New help picking a school to go to!

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hi, so I am in a bit of a dilema . My husband is in the navy , so I do not have much control over where I will go to school because of the fact that we never know where we are going to move. I've been attending a community college. I will be considered a sophomore after this semester. I will have completed 38 credit hour in different science , math, English, history, Spanish, and a few other types of classes. I've been paying for school through financial aid and my current job. Well, I going to start going to school for nursing. I have not decided if I'm going to go straight for my BSN or my ADN. Anyways, so the expected move is around March or April of 2016. I know that we will be either station in Norfolk, VA, Everett, WA, Bremerton, WA or San Diego, CA. When we move, I have to find a new job and pick a college and find where we will live in a matter of a month before my husband is deployed. So my question is, can you give me advice on picking a college? Financially, I will be paying for all of it myself which mean I will probably take out a loan. I want to try to get out of school debt free but since I have low income and I will be working full time while going to school full time, I'm not sure how that is going to work. Please tell me what you know about the school you picked out there or why you would pick that school? Honestly , any advice would help me!!

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Thank you and your husband for your service.

How long do you stay in one place?

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Specializes in Emergency Medicine.

I would focus on finding a home and job and getting settled first. March or April will probably be too late, or closing in on the deadline for fall. I would try to go for the spring 2017 year, don't stress yourself out with too many life changes at once.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

I'm a little concerned when you keep saying 'pick a college'. As if you just decide and are admitted. Many, many schools have years- long wait lists even for well-qualified candidates. It's not as though you just show up and get admitted. I just want to make sure that you understand that.

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http://www.doh.wa.gov/portals/1/Documents/Pubs/669080.pdf This is the list of approved nursing schools in WA.

Stop by the ed center on post, they used to have some spouse grants for college.

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Specializes in ICU.

To add on to what a PP said, you have to apply to a nursing program anywhere from 6 months to a year before being admitted to a program. Each school has their own prereq requirements also.

You don't just pick a school a month beforehand and say I want to go to your nursing program and they admit you. Most also have pre entrance exams as well. Either the Teas or Hesi.

CA is extremely competitive right now and some schools have wait lists that last for years or go off a lottery system.

You will need to get settled into a new are and research your options. CA has an unemployment rate for new grads at over 40% right now.

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I do know that there is a waiting list I just trying to pick a school that I can start the whole process in. Since I've never lived in any of these states except California, I do not know much about the requirement for each schools nursing program. I know every state is different and so are the schools. I just need to know the basics so I can get a bit of a head start before I get out there. Thank you for telling me anyways. I do appreciate it .

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My family will be stationed in our next place for 4 years. I appreciate everyone's input. All advice is going to be put into consideration when making my decision. Thank you!

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* sorry about the spelling. The keys on my phone is horrible.

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