Sadly, I have to spend all my money on my last 4 nursing prerequisites (money that I have been saving up for 3 years now to buy my first car with).
But now I won't have a car for nursing school for getting to and from clinical sites. My whole point of saving money for a car was so that I could commute the 45 mins to school everyday and not have to pay the 10,000 dorm fee for 3 years.
But it looks like I will have to since the school is in a very rural area in Illinois, and it would take a 6 hour commute (in total) everyday with public transit.
So my question is how did you guys manage without a car in nursing school?
I'm especially worried about the Home Health clinical because it such a rural area that you will have to go very far and wide to get to other people's home.
Not to mention that I just counted the school's clinical listing site and there are a total of 59 various clinical sites. Life just got so much harder for me.
Is there a reason a loan for a car or a loan for the classes is out of the question?
Ever since my sister defaulted on her college loans, my mother now has to help pay off those loans before her wages get garnished.
So I could never ask my mother to co-sign on a loan with me and my father has the worst credit ever. So the only thing I am able to do is work at a minimum wage job (getting payed $150 a week), hoping to still be able to save up enough money for me to get a car.
I had a friend buy a $500 car and it got her through college. Cheap cars are major gambles, but hers survived three years and round trips from NC to NY several times to visit her family. Sometimes you get lucky.
Oh, and is $150 your take home or pre-tax? If it's your take home, with careful budgeting and roommates you could get a good used car and make the car payments easily. I lived on a couple hundred bucks more than that totally alone and paid everything including rent, a car payment on a brand new, 0 miles on it car, by myself with no roommates. It's not the most comfortable life, but it's certainly affordable.
I had a friend buy a $500 car and it got her through college. Cheap cars are major gambles, but hers survived three years and round trips from NC to NY several times to visit her family. Sometimes you get lucky.
Oh, and is $150 your take home or pre-tax? If it's your take home, with careful budgeting and roommates you could get a good used car and make the car payments easily. I lived on a couple hundred bucks more than that totally alone and paid everything including rent, a car payment on a brand new, 0 miles on it car, by myself with no roommates. It's not the most comfortable life, but it's certainly affordable.
Living frugal seems to be my only option as of now, so I will definitely keep your words of wisdom in mind.
Ever since my sister defaulted on her college loans, my mother now has to help pay off those loans before her wages get garnished.
So I could never ask my mother to co-sign on a loan with me and my father has the worst credit ever. So the only thing I am able to do is work at a minimum wage job (getting payed $150 a week), hoping to still be able to save up enough money for me to get a car.
You can make that easily waiting tables 2 nights a week. I worked more than that in my accelerated program, and I graduated magna cum laude. You can make it work if you really want to.
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
I had a vehicle, thank goodness and thank G-d, through nursing school.
I had classmates who didn't.
Because I felt so grateful to have a working vehicle, I gave rides to my friends through nsg school. If you make friends, (as well as show you are a hardworking person) perhaps you can gain carpool buddies!
i think you will need a car for school, nursing school is strict and they have no time for excuses. Also the school will place you in a clinical site that they can fit you in , as clinical sites are limited. Relying on people for rides will not be convenient for you or the person giving you the ride even if you were paying them. Do you have any credit at all? If so then try a dealer, they probably get you a loan without a co signer , it may not be the best rates but at least you will have transportation.
I got through four years of nursing school without a car! It's totally doable. What I did what arranged to carpool with my fellow clinical mates and it was no problem. In fact everyone carpooled really, and pitched in now and then for gas money. Especially when we had to travel to a hospital that was far. I had to arrange to get rides or take a cab for my senior preceptorship when it was just me at the clinical site, but it was possible. Don't be discouraged!
Go to a place where your parents don't have to cosign. There are lots of reputable places that take in people with bad credit so they can have a decent car. They are all over the place here. I bought my first car on my own when I was 20. No cosigner. I had a higher interest rate but I got a loan from a regular bank. I don't think you are looking at all of your options here. Going through nursing school when you live in a rural area without a car is not going to work. You can't expect other people to pick you up. Especially if you just met them.
Look at your options and get yourself a car. There are plenty of places out there that help people with no or bad credit.
I got through four years of nursing school without a car! It's totally doable. What I did what arranged to carpool with my fellow clinical mates and it was no problem. In fact everyone carpooled really, and pitched in now and then for gas money. Especially when we had to travel to a hospital that was far. I had to arrange to get rides or take a cab for my senior preceptorship when it was just me at the clinical site, but it was possible. Don't be discouraged!
I'm against the idea of carpooling , although car pooling maybe nice turning it into regular a thing may not work out. Sometimes the person you carpooling with may have a different direction they may have to go to after clinical and your also putting restrictions on them because they have to pick and drop you off. Also carpooling involves finding a person who is willing to drive you and you may not have that person in your class.Just go to a regular dealer first and let them run your credit first, they should be able to get you a loan since dealers these days are desperate to sell the car, just buy something affordable and pay it off early. I bought my first car when I was 21 with no help from anybody , I got a very good interest rate because I started planning early to buy a car. I saved for a down payment and also worked on my credit to be eligble for decent rates.
Specializes in Infection Prevention, Public Health.
For this first semester or first year, pay to get room and board on campus. I recommend it for lots of reasons. If you live 45 minutes from campus, it is unrealistic to commute because you do not have a car. Buying a cheap car is not cheap, especially if it breaks down. Plus you need gas and insurance which isn't cheap.
Living on campus will allow you to really focus on succeeding for that critical first semester. Mostly, it will also put you in a situation to live with and meet with other students. There may be work/study positions n campus. You will undoubtedly be able to carpool with other students. You may meet students who want to share off campus housing in future semesters. Or you will find a solution to your transportation problems that will allow you to be a non residential student in the future. Plus, I would think your public transportation will be better at the college than from your current location 45 minutes away.
They may say they have 60 clinical sites, but they will be heavily using facilities closer to campus. Also, you should discuss discuss your transportation concerns with your advisor. I think reasonable people are willing to take reasonable steps to let students succeed. I didn't have a car when I went into my nursing program. I got rides from others, took a bus, etc. Good luck to you.
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
If you choose to buy a car, I don't recommend financing one. I advised my college age child to buy a "bucket", this is an affordable car that may not look good, but is reliable. 800 - 2500 can allow you to buy a car outright.
I also encouraged her not to buy one if possible. But to live on campus. Though she's not in nursing school, which requires driving to clinicals.
I don't believe in car payments. This is why I'm an older student who drives an 12 yr old vehicle.
CarolynNAC1
6 Posts
Ever since my sister defaulted on her college loans, my mother now has to help pay off those loans before her wages get garnished.
So I could never ask my mother to co-sign on a loan with me and my father has the worst credit ever. So the only thing I am able to do is work at a minimum wage job (getting payed $150 a week), hoping to still be able to save up enough money for me to get a car.