Good problems!!!

You can always buy an extra coat with $18k....

Where you relocate for school doesn't have to be permanent. If you're willing to go that far from home and if the two schools are pretty comparable I'd go where the scholarship is....

Unless you're well off or your parents are paying. Then I'd probably go to Florida because, well, it's Florida.

Cost of living in Maine is going to be higher. I have lived all over the east coast. NCLEX pass rates are going to be good at both. What I don't understand is if you are concerned about leaving cali why are you applying to schools that are literally as far away as possible?

There are tons of schools all over the west coast. Or even the midwest if you want to be closer.

Yes I would love to go to Florida but the scholarship as in me and fortunately I don't have super wealthy parents

Well as far as moving I'm OK with it if it's just for a year. I would like to stay close to family and I will most likely move back. Unfortunate most of the schools here are very impacted. I am sure if I tried long enough I would get in, however, I'm an older student 35 years old with a career change so I'm trying to speed things up. I have applied to some California schools they start later and have already been excepted to these other schools. If I turn the schools down and do not get into any other schools in California then I'm left with nothing.

Be VERY cautious about entry level Masters programs. No one is hiring these grads in my part of the country. The grads are no more qualified for entry-level jobs than the new BSNs & ADNs with whom they are competing. As for entry-level NPs??? C'mon - this is very off-the-wall because NP jobs are characterized by a very high level of autonomy.... as in no direct supervision. My organization employs a lot of NPs - all positions require significant levels of experience.

Wishing you the very best of luck & hope you can find a program closer to home that is affordable as well.

Thank you HouTx. Solid advice! You think a better route is to finish the second-degree BSN get experience and then proceed to get my DNP perhaps online while I'm working, instead of going the first path that I had stated? I noticed on nursingCas there are plenty of BSN to DNP programs. I also believe that most nurse practitioner positions are now requiring a doctorate . For now there are very few dual master/DNP programs. However in the future I think the Masters degree will die off and dual degree programs will take over. Nurses with masters degrees will probably be grandfathered . What is your take? I would like to have a clear cut path. You know that saying "Shoot for the stars and land in the clouds"?í ½í¸ƒ

NOWHERE IS REQUIRING DNP FOR ENTRY NP PRACTICE

NOWHERE

It is getting more to this for CRNA from my understanding but there are ZERO ZIP NADA plans in ANY state to make DNP required for entry level NP in any near future. If they DID announce such a plan in sure they'd be announcing 5-10 years in ADVANCE of their deadline so I think it's safe to say MSN's are completely safe degree options for NP practice for the foreseeable future.

Oh.

Jobs can ask for whatever they want but doesn't mean they will get it if they want someone qualified in the position.

I haven't seen any job postings even mentioning DNP. I just see ones that want you to be able to see patients, diagnose and write scripts.

Good luck on whatever path you choose. I am not in an accelerated program, I am in my third semester, no scholarships all loans and out of pocket. What I will tell you is this, get far away from home and stay away from ANYTHING that will distract you from your studies. I live with my partner at home and I have family obligations. I think it would have benefitted me more to have lived away from everyone without distractions of any sorts. Congrats! I study or try to at least 4 or 5 hrs a day and that's still not enough. I am 43 yrs old (44 next month) it takes alot for me to retain the information.