HRSA 2014-2015 Nurse Corps Scholarship

jennyincze · Jul 17, 2014

Yes many didn't see their credit checked and also there was waaaaay more chatting on the forum last year. Not sure if that means less applicants though. My applicant ID is: 251234 but I have no clue what number they started at... Haha

stephanieday2 · Jul 18, 2014

I applied for the 2014 Nurse Corps scholarship as well. My GPA is a 4.0 and my EFC 0. I have a previous bachelor's degree, so I have no idea if that will affect my likelihood of being awarded a scholarship. I also have Credit Karma and have not seen any credit pulls yet, but I don't think this would be considered a hard inquiry and Credit Karma only shows hard inquiries. My application status still says "Under Review" on the HRSA portal.

I "liked" the Nurse Corps page on FaceBook and one member asked when recipients will be notified. The page owner replied that all recipients will be notified no later than September 30, 2014. I hope we don't have to wait all the way until September! I thought people would be notified this week based on the past years' posts...it always seemed to be around the middle of July. If anyone gets any news, PLEASE post! I'm so anxious!! As if nursing school doesn't give me enough anxiety! Ha! I hope somebody hears some good news soon!

aWebberly · Jul 18, 2014

I don't want to be a downer on anybody's hopes. I am a Christian and believe God provides for everything He calls you too, but I also know that you can always hope for the best while preparing for the worst. Last year they were only able to award a scholarship to about 10% of applicants, which is actually much better than most scholarships (that don't even compare to what this provides for). I just want to encourage every body to line your ducks up. I have already applied for a loan and other scholarships just in case this doesn't work out. I saw that last year a person with an EFC of zero and a 3.75 GPA did not get it. Those aren't the only factors they use to award scholarships, but the EFC is a key determinant. I posted a guide for how they score the apps a few pages back. Any way, I just hope nobody is putting all of their eggs in one basket.

aeensign · Jul 18, 2014

There have been a number of questions about the credit inquiry - hard vs. soft - so I went back to look at my report and it appears it's a hard inquiry. I have copied and pasted it so you can see what it looks like. Again, I used credit karma - it's free and easy to set up an account. Also, I will be a NP student and applied for both the Nurse Corps AND the Health Service Corps scholarships (you can only receive one but can apply for both) so it could have been the HSC and not the NC application that triggered the check. Hope that helps...

The following inquiries have been added since your last score update on Jun 13, 2014:

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[TH=class: firstTD]Lender:[/TH]

[TH=class: autoFillTD, align: center] [/TH]

[TH=class: numberTD, align: center]Industry:[/TH]

[TH=class: numberTD, align: center]Inquiry Date:[/TH]

[TH=class: numberTD, align: center]Status:[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=class: firstTD]1. DEPT OF HEAL[/TD]

[TD=class: autoFillTD, align: center] [/TD]

[TD=class: numberTD, align: center]Government[/TD]

[TD=class: numberTD, align: center]Jun 23, 2014[/TD]

[TD=class: numberTD, align: center]Added[/TD]

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aWebberly · Jul 18, 2014

There have been a number of questions about the credit inquiry - hard vs. soft - so I went back to look at my report and it appears it's a hard inquiry. I have copied and pasted it so you can see what it looks like. Again, I used credit karma - it's free and easy to set up an account. Also, I will be a NP student and applied for both the Nurse Corps AND the Health Service Corps scholarships (you can only receive one but can apply for both) so it could have been the HSC and not the NC application that triggered the check. Hope that helps...
The following inquiries have been added since your last score update on Jun 13, 2014:
[TABLE=class: notificationTable_4, width: 734]
[TR]
[TH=class: firstTD]Lender:[/TH]
[TH=class: autoFillTD, align: center][/TH]
[TH=class: numberTD, align: center]Industry:[/TH]
[TH=class: numberTD, align: center]Inquiry Date:[/TH]
[TH=class: numberTD, align: center]Status:[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD=class: firstTD]1. DEPT OF HEAL[/TD]
[TD=class: autoFillTD, align: center][/TD]
[TD=class: numberTD, align: center]Government[/TD]
[TD=class: numberTD, align: center]Jun 23, 2014[/TD]
[TD=class: numberTD, align: center]Added[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Great info, thank you for sharing!

nixonk · Jul 18, 2014

I saw that some people last year said they could not finish nursing school without the scholarship. I understand some programs are extremely pricey, and loans don't pay for everything. But if my husband and I don't get it, we will take out our max in student loans (which is only 12,500 as we have previous degrees) and private loans. Given we are studying in Puerto Rico where it is quite a bit cheaper, but it seems most people (though certainly not everyone, and probably not those in accelerated programs) should be able to get through school if they are willing to take out loans--though I wish it weren't necessary. And then we could always apply for the repayment program. But I definitely hope we don't have to take out more loans!

