Am I the only one that feels like this? I need help!

[UVA Grad Nursing]

My recommendation would be to find a job and start paying down your present loans before taking out any more loans. There is no immediate date in which you need to be a RN; we have students in our Master's Entry program who started college in the 1970s.

The general rule of thumb is that you should not owe more than what you can expect to earn as your first year annual salary.

[sweetnurse786]

My best advice is to rethink why you want to become a nurse and are you going to be able to pay off the loans. Just like yourself, I did my BS in Business and I started to do my pre-reqs in 2005-2006....finally I got into a ABSN program in 2011 and graduated in May of 2012. Currently, I am in 150k student loan debt..yup you got it, $150,000 in student loans. $40k for my previous degree and $110k for the ABSN. I went to a decent private university here in NYC and I still do not have a job. Its really hard to get jobs and now I am considering going back to school for my MSN, either this year or next yr simply because I cant get a job and there is a lot of competition. I wish I had become a nurse 5 yrs ago because at that time, jobs were easier to get vs. now. Before I went to get my ABSN, I had a decent job, decent pay but was laid off. And all i could think about is going back to school because I started to take my pre-reqs a while back. I dont regret it but really am upset that I am still jobless...so yes its hard getting jobs and yes, the pay is not so great and yes, loans are insanely high. So definitely think about it and make the right decision for yourself. Good luck!