Published Aug 18, 2008
nickos
170 Posts
Hey everyone, first post here...I'm a CNA in the Eugene area looking to get into a nursing program (RN and eventually BSN). I have not been able to get into LCC, where I did most of my prereqs, for the last 3 yrs and have decided to try in Portland.
The problem is that I have almost zero funding for school. I am fairly recently divorced and have a house here that I am trying to get ready to sell (I know the market isn't the best, but I need to do this) and am thinking of moving to Portland and hopefully going to school and working there.
I have a cumulative GPA of around 3.5, with all of my prereqs done and most of my coreqs/non-nursing courses done through my bachelor's (at least as far as LCC requires). I am lost as can be as to where to start!
Anyone friendly care to give a little advice?
Thanks so much!
~n
LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN
1,316 Posts
Have you applied to the nursing schools in Portland yet? Before you make the move I would wait until you are actually accepted into a program, because of how completive it is
Mt. Hood Community and Clackamas are part of ONCE, I am not sure if LCC is, then PCC has one more year for the lottery system and then it goes to ONCE as well. Then there is Linfield and OHSU, and on the other side of the river is Clark.
My only advice would be to apply to as many as you can, and hopefully you can get in. I had a GPA of 3.2 and when I applied to CCC last year I missed by 2.4 points, then this year I missed again, but I believe it was by more than 2.4 points as the application pool had a higher GPA. The school I did get into had 1100 applicants and they took 100 with 25 alternates.
As far as working as a CNA, the jobs are plentiful, if you are looking to live inside the city that would be more expensive than if you rented in an outlying suburb; Milwaukie, Clackamas, Gresham.
Hi ivana, thanks so much for the response. I didn't want to bore anyone with the details, but basically my situation is that I am trying to sell my house so that I can clear some debt and not be "tied down" should I be accepted to a program. I don't think I would actually move there until I was accepted; as choosing a place to live and looking for work would really depend on where I got in. Also I think it would be in my best interest (pay, continuation of benefits, etc) to remain at my current place of employment until then. I am going to do my best to scrape together all of the odds-and-ends fees associated with applying to as many of the schools in the area I qualify for as possible.
Thanks much!