Nashville State Community College

readergirl-Very well stated!! As far as student loans go you are eligible to get yours the first day of school. I took out a $2000 loan last year and I don't have to wait the month. That is not a school thing it is the federal loan rules. Yes, I think it is unfair not to be able to get private loans through them..My major concern is their lack of concern for our financial aid recipients! They should be prioritizing the needs of those of us who need aid! What are they going to do, lose more than half the class because we can't charge our books? The book store is privately owned, not part of the school. That is why it is so important that they get our books in stock!! But they can't without the list that is already 3 mos late!They have made several big mistakes thus far and have to have another meeting because of it. We were rushed out the door at our last meeting and no one will answer or return calls in the office. The accreditation thing is bothering me as well! Potential employers would like their nursing staff to be from an accredited school and I don't blame them. This is for many reasons including their Liability Insurance. That should have been one of the major things discussed in the meeting but was not even touched upon. This is why I am so nervous. I have worked hard and am extremely excited to have been accepted, but I can't help but notice some unprofessionalism

Yes, I second the unprofessionalism. It is important to note that there are no summer classes in nursing, and that the director and staff are full time, and have all summer for administrative stuff. There is no excuse for all the disorganization. If a business was run like this comm college, then it would be bankrupt!!! The mindset of the administrative staff is not that they are there to help students, but that students are an annoyance. Anyway, with the entire summer at their disposal, you would think that they would have us all registered in a timely manner. The staff has 36-40 hours a week to get organized and get things done. They haven't changed the message on the voice mail since February, and the website is outdated too.

Also, with regard to the last meeting, it was planned and scheduled by the director, at her convenience, and it was mandatory that we be there. If she had to be in another state to register her son for college, she should have planned and choosen another date. We were all there at her insistance!!. Also, would an evening meeting have been too much to ask? Yes, nursing school is important, but at the moment my employer comes first - they put food on the table. Luckily the next meeting is on a day I already have scheduled off for vacation, because there isn't a single hour of leave to be taken for the entire month. If I had not had this vacation scheduled, it would be a point against my attendance and no pay for the time out. They need to get going and get things done!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and yes, the bookstore thing bothers me, but it is really too late to do anything about it, I would think. Even if the books were ordered on Monday, it would be less than seven weeks until school starts, and I know that is probably not enough time for the bookstore to get the books. That boat has sailed. We need now to get the proper ISBN numbers so that we can get the books elsewhere, but the next class should not have to deal with this.

Yes, the accreditation thing bothers me, but it is down on the frustration list now. I am worried about the $1,200 I need for books, uniforms, bags, background checks, and a physical including titers. I am worried about giving notice to my employer then having a financial or other snag, and having school fall through. I am also worried about things like pharmacology - how is that going to work?? At MTSU, Aquinas, and others, it is a one semester class for 3 hours. If we spend one hour a week in class, what kind of credit will we get - 1 hour? Really??? If we do this for 2 years, will we have 4 credit hours total? This worries me.

If they don't get on the ball and get accredited, they will have 100 VERY, VERY angry people on their hands. I don't think this will happen. A legislator, the head of the TBR, or the govener will step in. As the year ends, the pressure will increase from the third semester folks. I am confident this will be handled. There will probably be drama, but I feel confident we will be able to take the board. That is what is important. That's all I care about. Taking that test and passing first time.

Has anyone's loan information showed up yet on the mynscc website? My pell grant is on there, but the loans are not listed at all. I applied for both subsidized and unsubsidized maximum amount. Should this information show up at the same time as my pell grant or next week, or after we are signed up for classes? Sorry about all of these questions, but I have never signed up for a stafford loan and I do not know how it works...

Also, one of my friends said that they got a Barnes and Noble discount card for 25 bucks, and got all of her books for less than $400. I haven't actually looked into that yet, but that may be a good place to start. I'm in the same boat as all of you, I was relying on Pell grants and loans to help me by books.

