OLOL-BR Acclerated Program

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Hi. I am accepted to OLOL-BR Acclerated RN program for this fall. Does anyone know if OLOL will be offering the tuition-work contract option for this year? I understand it is a selective process but was wondering if it will even be an option.

Thanks!

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I graduated from the OLOL accelerated program in New Orleans last October. Originally, they told us that the top 50% in the class would be offered the tuition-contract options, which included a stipend, but toward the middle of the 10 months, they finally admitted that they did not have enough positions available to offer anyone a contract. I don't know if that will be the case in Baton Rouge, but it was in NOLA.

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So, what happened at that point? I mean you were in the middle of the program at that time. Also, can you tell me what your schedule was like during the program? Thanks so much for your response.

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What happened was that nobody got a contract with the hospital and everyone had to find their own jobs! I actually ended up moving to Northeast Louisiana because it was hard on new grads finding work in New Orleans. Classes usually last 4-5 weeks and you are taking one course at a time. Pharm was first and lasted 5 weeks. Our classes were typically five days a week from 9-4 until we started clinicals. Then we had class three days a week and clinicals two days a week. Clinical days were pretty long, usually close to twelve hours. Half of the class had clinicals on Thursday/Friday and the other half had them on Saturday/Sunday.

We usually had tests about once a week. Tests were 50 questions, 5 of which were dosage calculations. It's hard to keep up with all the reading, but it is really beneficial to do your reading in advance. (I was really lucky because I am a fast reader, but it was still hard to read that much!)

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So, if you did the tuition-work contract in the beginning, I assumed you didn't pay tuition up front. Once they decided, in the middle of the program, that they weren't going to offer the tuition-work contract, how did you come up w/the funds to repay the tuition?

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What happened was that nobody got a contract with the hospital and everyone had to find their own jobs! I actually ended up moving to Northeast Louisiana because it was hard on new grads finding work in New Orleans. Classes usually last 4-5 weeks and you are taking one course at a time. Pharm was first and lasted 5 weeks. Our classes were typically five days a week from 9-4 until we started clinicals. Then we had class three days a week and clinicals two days a week. Clinical days were pretty long, usually close to twelve hours. Half of the class had clinicals on Thursday/Friday and the other half had them on Saturday/Sunday.

We usually had tests about once a week. Tests were 50 questions, 5 of which were dosage calculations. It's hard to keep up with all the reading, but it is really beneficial to do your reading in advance. (I was really lucky because I am a fast reader, but it was still hard to read that much!)

So, if you did the tuition-work contract, I assume you did that at the beginning of the program. If they did not decide until the middle of the program that they weren't going to offer jobs, I am also assuming that you then had to come up the tuition at this point??? Sorry, just trying to grasp this.

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Our tuition and fees and books were paid for with grant money. That was never a factor. If we got the contract, the hospital was going to pay us a monthly stipend to help cover living expenses. I think it was supposed to be $600.

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This is really good information to know. I had no idea grants paid for the Accelerated BSN at OLOL. I wasn't considering OLOL because of the cost of tuition, but I may have to reconsider if there are options for tuition costs. Please keep us posted. I am looking at schools in Baton Rouge.

Btw Lagirl1974, congratulations on your acceptance!

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Our tuition and fees and books were paid for with grant money. That was never a factor. If we got the contract, the hospital was going to pay us a monthly stipend to help cover living expenses. I think it was supposed to be $600.

WOW! That was great about the grant money. Was that through WIA? I am getting the paperwork together but it doesn't look too promising due to all the budget woes! Thanks for the info!

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This is really good information to know. I had no idea grants paid for the accelerated BSN at OLOL. I wasn't considering OLOL because of the cost of tuition, but I may have to reconsider if there are options for tuition costs. Please keep us posted. I am looking at schools in Baton Rouge.

Btw Lagirl1974, congratulations on your acceptance!

Thanks! However, the accelerated program is an associate's degree not BSN. The only grant that I know of is WIA; which is through the LA Workforce Commission. Good luck to you.

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WIA paid for our books and fees. I think a separate grant had been set up to pay for tuition due to the lack of nurses in the area after Katrina. That grant may not still be in existence.

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