I would appreciate your advice and opinions so much!

edit: oh and my mom is working here in the US, she has a BSN, and my dad is an American citizen, if that becomes a question..

and also, in your opinion, would it really just be better for me if I go to college here in the states?

Re: Going to college in the philippines?

NLE is the local Philippine RN exam and unless you have Philippine citizenship you can not sit it. At the moment there are only a couple of states that require a local exam (if you can sit it) but who knows what will happen by the time you do complete your training. You will need to check with your state nursing board once you are nearly graduating. If you need NLE and can not sit it then you need to get a letter from PRC stating that you are not allowed to sit the exam. NY requires CVS for all foreign trained nurses and takes on average 6-8 months to get the OK to sit NCLEX therefore you could work before you sit the exam but it will not be as a RN

Re: Going to college in the philippines?

oh, thank you so much for explaining to me about the NLE.

sorry for sounding like an idiot, but I'm kind of clueless about so many of these test abbreviations: what exactly is a CVS?

Re: Going to college in the philippines?

I posted my opinion before and still advise you to get the training in the US.
Otherwise you will be a lifelong foreign educated nurse, allways a worry in case you are moving or state board changes the requirements. It takes a long time to get into the system coming from somewhere else, takes up to a year to get registration through, you won't have any job connections, useful relationsships, zero, to start nursing in the US will be so much harder, and I understand you are american and will stay there right?

It's so much better to get the education where you plan to practise, how do I know, I changed countries several times, it's allways hard, and even after years some bits of the system still were a riddle to me.

5cats

Re: Going to college in the philippines?

Hi,

I am glad to hear you are considering going to the Philippines to study nursing. First step is to ask your parents to help you apply for dual citizenship. Since you live in NY, visit the consulate there and inquire. The advantage of you having dual citizenship is that you will not have to worry about renewing your student visa. Remember that being a US citizen, even though you look Filipino, you will be treated as a foreign student. The other advantage is that your tuition fee will be the same as the Filipino citizens. Tuition fees for foreign students are higher. (As a side note, make sure you also obtain a Philippine Passport).

Some things to consider:
-Academic year in the Philippines starts in June and ends in March. US academic year ends in May or June. This may cause you problems with schedule. For example, if you graduate from High School in May 2010 (or maybe June 2010 [?] b/c you live in NY); you will be late for the start of the Philippine academic year. They do not admit there semester-to-semester. They only admit at the start of the academic year. Cebu may be different, so find out.
-You might want to e-mail the admissions coordinator of the school that you are interested to attend so you find out about their requirements (transcripts, etc.). Different schools have different entrance exam requirements. When my friends went there to study (in Quezon City), they went in mid-May, they took the college entrance test required by the school within a week (your SAT or ACT will serve no purpose there); and started school first week in June.
-You will be 2 years older than your classmates b/c pre-college education there is only 10 years, compared to here of 12 years. Through my dealings with a few Fil-Ams who went there for college, they felt they were "manong" or "manang" to their classmates. That may not be an issue for you though---individual differences.
-You might want to learn the language/local dialect now, if you do not speak it.
-Get ready for the heat.

Hope some of what I babbled about help. Tell your parents that I think their idea is a good idea. Nursing schools in the US are saturated cannot admit everyone who apply even though GPAs are high.

Re: Going to college in the philippines?

thank you so much for your output and advice! I greatly appreciate it.

There is a college entrance test there? Oh, sad that SAT scores are worthless, I've put my all into studying, haha. I am to graduate next year as Im going to be a senior soon (2010) so I do understand that I will be 2 years older because of the school system there. And I've lived in Cebu for a tiny few years and my parents and (loads) of family here in NY speak bisaya all the time so I believe I can understand and speak it, and thanks to TFC (hahahaha) I can understand tagalog for the most part.

Are the college entrance exams there really hard? Are there many fil-ams the same in my situation there in the philipines (to losen the nervousness of my ego, LOL) And I just wanted to clarify: has it really been approved for real that nursing there is now a five-year education? *sigh* I really don't want to be studying that long, call me ruthless or not..

Re: Going to college in the philippines?

As a US citizen you do not have to fill the local board requirements and your CVS for NYC will be a little different. However, as one other poster said, since you are always going to be a foreign educated nurse then anytime you move and process an endorsement of your license to another state you have to go through a credentials evaluation of some degree and will have to face the task of getting a transcript from your school in the Philippines.

Cebu Doctor's Hospital is an excellent choice though.