Zrvirgo · Jul 18, 2014

What really gets me is my EFC looks higher then it is, since last year I was working full time to support myself but my school highly...lets say encouraged all nursing students to not do that, so I quit and am barely making ends meet and taking out student loans. Hoping something good happens. And surprisingly, most of my fellow classmates hadn't heard of this scholarship at all. I'm rooting for all of us, even though your my competators!

notnursezelda · Jul 18, 2014

just wondering..... Is an inquiry a good sign that you will get it or something they do regardless?

wanna_be · Jul 19, 2014

I looked at the rubric that aWebberly posted, and hope that it is an accurate breakdown of how they score applicants. GPA was a relatively small percentage of the overall criteria, with letters of recommendation, essays, and C.V. weighing heavier overall. I'm sure EFC also weighs heavily, but I had a previous EFC of 0 when I applied (ended up withdrawing because I couldn't afford school anyway), and honestly, I managed that because I was in school full-time at the time and my parents were helping me with living expenses even though I was considered an independent student. I know some people have an EFC of 0 because they cannot work, but I'm sure there are also many applicants who arrive at that because someone else is helping them pay for their education even though they are independents by FAFSA criteria. This year I had an EFC greater than zero because I worked at a minimum-wage job prior to enrolling in school. However, I was supporting myself entirely and barely made ends meet, so it seems unfair that someone in the first scenario I described would be favored over someone working their butt off, living in poverty, who gets a slightly higher EFC. I am hoping that they take that into consideration (it sounds as though they may, considering they took EFCs greater than 0 last year). Anyway, looking at that other criteria, it sounds like they ALSO highly consider previous commitment to underserved communities and the desire to continue in that vein. I learned about HRSA almost five years ago (simultaneous to starting my nursing prerequisites) and while I am in the same boat with barely being able to afford school, it has also been my desire since entering the healthcare field to work with Indian Health Services. It's very unfortunate that school is so expensive it's almost inhibiting me from working in community health, but that's the whole reason I got into this career path, so I'm hoping I'll get the funds to continue that dream. My GPA is a 3.5 but frankly, I'd hope they'd look more at the years of work and research in low-income communities and realize that I want this to be my life's work, not just a job I take for two years and then move on.

wanna_be · Jul 19, 2014

In years past an inquiry has meant you are likely to get the award, although it sounds like not everyone who was awarded also had a inquiry. But, from what I have gathered, you only get an inquiry if you are on the short list to be awarded.

aWebberly · Jul 19, 2014

In the application guide it says that they give first funding preference to those with an EFC of 0-5000

Funding Preferences There is a funding preference for applicants of greatest financial need. An applicant’s financial need is determined based on the applicant’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is provided on the Official Student Aid Report (SAR) generated through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Applicants with an EFC between $0 and $5,550 will be considered as having the greatest financial need.

It goes on to say that within the above EFC range they consider different types of nursing programs in a certain order. They obviously consider a large amount of criteria in awarding scholarships. I would wager that if you have a low EFC, a decent GPA, and spent a great deal of time on your application you stand a decent chance of winning a scholarship. I just know that last year they gave out like 250ish scholarships and 2300ish applications were submitted. Somebody posted last year that in 2012 there were over 6000 applicants. That is why I was encouraging people to not put all of their eggs in this basket (my numbers are good, and I am still making a contingency plan). I would love to get this scholarship, but if I have to take out loans to finish school I will.

wanna_be · Jul 19, 2014

Same here; I got accepted to a few schools that cost $150,000 and I decided to wait another year to go somewhere that's $30,000. Of course, that's still a lot of money that I'll have to pay back. It's a bummer how expensive nursing is, in general, though--we're all good people who want to help others; I wish we didn't have to sign our life away to do it.