Duke ABSN 2012

oaktown2 · Aug 3, 2011

tamarindo - at one of the other schools I applied to (not an ABSN program, but I am a second bachelors), I was given some federal financial aid, but at another I wasn't. The one that gave it to me was a private school and the other a state school in a very poor state. So you might be eligible for some federal and then you can usually get private money (ie something like Wells Fargo MedCap) but of course it costs more. But I believe as long as your credit is ok, you have some options for loans.

tamarindo · Aug 3, 2011

Thanks

My credit is good, but I have never borrowed outside of student loans, so I guess I am a bit timid.

oaktown2 · Aug 3, 2011

MedCap is still a student loan. I think you probably could only do student loans, but either way, it is still a lot of money. IMO, I think it is probably good to be timid, it's a lot! But that isn't to say that it won't be worth every penny.

Did Duke say much about the tuition repayment if you work at DUHS?

KCbaby57 · Aug 3, 2011

They basically said that it's an option, and it's $16.5k a year for max 3 yrs, but it's taxed. So, if you end up taking out 80k or so, it will really only repay about 35k. They only repay tuition, not other loans to cover living expenses. Also, they said its never guaranteed that you'll get a job w/ DUHS.

bicirose · Aug 3, 2011

Hi everyone! To those of you who've already interviewed, I hope it went well for you.

And everyone else, and people who live here in town, let's get together! "Serfeliz" and I have made plans to get together early Thursday evening. No location chosen yet, I'm going to scope out a good place today. Locals, if you have any suggestions of good food... 5:30 Thursday for dinner. I'll post the location as soon as it's decided, but wanted to go ahead and give a heads up.

Cheers,

Lisa ("bicirose")

KCbaby57 · Aug 3, 2011

check out yelp.com...there are too many good durham restaurants to name. the federal ("the fed") is my favorite, not too expensive and on main st. Dain's is another good place for burgers on 9th st. if you want to spend a little more $ but want an awesome meal, go to vin rouge or rue cler for french, pops for italian, or nana's if you really wanna splurge.

tamarindo · Aug 3, 2011

Keep me posted, I may meet up with you guys, depending on my flight and whether or not I can squeeze my run in.

I think it would be nice to get to know some of you, and the food sounds tasty

bicirose · Aug 3, 2011

Thanks for the recommendations KCbaby! I had a few other people also mention the Federal, so I'm thinking it's a good choice.

So, for anyone interested- tomorrow (Thursday) at 5:30 at The Federal

Address: 914 W Main St.

Let me know if you might make it so that I can have an idea of how many for the table. [email protected]

Cheers!

lisa

KCbaby57 · Aug 4, 2011

Good luck to everyone interviewing Friday! Don't be nervous! It's not bad. :)

hmgunc · Aug 4, 2011

Good luck from me too! I was very nervous during my interviews, but they were really very relaxed ( I just wasn't). Next week will be here before we know it!

snobunny · Aug 5, 2011

Hi everyone! I just discovered this message board so I thought I would join in on the conversation. I had a phone interview today and even though I was nervous I did fine. I'm just hoping that I will still have a chance since I wasn't able to come to Duke Days. I am very very serious about this and I hope it doesn't count against me in any way that I couldn't make the trip out. It sound like we won't have to wait very long to find out though! Since I didn't get to go is there anything that I should know that they told you guys in the information session? And I'm curious what the group interviews were like since mine was obviously a one on one.

bonnie_7777 · Aug 6, 2011

hi snobunny,

i don't think that you have to worry about not being able to be there in person for your interview. we were told that there were about two people doing skype interviews because they were in the military and couldn't travel. i am assuming you were one of those military people. the people on the admissions panel are human too and they understand those types of circumstances.

as far as the information session goes, we were given information about the program schedule, what makes duke's nursing program stand out, tuition and financial aid information, deadlines for submitting paperwork, and expected decision dates. we were also provided tours of the facilities and were given the opportunity to ask questions to a panel of current nursing students. if you have any specific questions about any topic that we discussed let me know and i will try to answer them for you.

the group interview was basically just a way for them to analyze how well we work in a group. the first thing they did was ask us all a question and then we all took turns answering that question. we were then given a group activity where the interviewers observed how effectively each of us worked to complete that group activity. i was extremely nervous to do the group interview but it turned out not to be that bad at all.

overall, it seems that everyone that i talked to thought they did really well in their interviews. i thought i did good as well. however, since i think it is unlikely that everyone did awesome in their interviews, i am thinking that our perception of how well we did might just be a reflection of how nice the interviewers were. maybe i am just being pessimistic but this thought is making me really nervous because it makes me feel unsure of what my chances really are now. i was hoping to have some sense of the likelihood of getting in after the interviews but now i don't know. i guess we will all just have to wait and see. good luck!