ARMY veteran thinking bout Western Career College Sacramento for LVN

[andrewschultz, LVN]

Hey Gang.. I'm currently on Active duty with the ARMY and deployed to Iraq. I will be finishing up my contract at the end of this year. I will have put in 8 years federal service,and will be looking to use the post 9/11 GI Bill for school. I will be relocating to Sacramento, California and have been thinking bout Western Career College. I know that there has been some negative posts about the school, but i have found that most complaints are from much younger adults (through personal contact via email on other sites like Facebook). sorry, I don't mean to offend anyone. I'm 34 and looking at this for a second career. Once the LVN is out of the way i would like to do the RN bridge program at the same school. I am not concernced about the price since the government has offered to pay for my education because of my federal service. Any advice on the school process or ideas of the school in general? Positive thoughts are much appreciated. And yes, I've read the countless posts about the cost of this school on this site. I'm also interested on hearing how some past Military individuals have adjusted to Nursing school, and what if any advice there is in getting through it. Thanks.

[Student4_life]

I dont know what the cost per credit hour is going to be at that school, but the GI Bill doesn't always cover the complete cost of school. And since cali tution is only 335.75 an hour, you are likely to have to come out of pocket for those private school class costs. Not to mention the costs of books, which come close to 1k a semester, not a year like the VA pays out.

I also got out of the military and am now taking pre-reqs for transfer to a BSN program. Not sure what you are doing for the Army, but I had a very easy time getting into the swing of things in college, mostly because my job in the Navy promoted independent thinking and learning in general.

You aren't going to want to hear this, but I recommend that you go to a community college if possiable as they are not in it for the money and you will do better there.

On top of that, if you haven't already saved up a freakin crap ton of money (no reason not to, the military pays very well) start saving now. The VA is slow on payments and you don't want to be completely dependent on them. So live on the bare min, youre deployed its easy to live cheap with the DFAC's. Just stay away from the exchange and take some classes while you are over there to use up your free time/ get you back into it.

[Student4_life]

I looked up WCC, and you are going to be paying alot out of pocket if the costs are what people are saying they are. 43K for a LVN, thats crazy expensive.

Do you have to go to California? Or do you want to go to California? You get that last move when you get out, if you can see if there is a state with a decent nursing program (and high "bah" and GI Bill tution rates like Texas) you should move there.

Take care of yourself out there and even though I am a "much younger adult" I have a pretty good grasp of things, so please heed my advice.