Pugmann- when I called the financial aid office they said that the award for the loans are not ready yet and that it should be within the next couple of weeks. They really need to hurry up and sign us up for classes so we can know the exact amount of our tuition for the fall. There are so many unanswered questions. I definitely have to get all of my questions answered during this next meeting or I'm going to drive myself crazy with stress. I wanted a stress free summer to relax before classes started but that didn't happen. We all have to speak up during this next meeting and get all of our concerns out in the open or we will feel how we feel now, which is confused and stressed. I'm wishing I would have applied for the unsubsidized loan now because all of these expenses plus not working during the program is all I think about lately.

pugman, readergirl and harris- The loan info should show up on mynscc within a couple weeks(the pell grant always shows up first). Keep in mind that if you never received a student loan before you will have to wait 30 days into the semester before you can have it. Also keep in mind that if your awarded, lets say 3k, you will only get half of that this semester and the other half next. You never get the full awarded amount all at once... The remainder of the pell grant, after tuition and hopefully books, will be sent out a couple weeks to a month after school starts( and that is for everyone). Don't forget to sign up for direct deposit. Don't worry about all the questions that is what we all are here for, because unfortunately we can't get any information from our school, or at least reliable info anyway...READERGIRL-I agree with you 100% and love your posts. I hope we get all our questions answered next semester. On the website they said that Liability Insurance is $23, does anyone know where from? They never even mentioned health insurance as an expense, I wonder if it was mandatory for the first class too..I know three people, myself included that are fully depending on our pell grant to charge books. I don't know what kind of school does stuff like this! How can they give us a book list, change it, then give us the wrong ISBN numbers??I wish Dr. Waller or a member of her staff would read these posts before the meeting...Harris88, I feel your pain! I wanted a relaxing summer as well but had no idea the stress involved after being accepted. Don't forget to call the book store tomorrow and ask them to contact the nursing department for a book list!! I think if we all do it they will, hopefully. Pugmann please let us know how you make out at finacial aid. All the info that I gave you was from them...

Just spoke with the bookstore an I was informed that they will have our textbooks for the fall but they will not have them until august but she was confusing me. If anyone else has contacted the bookstore, please let me know what they tell you.

Harriss88- I just called the book store and talked to Rhonda. She gave me that exact information as well. I didn't feel comfortable with that and dug a little further, asking to speak to the text book manager. I spoke with Amanda, the manager, and she said that the nursing department has NOT submitted the book request! She said that she has contacted them and they still wont send her the list. She said that she is worried because if they don't get it very soon the books wont be here time and her hands are tied. She also said that those of us who will be able to charge books can not do so until 1 week before classes to 1 week after classes( a 2 week time frame only). That wont matter if she can't get the books in time, that is why they put the deadline in April. So they had well before April to do this and failed to do so. The suggestion is to contact the nursing department again and let them know that without the list immediately financial aid students are out of luck! I am going to call but others have to as well! Call and speak to Amanda, the text books manager, to confirm if needed do not take any other staff members word.

Hello fellow nursing students I spoke with the book store earlier this morning and received the same information from the manager. She also told me that she would email them. I need my financial aid to cover all my books in addition to my tuition. I hope they get the correct books in or I don't know what I will do.

Ok....now i'm more confused today than i was yesterday if the bookstore will or will not be carrying our textbooks for the fall. I don't think that I spoke with the manager of the bookstore and hope I wasn't given false hope. I'm going to call the nursing department tomorrow because that's the only way to know for sure and I hope someone is there besides the secretary because she's nice, but not helpful. I asked the secretary about a month ago about textbooks and she could not answer my questions. Also, how do you sign up for direct deposit for financial aid? I seen a form on the website that you have to print off, fill out, and turn in, but i thought there was a way that you could do it all online.

Harris88- You need to go to the bursars office to sign up for direct deposit. They have a sheet of paper where you put your name, and bank information (make sure you bring a check because you have to give them a void check).I actually did this today... Also, I went by financial aid. They said that loans should be showing up with in the next few weeks and that also we will receive more information in the mail on what to do after that. I stopped by the bookstore today as well, and the lady there told me the same information. She told be that even though the nursing department has not given them the information yet, I can rest assured that they will eventually get there. She said that there is nothing to worry about, but also said that the nursing department is very late in giving them the list... At this point, I'm considering buying earlier editions of these books online just to get me through the first few weeks in case we can't get our books until after class starts.

Jenn2881- We are all in the same boat. I was told that they have not sent the list to the book store and they can not order the books until then. Unlike pugmann, the info from the manager did not seem reassuring at all and I was given no guarentees...She could not say that they would be there in time because once they have the list, they have to order them and hope they are in stock and will be shipped on time ( not on back order)Harriss88-I hope you were not given false hope, but I can assure you that only the text book manager knows for sure when and if the books will be in( shes the one who orders them) and the lady Rhonda was wrong in what she told me. No one is on the same page in any department. I did not have a chance to call the nursing department today and will try tomorrow. The secretary is very nice but we should speak to Dr. Waller. I signed up for direct deposit in the bursars office the day of our last meeting. I needed a voided check and bank information. I'm hopeful with all of us voicing our concerns, that they will have all these problems addressed soon