I've been accepted, and Have a Year to plan...what should I do?

Work full time if you are not going to be taking classes this year and save up for money during this year long wait. Look into scholarships and grants and apply early. Look at finaid.org, and your states scholarship grants website. If you work at a hospital look into tuition reimbursement and stay employed with them through school either working PT on weekends, etc. BUT if work starts interfering with your school work re-evaluate your situation. Start learning how to convert standard to metric so you can be ready for dosage calculations. Get a Pathophysiology made easy book and read over that. If you have not done A & P or Micro yet and would like to transfer those courses in see about taking one course per semester until nursing school starts or if you want to wait get some books and look over those.

There are HRSA grants and scholarships but since you will be working and some of those you need a 0 EFC (which is derived from FAFSA) you may not get it since you will be working. There are other scholarships and grants though and you can start applying if you look at finaid.org so that way next year you will be ready. Make sure to get a perkins loan over stafford since the interest rate is lower. HAVE FUN during this year and relax since once nursing school starts you will be more motivated to just learn and relaxation and having fun with family and friends may start depreciating once school starts.

hi caitlinliz

1st congrats on being accepted:yeah::yeah:. a year is a very long time when u r waiting for ur dream to come true in the meantime just relax u have a whole year. i would recommend working as much as possible & saving as much as u can, but no matter how much u save it still probably won't be enough to get u through nursing school. tip: even b4 nursing school i paid my car note in lump sums every 6 months my note is $462 half of urs, try to triple ur payments that way u won;t have to worry about it @ least ur first year. ur phone bill is $80 mines was $140 (iphone) u gotta down grade i got a metro pcs $50 a month & i still have the luxury of the itouch just no phone bill. you only have 2 credit cards, use this time to pay double/ even triple what their asking for. you aren't taking any classes so buy one of those nclex review books to become familiar w/ the question styles. begin getting ur immunizations, book supplies, uniforms, & cpr certifications. i believe n god, not saying every1 does/ has to, but definitely develop a strong relationship w/ a higher power. get ur health back on track exercise, change ur eating habits if u aren't a packer start learning to eat healthy foods & take vitamins. so many students end up getting sick bc they aren't eating healthy, not getting enough sleep/ exercise & on top of that stress. u can't afford to get sick. most of us have 3 months @ most to prepare u made a wise decision to wait a year, make sure u take a trip prior to the start of ur program somewhere tropical & don't forget 2 think about all of us on allnurses when ur laid out on the beach enjoying the sun. good luck!!!!:heartbeat

Thankyou so much for your pieces of advice, I really really appreciate it. To be honest, I got a lump in my throat reading the responses just because I know I'm lucky to be able to come on a forum like this and get so many people who truly care and want to help. I'm definately going to look at the grants and loans. And I have thought about trying to pay off my car before I start school so I won't have a car payment, but I am just worried that if I spend the money I make now to pay off my car and credit cards (more than they are asking, x2 or x3 the minimum payments) that I won't be able to save up enough to pay for things like my phone and gas that I can't not have in school, you know? As for vitamins, dumb question, I know- but what is a good multi vitamin to just take daily? People always tell me I should be taking vitamins, and I just don't like taking the big horse pills that taste like fish oil (gag). I went through a Certified Nurses Assistant program so I am now lucky and I have a ton of stethoscopes, bp cuffs, nursing bags, etc that I accumulated while I was working and stuff. I definately need to get a second job because right now I am working Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as a Medical Assistant in a Dermatology office. And it is great! Except the Dr. doesn't work Tues, Thur, Sat, or Sun which are days I could be working!! I'm looking for a job to fill those days, but it is so hard when your schedule isn't flexible! A lot of employers wants you certain days, or full time M-F. Arghh!!

Hi and congratulations on your acceptance!

You have been given some good advise so far. It is always a good idea to have your finances in order before starting school but I think the most important thing you could do in the next year is RELAX and enjoy the year with friends and family. I'm sure you've been told how rigorous a nursing education can be. While in school you will spend many hours per week studying lecture material and preparing for clinicals. That has been my experience anyway. I had to reintroduce myself to the family this last summer:)

Go into nursing school as healthy as you can be. I believe it is more important to eat right and exercise than to take vitamins. Those come with a proper diet (unless you have a medical reason to take them).

Congrats again and good luck.