Barry CRNA Starting 2018

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Hello all! I just thought I would start a thread for those of us applying. I have started my application and I am working on my personal statement now. How are you all doing?

I have taken the GRE and passed my CCRN. I still need to get my PALS. I also need to ask for my letters of recommendation and send in my school transcripts & GRE scores. I'm going to try to apply for the Tampa campus.

Easier said than done and you have the military paying for your education. me on the other hand, I have a disabled mom to take care of and so it makes sense for me to sit out another year and save. i understand that prolonging school is less time working as a CRNA, however, I don't want to be in school and stressed bc financially I wasn't awarded enough money to live and worried about failing out and paying my bills at the same time.

As far as the financial stuff is concerned, the longer you put off going to school, the fewer years you will be making 150k+ salaries. It doesn't really make a ton of sense to keep "saving" while making what, like 70K a year as a nurse to put off graduating sooner to make double that. I am in the program now, and I have the military paying for a vast majority of my school. I know that a lot of people don't have that option, and just about everyone is relying on loans. The best thing you can do is decrease your debt now (get rid of anything you don't "need", pay off as many loans as you can, have a yard sale, etc), and try to mitigate as many costs as possible (find a cheap place to rent, stop eating out, get on a strict budget, find cheap books for school, etc). Borrow the least amount you need, and pay it off ASAP after you graduate. Save the fancy cars, big trips, and nice house for after you pay off your loans. That's just my opinion, don't put off going to school while making RN wages when you could double your income by getting in to school now, and avoid the interest on your loans by paying them off crazy fast and living meagerly even after you graduate.

Good luck!

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That's why I said "to each their own". I don't know everyone's individual circumstances, and I definitely wouldn't recommend someone undertaking this without having a solid game plan.

They will award you plenty of financial aid (loans), way more than enough to live on (about 12-15K per semester for living expenses). I understand not wanting to take on that kind of debt, it is a huge responsibility, but it is available.

By the way...joining the military was a major decision I made long ago to help with my educational expenses. It is not "free money". It was a massive sacrifice, and over 2 years spent away from my family on deployments...Not starting an argument, just wanted to clarify that.

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Easier said than done and you have the military paying for your education. me on the other hand, I have a disabled mom to take care of and so it makes sense for me to sit out another year and save. i understand that prolonging school is less time working as a CRNA, however, I don't want to be in school and stressed bc financially I wasn't awarded enough money to live and worried about failing out and paying my bills at the same time.

Yes! That's exactly what I'm afraid of. Being worried about bills and then failing out. My main issue is my car note. If I can find a way to get rid of that then I'd be good to go. But there's no way I can pay it off in time to start school. Starting a year later may be better in the sense that I can try to lower the payments. I totally get where you're coming from and understand how you feel.

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That's why I said "to each their own". I don't know everyone's individual circumstances, and I definitely wouldn't recommend someone undertaking this without having a solid game plan.

They will award you plenty of financial aid (loans), way more than enough to live on (about 12-15K per semester for living expenses). I understand not wanting to take on that kind of debt, it is a huge responsibility, but it is available.

By the way...joining the military was a major decision I made long ago to help with my educational expenses. It is not "free money". It was a massive sacrifice, and over 2 years spent away from my family on deployments...Not starting an argument, just wanted to clarify that.

So if you had a car note and that was holding you back what would you do in this situation? í ¾í´” Would you use the loans to pay that? Lol just curious

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I guess it sort of depends on how much is left on the loan, and how big the payments are. I'm guessing you are single, no kids? I have a family, two kids, so my expenses are inherently more than (i am assuming) yours are already. Would I personally let a car loan hold me back from school? NO WAY! If you really want to sit down and do the math, starting a year later would be equal to leaving 70-80 thousand dollars on the table (150 as a CRNA - 70 as an RN, which would be really high for an RN anyways...). A car loan would be the LAST thing that would hold me back from starting school.

Other options? Sell the car! get something that is reliable that you can pay for outright. (you might be upside down in your car, again, i don't know everyone's personal finances). I believe myself to be financially savvy, and I could never justify delaying school cuz I have a car loan...doesn't make cents (pun intended).

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You might even still be on your parents insurance (again, no clue about your personal life) because of your age. I have to use loans to pay for all sorts of costs of living, such as car, life, and health insurance, clothes for the kids, school stuff for the kids, on and on and on. If you are single, no kids, you will come out ahead of most people anyways. So yeah, you would use loans to pay for your car. You could probably even use the borrowed money to pay your car off entirely much sooner than you could do on your own, and depending on your car loan's interest rate, it might actually SAVE you money. I dunno, all stuff to think about.

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Specializes in ICU.

100% agree with what UtahICURN says. If it's that big of a payment...sell the car, get something affordable and reliable to get you through a few years of school. There's no sense in delaying your career over a car. It's just a car. Cars hold no real value, anyway. You'll have another nice car someday, after school, if that's what you want. IMO ;-)

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You might even still be on your parents insurance (again, no clue about your personal life) because of your age. I have to use loans to pay for all sorts of costs of living, such as car, life, and health insurance, clothes for the kids, school stuff for the kids, on and on and on. If you are single, no kids, you will come out ahead of most people anyways. So yeah, you would use loans to pay for your car. You could probably even use the borrowed money to pay your car off entirely much sooner than you could do on your own, and depending on your car loan's interest rate, it might actually SAVE you money. I dunno, all stuff to think about.

lol I just got the car. It hasn't even been a year yet. But I'll see what I'll do, thanks!

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100% agree with what UtahICURN says. If it's that big of a payment...sell the car, get something affordable and reliable to get you through a few years of school. There's no sense in delaying your career over a car. It's just a car. Cars hold no real value, anyway. You'll have another nice car someday, after school, if that's what you want. IMO ;-)

I hear you. I haven't even had the car for a year yet. But I'll see what happens with the whole process. Thanks again so much for your feedback! It's greatly appreciated. :)

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Specializes in Cardiac ICU.
I hear you. I haven't even had the car for a year yet. But I'll see what happens with the whole process. Thanks again so much for your feedback! It's greatly appreciated. :)

Just throwing in my two cents. Barry will be a DNP CRNA program after spring 2018. They're in the process of transitioning and getting rid of the MSN route. Holding off could mean an extra 8 months in school. At the end of the day though, do what is best for you!

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Just throwing in my two cents. Barry will be a DNP CRNA program after spring 2018. They're in the process of transitioning and getting rid of the MSN route. Holding off could mean an extra 8 months in school. At the end of the day though, do what is best for you!

Ah, very good point as well.

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Just throwing in my two cents. Barry will be a DNP CRNA program after spring 2018. They're in the process of transitioning and getting rid of the MSN route. Holding off could mean an extra 8 months in school. At the end of the day though, do what is best for you!

An extra 8 months? Yeah....no lol if I get accepted I think I'll just go and figure something out regarding the payments. lol thank you!

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