**Samuel Merritt ABSN Summer 2011**

Published

So, who applied?

I emailed the contact person for financial aid in SF asking what the next steps are since I have no idea how to go about securing my loans and she said that they would be sending out financial aid award letters in a few weeks and that the letter would have all of the info we need to set up loans, etc. It would be nice to get that figured out sooner rather than later...especially since it's so much money.

Does anyone know if loans for tuition give you an option to get money to cover living expenses as well? I don't plan to work at all during the program since it's supposed to be so demanding. I'm just not sure if I should be contacting some banks asking about a separate loan to cover my living costs.

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The SF start date is around the corner and it is cutting it too close to find out about financial aid. Does anyone have any advice on the alternative loan situation? How difficult are they to secure and how high are the payments? I have looked at the simple tuition website, but I would like to hear from people that have actually gone through the process.

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For SMU ABSN Oakland students starting in May 2011, I have started a Facebook page. Please join if you will be attending MSU Oakland this May!

adusf84 and bubbles313, please join! :)

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I just deposited for the San Mateo cohort, anyone else in that cohort?

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if you filed a Fafsa for 2010-2011 you should be able to send in a notice of acceptance and get the money for tuition pretty quickly. Im not 100% positive about it, but my BF got into school the day it started and was able to get the tuition and living expense money really quickly. You should be able to do the same if you already have the old one filed out, otherwise you might contact the finanical aid office and they can help. Hope this helps

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Well just in case 58K didn't sound too high for everybody. The expected cost of attendance comes out to over 89K.

I'm a little worried that they are not processing our financial aid until mid-march. Sf campus starts in April...that is cutting it really close! I know it will work out somehow, it has too.

I called the office and their best advice was, wait. So this is me waiting:-/

In the meantime, I'd really like to meet all of you on Facebook! I started a group under Samuel Merritt ABSN. It looks like since then people have started creating separate groups for the individual campuses.

If you live near SF (no matter what campus!) lets meet up. It would be really helpful to have a sounding board for all of the hoops we'll have to jump through in order to get everything squared away.

Plus I have a GREAT guy who comes to your house to certify you for CPR, if anyone needs it.

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That's a really cool way to get certified. If you can't do it that way check out the local community colleges. I got my AHA Health care level certification on a Saturday morning for something like $40. Also, several fire departments and YMCAs host the classes really cheap.

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anne2424.....Did the school give you the outrageous figure of $89k?! Please let me know how you found this out because that it insane. I cannot even imagine what the loan payments on that amount will be.

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Hi All,

I just joined this thread today and wanted to congratulate everyone accepted into SMU! I myself will be joining the SF cohort come April.

I was wondering if anyone received any form of confirmation from SMU after sending in their tuition deposit and letter of intent?

Also, I did some calculations for cost of tuition, books, and personal expenses and budgeted $72k. I guess this varies for everyone, but $89k seems like a lot.

Look forward to meeting those in the SF cohort!!

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Hi ilnurse15,

Congratulations! Join our group on facebook!

Search Samuel Merritt University ABSN San Mateo Summer 2011.

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Regarding Loans - the cost of attendance should cover tuition, books, and insurance, which probably comes out around $60+K I would guess. Your living expenses are going to vary depending on your situation!

Yes my understanding is that you can get Private Loans that will make up the difference between the Stafford Loan and whatever the total of cost of attendance plus living expenses.

Yes it is a lot of money. It will probably be around $80 to 90K when all is said and done.

But an MBA is about $50K in the bay area also, and lots of folks get MBAs these days.

Yes the monthly payments will be high.

BUT....having a BSN will open TONS of doors even outside of hospitals and other direct patient care situations. You could work for 1 of a million pharmaceutical companies, or a legal company, or some other healthcare related company. There will always be a demand for nurses - regardless of what the job situation is today.....there is a nursing shortage (even today) and it will only get worse in the next 10 years!

Once we have some experience under our belts - you can work anywhere in the US. A CA Nursing license is good in all 50 states.

Remember Nurses are paid a wage and there is tons of overtime available all the time. You could work 2 jobs since many nurses work 12 hour shifts and so only work 3 days a week.

In the end....it's only money. I say work hard in school, work hard in clinicals and during your preceptorship so that you can impress the Unit Manager and increase the liklihood of being offered a job.

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thanks brendalwelch i joined the facebook page for oakland!

good luck to everyone on the financial aid stuff. luckily i have until may to figure things out! those who start in april doesn't have much time and i can see how anxious that can get!

just a few info on what i kno about loans and such. there's an ESTIMATED overall cost of attendance given (which might be that 89k someone mentioned). then there's the actual tuition ~56k. the federal loans will only cover a partial amount of this (depending how many federal loans you're qualified for). the next we resort to private student loans (sallie mae, wellsfargo, bankofamerica) the private student loans are good for those who want to include living expenses. this is where that 89k is helpful because most private student loans require "certification" from the school which is- you're only allowed to tk out 89k minus whatever federal loan you've been approved for.

i know this all sounds like a crapload of money. but don't worry we'll get through it and it'll all be worth it in the end! what keeps me looking forward to this is that it's only a 1 year program. 55k is nothing compared to some vocational schools out there. several of my friends have done the LVN program that is offerred, no degree nothing, and that's already 30k+.

hope this helps and that i didn't ramble TOO much. lol good luck everyone =)

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