bevill-sumiton hopeful looking for advice

[JennG75]

i've decided that i've given 15 years of my life to being a mom that it's time for me to do something for me. i graduated high school, was in a relationship that lasted 11 years and had 2 kids. that was my dream....now my oldest is almost 15 and my youngest is almost 8. they don't need mom as much anymore so i've decided to do something with my life. i have a wonderful new husband :redbeathe who does nothing but support me 100% in whatever i do. he doesn't care if i work or not. i really wanted to be a sonographer, but the closest program to me was virginia college and i just couldn't see spending nearly $40,000 and since the school isn't accredited, not being able to get my license when i graduate. you can go and get it after working for a year, but i've personally talked to 2 people who went that route (one had to get a job in south al just to put her degree to work) who said it's nearly impossible to find a job without it since the students at wallace state are being hired since they have a license when they graduate. being that i have a family, i want to stay close. (i live in birmingport) i can't logically drive to hanceville for classes. i've now decided to go with nursing (rn). i've checked with lawson and was accepted, but because of the lack of financial aid, i'm unable to follow through. between that and the fact that beyond the ladies at the front desk and in the financial aid office, i didn't feel very welcome. i'm stumbling my way through this, and i felt like i'm a burden. i also was floored that lawson doesn't take student loans . i knew i wouldn't qualify for a pell grant, but was banking on being able to go to school pay for it after graduating. after doing some checking, i've found that bevill does take student loans. plus its only about 25 miles from my house. i've taken my compass test for lawon and have the results. can it be used at bevill? any ideas on total tuition for the program (since i have to get a student loan). i estimated $20,000 for 2 years tuition, books/supplies and gas allowance. i'm super excited about doing this a) for me just to be able to get the chance to do it! and b) to prove to my boys that you can do anything when you put your mind to it! sorry for the ramble....any information will be helpful!!!

[justshe]

I cant answer a lot of your questions, but I took my Compass exam @ Lawson and was able to use it at Wallace State.

I too decided not to go to Lawson for their nursing program and am pretty happy with my decision.

[hcox1975, BSN, RN]

I went to Bevill-Jasper Campus and graduated with my ADN in May. I had a job before I graduated, but not everyone did.

It will not cost you any where near $20,000 to go to Bevill. It is $90 for each credit hour. The average hours for full time is 12 hours. This comes out to $1100 a semester for just classes. You will have to factor in parking, lab fees and such but you will not spend more that $1500 at the most for a semester. As for books, your best bet is to find them online. I got a nursing book on ebay for $50 and it was $150 at the school.

I was very thrifty with finding books and such from former students and by looking on the boards around school for used books. Uniforms are about $200-300 but you will use them the entire time. You can also find these from formal students if you don't mind wearing someone else's stuff. I bought mine at the thrift store.

I would get all my basics out of the way first. When I started the RN program, all I had left was speech and microbiology. Nursing school is your life when you are going thru it, so I wouldn't make it any harder by taking other classes. Good luck!