HELP accepted into program while waiting on preferred programs response

[Marie Pastorino]

PLEASE HELP

I’m in a bit of a dilemma. I have applied to two Accelerated nursing programs and have just received my acceptance into one of them. The one I was accepted into costs around $20,000 and is an hr away.... in short it’s not my preferred program. They require me to respond to my acceptance on Nov 1st/ Monday BUT I still haven’t received my acceptance from my preferred program, which will cost around $7,000 and is only 30 mins away. It’s really a big deal for me to have to pay over double the cost so I’d MUCH rather attend my preferred program. The problem is they may not respond to me until after the 1st of Nov, and I’m afraid that they may not accept me and if I put all my eggs in their basket I won’t be able to attend either program. My question is, can I accept the spot at the less preferred program until I hear from the preferred one? And then drop my first acceptance in lieu of accepting my spot at the preferred program? Or would this be highly frowned on? I just don’t know how to best handle this situation.

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

Yeah, you can as there's no such thing as a nursing program forcing you to attend. Plenty of people on the waitlist waiting for people to not accept or drop out before classes even begin. That's the way nursing programs are.

Here's the thing though: Normally when you accept you have to put down a deposit. You will not get that deposit back if you decide not to go. Lost money. If you're willing to lose that cash, then it's not a bad thing. Look at it this way: you might lose a couple hundred dollars if you get into your preferred program, but if you don't get into your preferred program, at least you have the one that accepted you that you can still attend.