I'm in, now....

Congratulations on getting in!!! Very excited for you.

I realize that paying for it is going to be the hardest part of all. Have you looked into loans to help you through or scholarships? The reason I ask is that so you don't use your retirement money...especially with all the taxes and penalties.

If you go to the fasfa site, they actually have a list of scholarships available for nursing students. Give it a shot, if you haven't seen them before, to see if there might be something that could help you...

Good luck to you!!

.... how do I pay for it?

now... wow... gotta pay the tuition and keep the mortgage paid for 14 months.

This means quitting my job of 23 years. I can take my retirement in a lump sum... a little more than a year's salary. My 401k has a value of a little more than a year's salary. Then by the time those are taxed and penalized I might be left with a year's salary.

will my kids forgive me for being mostly absent through their 8th grade year?

Reading about people being dismissed from their programs frightens me. Especially since a few of them have no clue why they were dismissed, or they feel it was really an unfair judgment on the part of a faculty member. Yikes! I could risk all this and be undone because someone doesn't like the way I look/act?

I think I can cope with the idea that I might make it through but hate being a nurse. There really are many options with a BSN.

I quit my job of 22 years (at the same place) to start my nursing prereqs back in July of 2006. Thanks to a very supportive wife, plus some loans, it's doable. At my Accelerated BSN program (University of Cincinnati), they offer scholarships which cover 60% of your tuition if your total GRE is over 1100.

Dismissals vary from program to program. If you're lucky, your program doesn't try to actively "thin the herd." Last year's cohort started with 37 students, and graduated 37. My cohort started with 48, and halfway through the 3rd of 5 quarters, we're all still here. This speaks well of the school, and also of the students accepted to the program.

Good luck!

I'd take student loans over cashing out my 401K. You're looking at as much (or as little) as 35% tax on that money. It's much cheaper to get a 7% federal loan, no? If you pursue the RN, you may find jobs that will reimburse you for classes while you work as an LPN. Bottom line, though, I would NOT cash in the 401K unless it's your aboslute last resort, and even then I'd look into a loan first.

Congratulations and good luck!

Congratulations. I quit my job of almost 21 years to go to nursing school, but it has been my dream and after putting in all the time and effort to knock out prereqs, it is so worth it. I love nursing school. It is stressful, and at times quite overwhelming, but at the same time you are that much closer to being a nurse. My program is 2 and 1/2 years so I wont be finished until the end of 2009. So far off, but it is the same way I felt about prereqs.

Paying for it is another story. I did save some in a 529 but that is going fast. Luckily I have a very understanding husband. Good luck to you.:w00t:

Congratulations. I quit my job of almost 21 years to go to nursing school, but it has been my dream and after putting in all the time and effort to knock out prereqs, it is so worth it. I love nursing school. It is stressful, and at times quite overwhelming, but at the same time you are that much closer to being a nurse. My program is 2 and 1/2 years so I wont be finished until the end of 2009. So far off, but it is the same way I felt about prereqs.

Paying for it is another story. I did save some in a 529 but that is going fast. Luckily I have a very understanding husband. Good luck to you.:w00t:

Thanks. Those few remaining months will go fast, I'm sure.

My husband has been grudgingly understanding and supportive. He's working part time right now, and trying to start a business (which is costing more than it is bringing in). But I thought he'd been listening all these months that I have talked about this program while I was taking prerequisites, and now it is as if he is hearing it for the first time. "Are those classes at night?" "So we have 'til July to sell our house?" He makes comments about my decisions have life-changing effects on everyone.

BTW, I put him through 4 years of full-time school when we were first married, and we had his 2 kids, too.

Sorry for venting -- thanks for listening!

Then it is your time!! I saw my husband through college as well. You know being a wife and mom takes a lot out of you, but it also is wonderful preparation for being a nurse. You have to be able to juggle many tasks, all the while being able to make correct decisions, and really tune into the responses of others. In the big picture, being able to follow your dream is worth 18 months of problem solving, and with the demand for nurses you will come out of it pretty much guaranteed work and like you said there are so many fields of nursing available that you will find something you will love. You should be so proud to be accepted into a nursing program. In my school there are 800 + applicants and only about 130 acceptances. Kudos to you!!

Try to take a student loan over cashing out your 401k. Some hospitals have loan forgiveness programs once you start working for them. You should talk to the financial aid person at the nursing school you plan on attending. They have info. on scholarships and student loans.

Before you decide to cash out your 401k you should check out the link below. It is a savings calculator on MSN.com. You can see the retirement money you will lose by cashing out your 401k. I like playing around with it. It reminds me that we will not have to ever worry about money in retirement. It will be there when we need it. I think you can roll your 401k over to a Roth 401k once you leave your company. Good Luck in whatever you decide.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/Investor/calcs/n_savapp/main.asp