How is everyone paying for school?!?

[pigmachine]

Hello there,

I am an ex-film student who is now cruising through the pre-reqs needed to apply to nursing school. Three down, three to go.

My goal is to get into the Pace or SUNY Downstate accelerated program for fall 2009. Pace is my number one choice, but the tuition for one year is approximately 40K. I really don't think it's feasible for me to work during that time, either, so right now I'm taking my pre-reqs at night and working full-time during the week, and trying to put away some cash for the coming year. I'm worried about paying for school AND needing money to live on. How does everyone afford these expensive programs? Does anyone know how to go about applying for a scholarship? Do I apply before I even apply to the school or do I wait until I (hopefully) get in?

Any advice would be much appreciated.... thanks.

[tonet0908]

I attended Pace and I took the RN4 program. Your best bet if you really want to go to Pace is to go to the financial Aid office and sit down with an advisor, that's what I did, I had to pay for school on my own and I did it. They have scholarships, grants and loans. They combined all of this and more and I was able to leave after four years and owed under $40K. Now I am slowly paying it off but I'm happy I finished the program. It is expensive but it's worth it.

[pigmachine]

I haven't been on here in a while so I'm just seeing that you responded to me... thank you! Did you meet with an advisor before you applied to the school?