HUGE DECISION-- honest opinions please!!!

gaspassah · Jul 17, 2004

my opinion is. sooner in sooner out.

d

Berta · Jul 17, 2004

I agree...sooner in...sooner out.

dynamiteRN · Jul 17, 2004

Emerald NYL: If I were in your shoes I will choose 2005 offer. 2006 is a two year too long waiting for me especially after getting all excited of being accepted into a program. It seems that the financial aspect is the major hold back for the 2005, but I would exhaust all available resources/options to be able to finance myself by that time. Hope you will find an answer to your dilemma. Good luck. :confused: :specs:

elFNP · Jul 17, 2004

Start school in 2005. Pushing school further back is not a good idea. The longer you delay school the more bills you probably will accumulate. Also, If you delay till 2006, you're goning to be dreading you made that decision when you see your classmates graduating and you are still in school.

Toby's mum · Jul 17, 2004

Okay, so here is my dilemma.... I just got accepted to another anesthesia school! You would think that is good, right? Well, do I go to School A in 2005 or School B in 2006? Both are good schools but money may be an issue.
School A:
accepted for 2005!!
program length 27 months, approx. cost $30,000
tons of clinical sites to choose from, lots of regional and line insertion exp.
class size about 25 students
School B:
accepted for 2006
program length 27 months, approx. cost $30,000
less clinical sites to choose from but the program director is VERY involved and concerned about student's feedback.... lots of regional experience
class size about 16 students
Honestly, I got a little bit better vibe from school B, but I know School A is also an excellent program. However, if I go in 2005, my husband will still be in med school (he will be an intern in 2006) so money may be an issue. I still have a car payment of approx. $400 a month as well. I already paid my deposit to school B, but if I go to School A I will be done a year sooner and making $100K+ a year sooner as well! My only worry is being able to borrow enough to pay rent, health insurance, and car payment while my husband is still in school as well. Monetarily it may be better for me to wait a year, but can I stand working the extra year in the ICU?? I really, really, really need some honest opinions here!! I have no idea what to do!!

Emerald: first, congratulations on getting in to two excellent CRNA schools!! You are in a great position because you have a choice--as difficult as that may be.

From a purely objective perspective, I would go with choice A.

Rationale:

*The cost, class size, and program length are basically equivalent--so these factors you can cross off from your decision tree because they cancel each other out--and won't be a deciding factor.

*You are obviously ready to begin the program--and I agree with the other posts--sooner in, sooner out and earning a higher income potential. The sooner you pay off your loans.

*A significant PLUS for choice A is the vast clinical experience, rotations, and sites to select. I think this is going to be crucial for your CRNA education and confidence level.

*It's nice the director of B is very involved and I'm sure that has a significant impact, but in the scheme of things, I think the clinical experience is going to be worth more to you than this factor. Can you speak with the director in choice A again and/or meet with them again to see if you get more positive vibes--I do believe it's important to have a good vibe and feel good about where you go--but it's subjective so I don't know how strongly you feel about this factor. Speak with more current students, if possible, to get a better feel for what they think about the program.See if you can feel better about Choice A. If not, then your intuition may be telling you something.

*Finally, it is obvious that you are concerned about the money issue and we all know that if you are worried about finances, this can have a negative impact on your studies. You don't want to waste time worrying about how you are going to pay for the rent, etc. My advice here is to investigate any and all sources of educational loans, scholarships (you were a 3.9 or 4.0 gpa in a prestigious accelerated BSN program), talk with the financial aid person etc. Try not to let the money issue prevent you from pursuing your CRNA education in 2005.

However, if after pursuing all financial loan leads it doesn't give you a comfort level about finances, then I think you are better off waiting the year.

Hope this helps. Good luck, Steph

TraumaNurse · Jul 17, 2004

Emerald,

Congrats! I know the excitement and anxiety you are feeling! I agree with everyone else...Go to school A. Sooner in, sooner out! I was also accepted to your school A last year and it is an excellent program. I chose not to go there because of the "sooner in, sooner out" idea.

As far as money, just borrow what ever it takes to get through. You have a little over a year if you go to school A, so work lots of OT and pay off some bills. I also had a $400+ car payment, but I chose to trade my car in on a new cheap car to get me through school (my payments are under $200). Trim the fat off your budget, borrow whatever it takes and get started ASAP. You will not be disappointed!!!The money you will make in the extra year as a CRNA will be well worth the stress of going to school sooner than later.

No matter which school you choose, you cannot go wrong! Best of luck with your decision.

Toby's mum · Jul 17, 2004

Emerald:

Another idea is you could always call Choice B and tell them you were also accepted into Choice A, however, your preference is B. See if B can let you enter in 2005 instead of 2006. They may say no, but you will never know unless you ask. That doesn't help you on the money front, but if they let you enter 1 year early, I'd check their financial loan offerings too. Steph

EmeraldNYL, BSN, RN · Jul 17, 2004

Hmm.... well, I know the max I can borrow a year for Stafford loans is $18,500 right? That would cover tuition, but I would need to borrow substantially more than that to pay for health insurance, rent, car payment, car insurance, food, etc. I know for my accelerated BSN I took out a private loan (Sallie Mae Signature) but the school put a limit on how much I could borrow through this option-- I think it was about $15,000. Unfortunately, I think I will need more than $15,000 a year to live on. Are there private loans that you can take out without a cap on how much you can borrow? Right now I have NO savings because I just got married and spent all my money on that. I was also considering approaching the anesthesia department where I currently work and inquiring about a stipend in exchange for a work committment, but from reading lots of posts on this board that is often warned against. Financially I would be in a much better spot if I went in 2006, but you are right, I would be kicking myself when I saw my peers graduating a year before me! Keep the advice coming guys..... Thanks again.

smk1, LPN · Jul 17, 2004

i would see if i could pick up overtime to accumulate a bit of savings before starting (2005 would be my choice) i agree with sooner in and sooner out. live simply and investigate ways to lower your budget, can you refinance your car loan for a better rate? live in a smaller/cheaper apartment. cut off the extras like cable/newspaper/gym memberships etc... Congratulations and Good luck!

CougRN · Jul 18, 2004

Emerald,

You school will decide your financial need. I can only speak for myself but I was awarded the 18,500$ from the Stafford loans and then my Supplemental was about 9500 per semester. So it's more than enough to live on. Also, remember that the 18,500 doesn't include your summer tuition, you will be awarded additional money for summer. You should have enough money to cover your basics and school costs.

I don't know your financial situation now but if you can I would start making double payments on your car. I did this and paid off my car before school started. I would not have a car payment while in school. So I would suggest either working OT and paying it off or trading in for something you won't have to pay off.

That all being said I would suggest going in 2005. If you chose to wait I would bet you will be kicking yourself next year when you still have another year to wait.

Good luck with your decision.

jbro · Jul 18, 2004

you can stafford for $18,500, a secondary loan to cover the schools set cost of attendance, and alternitive loans on top of that. bankone education one goes up to $30,000. i took out $52,000 for the first year, and almost $60,000 for the second year, i have a truck note, insurance, house note, plus apt. rent, and living expenses. living on loans is scary, but it can be done