ADVICE NEEDED! Fall Semester Dilema

U.S.A. Maryland

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Hey guys!

I'm in dire need of some advice. So I applied to 3 BSN programs (University of Maryland, Towson University and Salisbury University) and I only got into Towson and was waitlisted at the others. I was particularly disappointed with University of Maryland because that was my first choice school, however, since Towson was the only school that said yes, I went ahead and paid the deposit. My problem is this, I was accepted into Towson's program in Hagerstown, MD and unfortunately they do not offer housing. I will be depending heavily on financial aid (aka federal loans) to pay for school but the financial aid I was given isn't going to cover housing at all, which means I will have to find my own apartment. I refuse to take out a private loan to pay for an apartment (I already owe soooo much from my first degree plus my credit sucks!) and I don't know if #1 there are any job prospects in Hagerstown or #2 if I'll even have the time to work to pay for rent and food.

To make the situation even more annoying, I am missing 2 classes for Towson that no one else is requiring, which means $800 will have to be spent to take summer classes (less money saved up for rent). So my question is, what should I do???? I have been wrapping my head around this situation for days now and it's stressing me out!! Should I go to Towson or should I just forget the fall semester and just start all over again for the spring semester? Has anyone else been in a situation like this, how did you pay for housing?

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You could rent a single room in someone's house. Don't pay for extra things like cable, you obviously need internet. Get rid of your current cell phone plan and go for something cheap like cricket, or prepaid. What about scholarships?

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Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

I would wait it out for the other schools and reapply next time around if I didn't get in. That's a hard thing to do and I'm certainly not saying you SHOULD do that. But that is what I would do. But then, I've sort of already been through that (not for nursing school but for another undergrad degree) and it wasn't a great decision to go. So I'm looking at it through the lens of that experience. The previous poster mentioned scholarships. Have you fully looked into that?

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I know it's difficult but at the same time nursing schools are competitive. If you wait a year, are you sure they will accept you? And won't you lose the acceptance you already got? Weigh out the pros and cons. I decided to attend a school even though it was a year longer, requires me to take 2 more classes and a test. But it's closer 7 to home and fits my schedule better. It's tough. Do what's best for you

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this is tough because the school is about 3 hours from where I live, so that would be a 6 hour commute daily, so I would have to live closer. But I really don't know how I'm going to be able to afford rent unless it was something DIRT CHEAP like $200/month? The school only offered one scholarship that I could apply for but I get my decision in June. Other than that, there's the Nurse Service Corp but that's not a guarantee!

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Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

I waited a year to get in to a school that was closer to home because of housing and separation from my family. I'm glad I waited, and I'm now about to graduate from my program. The year felt like FOREVER- I felt like my entire life was on hold. But you could use that year to work a ton, take those other classes *just in case*, and save money. And, perhaps, do some of the things you may not be able to do once you're working as a nurse!

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Yeah you're right! Thanks for all the input guys!

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I'm in dire need of some advice. So I applied to 3 nursing school programs (University of Maryland, Towson University and Salisbury University) and I only got into Towson and was waitlisted at the others. I was particularly disappointed with University of Maryland because that was my first choice school, however, since Towson was the only school that said yes, I went ahead and paid the deposit. My problem is this, I was accepted into Towson's program in Hagerstown, MD and unfortunately they do not offer housing, and it's a 2 hour commute from my house and I don't have a car. I will be depending heavily on financial aid (aka federal loans) to pay for school but the financial aid I was given isn't going to cover housing at all, which means I will have to find my own apartment. I refuse to take out a private loan to pay for an apartment (I already owe soooo much from my first degree plus my credit sucks!) and I don't know if #1 there are any job prospects in Hagerstown or #2 if I'll even have the time to work to pay for rent and food.

To make the situation even more annoying, I am missing 2 classes for Towson that no one else is requiring, which means $800 will have to be spent to take summer classes (less money saved up for rent). So my question is, what should I do???? I have been wrapping my head around this situation for days now and it's stressing me out!! Should I go to Towson or should I wait on the other two schools that wait listed me or maybe should I just forget the fall semester and just start all over again for the spring 2015 semester?

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Specializes in ER/Critical Care.

You may want to consider holding off and waiting for Spring 2015 since you would be starting nursing school with way more stress with the situation you described. Ultimately you're choice, but if it were me I'd try to save money up and wait to try to get into my preferred school.

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awww pink i'm so sorry that you are stressing about this decision so much. Do you feel that you would be able to make your application more competitive if you had more time? i.e. do you think that if you applied for the spring semester at UMSON, you could get some extra experience, or raise your GPA, or retake TEAS - would you have a better chance of getting accepted rather than waitlisted?

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Also, one other thought, have you toured the hagerstown facilities? or talked to anyone coming out of that program to get an idea of how students like it? I bet there is a facebook group for TU @ hagerstown, and I bet you could find someone to reach out to in that program now. It might help ease your anxiety if you were able to ask someone who is doing it how THEY like it.

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Can't you defer admission to Towson for one year while you apply to the others again?

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