How did you get through school financially?

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Hello!

I think I have finally decided on going into this profession, but before I apply to school, I wanted to grab a few opinions. I work full time right now, which probably wouldnt happen if I went into the nursing program. I'm just worried about bills! How did you guys manage? Did you work at all, and if so how much? how did you pay for school and for bills? I dont have the luxury of parental help so i am doing this on my own! Just wanted to get my finances in order before doing this, but I dont know where to start. Thanks~!:D

Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
I'm not proud but I took myself and my two kids and moved into my parents basement. Plus my situation was also that I needed help with the kids for before school care and clinicals started soooo early. I also work per diem, soooo if I was ok in school I picked up more hours, when I was swamped I laid off. Hospitals love to get nursing students as CNA's and almost all understand the per diem basis. It was also alot of extra clinical/hospital experience for me.

You should be proud, you set an excellent example for your little ones on how working hard and living simply gets you closer to your goals. Kudos!

To the OP: I worked a minimum of 30 hours a week so I could afford to pay for school, at a CC, and my bills. I didn't want to use my savings and wasn't going to apply for loans just so I didn't have to work. It can be done, good luck!

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Specializes in Acute Care of the Elderly.

I am fortunate in that I was a stay at home Mom. I am married to a Pharmacist so he pays for me to go to school. With the size of his loans we did not want to add to that. I am getting my ADN from NRCC and then will work on my BSN through ODU. That way most of my education is at a lower rate. Best of Luck to you!:nurse:

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I'm not proud but I took myself and my two kids and moved into my parents basement. Plus my situation was also that I needed help with the kids for before school care and clinicals started soooo early. I also work per diem, soooo if I was ok in school I picked up more hours, when I was swamped I laid off. Hospitals love to get nursing students as CNA's and almost all understand the per diem basis. It was also alot of extra clinical/hospital experience for me.

You have EVERY reason to be proud!! You are taking charge of yourself and your children and your future. You have guts and tenacity as well as a brain. People like you leave me awestruck.

Good luck as you progress. You should be very, very proud of yourself.

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I've been nervous about this too. When I talked to one of the directors at a local school she had asked me what I was planning to do for money because most of the students there "couldn't" work. After reading this I feel a lot more comfortable though. That school was a very expensive school as well, so I'm assuming most of those students just chose not to work because their parents were paying for school.

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Specializes in Emergency.

I live at home and work part time.

My parents paid my first semester, since it's the most expensive and they didn't want me to have more school loans (I already have 15K from my BS). Summer & second semester are being paid for by the hospital I work at. Third semester is gonna be a mix of the economic stimulus $$ + savings and I haven't figured out the last semester yet.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
I've been nervous about this too. When I talked to one of the directors at a local school she had asked me what I was planning to do for money because most of the students there "couldn't" work.

This has always irritated me because most of the students in my LPN and now ADN classes are older and wouldn't consider going to school if we had to totally quit work. Those of us that work get grades as good and often better than the few that don't work. Personally I think the recommendation not to work is part of the whole atmosphere of control that seems to be a part of the nursing school culture. :(

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Those of us that work get grades as good and often better than the few that don't work. :(

I think this definitely boils down to maturity and stability. When I was getting my BA, my grades suffered when I was working, but I was also not doing well with managing the turbulence of my life at that point. And now with prerequisites, many of my classmates have families and jobs and work hard and do what they have to do.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
I think this definitely boils down to maturity and stability. When I was getting my BA, my grades suffered when I was working, but I was also not doing well with managing the turbulence of my life at that point. And now with prerequisites, many of my classmates have families and jobs and work hard and do what they have to do.

You are 100% correct. When I went to college right out of high school I worked also but wasn't very successful at managing my social life/partying into the mix. I surely can't blame it on the job, lol.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Cardiac.

Took the UPMC Loan Forgiveness to cover the tuition. I've been living on my inheritance from my mother and my severance pay, and a bit of dividend from my 401K.

Hope to start working on 7/21 and change my negative cash flow positive again!!!

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