ABSN Duke Fall 2010

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Hi All!

I have decided to take the plunge and leave my career as a mental health therapist to gain a BSN in Nursing and hopefully move straight into MSN program. Is anyone else applying to Duke in the Fall??:yeah:

Hi, I won't be applying to any ABSN until Fall 2010, but I was just curious, how are you guys planning on paying? Isn't it close to $60,000 tuition plus you'll need like another $20,000 to live off for the next 16 months? I'm guessing scholarships are few and far between, stafford loans are generally used up from previous degrees. I know they offer tuition reimbursement if you work at Duke Health system afterwards, I'm just curious do they accept a lot of students for employment afterwards? Will you be taking out all private loans, tapping into your 401k? I'm interested in applying out of state but it seems kind of daunting to figure out how to pay for it...

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I've been out of school and working for 5 years so, I have savings to use. I'm not sure if I'm eligible for any financial aid or not but, I'll file a FAFSA to find out. I guess I'll just blow through my savings account and then replenish it with the reimbursement program. One thing that I want to find out at Duke Days is whether the reimbursement program is TUITION repayment or LOAN repayment. In other words, can I take advantage of it even if I don't end up taking out any loans?

Unfortunately, if I decided to stay in-state I think it would be at least another year or two before I could enter a program because they either require additional prerequisites or entrance is based on lotteries and wait lists. I'm willing to pay the premium to get started sooner rather than wait another few years.

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I asked about the reimbursement program last week, and it is tuition (rather than loan) reimbursement. It's paid directly to the student, and does not depend in any way on the existance of financial aid or loans. They tell me that in the past, about 50% or so of students received tuition reimbursement, but due to the economy that number has gone down. No exact stats for this past year, but their guessing it's around 30%. Hopefully the number will be back up by the time we graduate. :)

That's pretty much all I have. Does anyone know anything more about it?

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Kebunt- Do you know why the percentage has gone down? Is it because there aren't enough jobs available at Duke or that the jobs that are available aren't attractive?

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From what I hear, the students that have worked at Duke after graduation have been pleased with their placement. There are just fewer openings because of the economy.

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Count me in on being a bit ****** about the new interview process. Bass-ackwards if you ask me! I'll certainly be tailoring my ongoing internal monologue/interview practice accordingly, but I aint happy about it. Perhaps this is a result of their need to pack more interviews into the Duke Days since they canceled the "extra" day in February. How could you possibly interview someone without knowing thing one about them?! Grr...

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She said they put the new procedures in place while they were admitting over the summer. Must have been a different program, right? Honestly, I understand what they're trying to do, but like Rubypie, it leaves me with an aweful lot of ground to cover in 25 minutes!

I think I'll be the first in our allnurses family to interview, so I can let you all know how they work it if you'd like...

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.

If you don't mind filling us in after your interview, I know we'd all appreciate it.

I'm really somewhat displeased about this. The fact that Duke's faculty did take the time to read statements and use the interview to get a broader sense of a candidate was part of what drew me so strongly to the program; I like the emphasis on the whole person rather than just scores. Why on earth would you interview someone to ask the same questions that you asked with the personal statement? How is that an effective use of their time - and ours, for all of us driving 9+ hours or flying cross-country to be there?

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.
Hi, I won't be applying to any ABSN until Fall 2010, but I was just curious, how are you guys planning on paying? Isn't it close to $60,000 tuition plus you'll need like another $20,000 to live off for the next 16 months? I'm guessing scholarships are few and far between, stafford loans are generally used up from previous degrees. I know they offer tuition reimbursement if you work at Duke Health system afterwards, I'm just curious do they accept a lot of students for employment afterwards? Will you be taking out all private loans, tapping into your 401k? I'm interested in applying out of state but it seems kind of daunting to figure out how to pay for it...

I plan on maxing out the Stafford loans available to me (I only used about $5k in those in my previous degree) and tapping into a Sallie Mae loan for the rest. It's not going to be fun paying it off later, but I've done a lot of soul-searching with the whole thing and I still keep coming to the conclusion that it's worth the impressive expense.

I'm also applying for one of the scholarships, but am in no way counting on it.

Out of state vs. in-state doesn't matter at a private school like Duke. :) Which is good for all of us out-of-state applicants, I guess!

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I think that they'll end up asking one or two lead-in questions, then just let the rest flow based on our answers. So while it would be MUCH easier for me if they read my personal statement first, I think there will be some opportunity for personalization. And they will still be reviewing everything in the file, just not before the interview.

Honestly, with 25 minute interviews, they really can't expect them to be comprehensive. So I'm thinking the interview must be more of a quick get to know you, can you speak clearly, are you passionate about nursing kind of thing.

Regarding tuition reimbursement, they did mention that it would be taxed. If anyone has their accountant on speeddial, I am wondering at what rate it would be taxed...Regular income? Bonus? Anyone have any ideas?

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.

It's heavily taxed... think around 30%.

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According to my notes from the fall info session, the reimbursement is taxed at 38.65%. Ouch!

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