Is it worth it if...

Nursing Students SRNA

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Specializes in MICU/SICU/CCU.

Hi everyone, 

I hope that you all are doing great. I am flat out scared of the debt burden, I am a father of two and possibly three in the near future. My wife is a stay at home mommy to our 3 and 1 year old boys. I will have a mortgage of about 4500 dollars a month. Interest rates are crazy! If I get accepted, I will have to support my family during those three years. I was told I can't work during school, not even part time. How do these schools expect people like myself to not work and support a family and go into large amounts of debt. I will not have any other debts during this time. But I will also not have much money saved for school. I am 26 years old and would be 37 if I am able to get in on the first try. 

Would you guys consider it worth it for someone in my own situations? Can I pay of. The debt or have it forgiven later on down the road and still make a bunch of money without sacrificing more time with my kids and wife to pay off the debt? Have any of you in my situation been able to pay for school and work to pay the mortgage? I live in California, so My income would be decently high if I were to work one day a week to cover the mortgage. I know CRNA is worth it for the single person. I became a nurse specifically to become a CRNA. 

Anyway, thank you all for taking the time out of your days to read and respond. 

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
RATDOTL said:

Hi everyone, 

I hope that you all are doing great. I am flat out scared of the debt burden, I am a father of two and possibly three in the near future. My wife is a stay at home mommy to our 3 and 1 year old boys. I will have a mortgage of about 4500 dollars a month. Interest rates are crazy! If I get accepted, I will have to support my family during those three years. I was told I can't work during school, not even part time. How do these schools expect people like myself to not work and support a family and go into large amounts of debt. I will not have any other debts during this time. But I will also not have much money saved for school. I am 26 years old and would be 37 if I am able to get in on the first try. 

Would you guys consider it worth it for someone in my own situations? Can I pay of. The debt or have it forgiven later on down the road and still make a bunch of money without sacrificing more time with my kids and wife to pay off the debt? Have any of you in my situation been able to pay for school and work to pay the mortgage? I live in California, so My income would be decently high if I were to work one day a week to cover the mortgage. I know CRNA is worth it for the single person. I became a nurse specifically to become a CRNA. 

Anyway, thank you all for taking the time out of your days to read and respond. 

Yes, financially it is worth it. Each person is different on finances, but there has been many CRNAs in similar situations as you. There are hybrid programs like TCU that front load all required classes that can be taken online allowing students to work while going to school a little while longer. There are also Spring breaks, breaks between semesters, holiday breaks at most schools that allow yo to work too. There are also military and USPHS scholarships, if you want to go that route too.
I don't understand your timeline, if you're already a nurse. You need one year critical care experience, your RN, and a Bachelor's degree to apply to school. The schools are all a minimum of 36 months now. I don't understand why that would take you another 11 years.

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Specializes in MICU/SICU/CCU.

Thank you so much for your response, It was actually a typo, I meant 36 years old not 26. I am so glad that you responded with the information that you did. After reading it again, it was funny to think that you thought I didn't know what the hell I was talking about, LOL. Thank you so much. Would you consider it worth it if I am over 300k in debts from living expenses, mortgage and tuition? I know the military option is available, but I cannot garuntee that they wouldn't send me away from my family for long periods of time. As much as I would totally do that, Children need both their mother and father. I know that it what I want to do and I cannot wait to have the opportunity for it. I have to look at what TCU is Texas Christian University?

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Specializes in MICU/SICU/CCU.
RATDOTL said:

Hi everyone, 

I hope that you all are doing great. I am flat out scared of the debt burden, I am a father of two and possibly three in the near future. My wife is a stay at home mommy to our 3 and 1 year old boys. I will have a mortgage of about 4500 dollars a month. Interest rates are crazy! If I get accepted, I will have to support my family during those three years. I was told I can't work during school, not even part time. How do these schools expect people like myself to not work and support a family and go into large amounts of debt. I will not have any other debts during this time. But I will also not have much money saved for school. I am 26 years old and would be 37 if I am able to get in on the first try. 

Would you guys consider it worth it for someone in my own situations? Can I pay of. The debt or have it forgiven later on down the road and still make a bunch of money without sacrificing more time with my kids and wife to pay off the debt? Have any of you in my situation been able to pay for school and work to pay the mortgage? I live in California, so My income would be decently high if I were to work one day a week to cover the mortgage. I know CRNA is worth it for the single person. I became a nurse specifically to become a CRNA. 

Anyway, thank you all for taking the time out of your days to read and respond. 

I am actually 36 years old and not 26 like I said in my original post. Don't know how to edit, sorry everyone. 

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Specializes in Anesthesia.
RATDOTL said:

Thank you so much for your response, It was actually a typo, I meant 36 years old not 26. I am so glad that you responded with the information that you did. After reading it again, it was funny to think that you thought I didn't know what the hell I was talking about, LOL. Thank you so much. Would you consider it worth it if I am over 300k in debts from living expenses, mortgage and tuition? I know the military option is available, but I cannot garuntee that they wouldn't send me away from my family for long periods of time. As much as I would totally do that, Children need both their mother and father. I know that it what I want to do and I cannot wait to have the opportunity for it. I have to look at what TCU is Texas Christian University?

Yes, Texas Christian University. You can crunch the numbers, but with salaries averaging over 200,000/yr your debt could quickly be paid off. Many CRNAs work multiple places making an extra 50K+/yr on top of their normal salaries. 
There are also places like United States Public Health Service, Indian Health Service, VA, Critical Access Hospitals, and multiple programs that offer help paying off student loan for CRNAs. 

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Specializes in MICU/SICU/CCU.

Thank you so much for the information. 

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Specializes in CRNA.

You could move somewhere with a better cost of living. $4500 mortgage is crazy while in school full time. I know several students who sold their house and used the money gained to help finance the program. It's doable but is going to require you to invest money and you will sacrifice time with your family. It's not a 40 hour a week gig. Once you get to the clinical stage, most programs don't take semester breaks. 

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