pre-reqs how much would it cost and how long in CC

sayitaintso · Jan 12, 2012

Hi Rocketberger

first off welcome to the board and welcome to America, i see you are doing your research which is good, OK i'll try my best to give you as much information as I can,

since you are coming from out of the country you need to first figure out what community college you are going to attend, take your high school transcript to that college and have it evaluated, from there they will be able to tell you what classes you might need to take, as for tuition I'm not quite sure exactly what the cost is going to be but the cost are on a per credit hour basis (at my college its approximately $100 with parking and other fee's included for instate students per credit hr, each class on average is worth 3 credit hrs, costing approximately $300)

I also noted your age which might not qualify you for financial aid, but I think if you could prove that you are independent you might be able to qualify, but first things first you need to figure out where u want to go to college then make an appointment to go see an adviser

if you have more specific questions feel free to ask i will try my best to answer.

leenak · Jan 12, 2012

Well California subsidizes its higher education heavily including community college so the answer would be different for California than Maryland where I'm at. For my first choice school, I needed to take 6 pre-reqs, each costing $520 or so at my local community college, not including books. It would depend on how many pre-reqs you need to take and how much they cost. The answer can differ for each school and for each state.

Exhaustipated, ADN, BSN · Jan 12, 2012

If you have a particular community college in mind, check their website. I know the two schools I considered not only told me what the nursing program pre/co -requisites are, but also gave an approximation of cost. It absolutely differs from state to state and school to school. My school has a fee scale posted on their website. As far as time, that depends upon how heavy a schedule you intend to have. It will take me 4 semesters to complete my pre/co -requisites, for example. I completed 12 credit hours my first semester, and plan for a 7 credit hour schedule for each of my remaining 3 semesters. Once I begin the nursing program (notice I'm being positive and now allowing for not being accepted :yeah: ), it's a lock-step 4 semester program, which is why I choose to complete ALL my pre & co -requisites before applying.

Your best bet for your most accurate information is to contact your school(s) of choice and get the information straight from them.

Good luck!

rocketberger · Jan 12, 2012

I also noted your age which might not qualify you for financial aid, but I think if you could prove that you are independent you might be able to qualify, but first things first you need to figure out where u want to go to college then make an appointment to go see an adviser
if you have more specific questions feel free to ask i will try my best to answer.

Hi Sayitaintso thank you so much for your warm welcome and i do appreciate you taking time to answer my questions, but one thing that catches my attention is you said that i might not be able to qualify for financial aid due to my age?? i thought that as long as i dont have a degree or something i still could qualify and if so what age does it has to be cause i have a younger sister.

and BTW i was supposed to enroll this spring at Cypress College, i took the assessment and orientation and everything i also tried getting the subjects i need, but then i found out that im gonna pay the non CA resident tuition since ive been here for like 6mos or so, and i need to be resided here at least 1 year so im not gonna pay for the extra 250% for tuition.so probably im gonna enroll this fall when im at least 1 year here in CA. but the problem is, on the cypresscollege.edu site they said $36/unit for "enrollment fee" is the "enrollment fee" the tuition or is it just an initial payment to get me enroll?? im really confused and i dont know the runarounds in here.

and for all that i havent thanked yet THANK YOU so much i really really am grateful for you guys helping me out.

-rocket

CDEWannaBe · Jan 12, 2012

Wait to take classes until you're eligible for the in-state tuition rate. Usually takes 1 year of residency in that state.

If you're not a US citizen you won't be elible for federal financial aid, so your only help will be private scholarships.

The $36 enrollment fee is just to apply to that school. Once you enroll in course you'll pay for tuition, student fees, and books. I always look up professors on RateMyProfessor.com because it saves you from bad teachers or from buying books for a class that doesn't use them. For textbooks you'll save thousands of dollars renting them from www.Chegg.com, which makes it easy and sends reminders when your books are due back at end of the semester.

sayitaintso · Jan 12, 2012

I'm not sure about California laws as i'm from NY and now residing in FL, but about the financial aid where i go to school you have to be over 24 or be able to prove that you are independent, which means you might need to show that you file your own taxes or they might have other ways to prove independence, the above poster stated about having to be a citizen, I'm not sure if that is true, I have a male friend who is a resident and not a citizen and he is still able to get financial aid. you might want to ask the school adviser when u get there, the $36 might just be the application fee,

I also think its best to wait till after the 1 year, this way you'll be able to pay in-state tuition.

THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN · Jan 12, 2012

Wait to take classes until you're eligible for the in-state tuition rate. Usually takes 1 year of residency in that state.
If you're not a US citizen you won't be elible for federal financial aid, so your only help will be private scholarships.
The $36 enrollment fee is just to apply to that school. Once you enroll in course you'll pay for tuition, student fees, and books. I always look up professors on RateMyProfessor.com because it saves you from bad teachers or from buying books for a class that doesn't use them. For textbooks you'll save thousands of dollars renting them from www.Chegg.com, which makes it easy and sends reminders when your books are due back at end of the semester.

Not true...my boyfriend and his mother were both resident aliens when they started school here and she is 45 and they BOTH recieved pell grants that paid for the entire community college tuition.

THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN · Jan 12, 2012

Oh and Im 22, a dependent and I still get financial aid....seriously just go to fafsa.gov and put in your financial info and they will be able to tell you what kind of aid you are eligible for.

SarahNV82 · Jan 13, 2012

I found that most community colleges are overcrowded with students wanting to take classes needed to get into the nursing programs. So some of them have waiting lists just to take the pre-req. class. In addition to that most of the programs seem to only be accepting students once or twice a year. So once you get all your pre reqs done and everything else needed you could still have to wait a whole year just to start the program ( and thats IF you get in). So it could easily take 2-3 yrs just to start the nursing program and then another 2-3 to complete it.

rocketberger · Jan 13, 2012

Oh and Im 22, a dependent and I still get financial aid....seriously just go to fafsa.gov and put in your financial info and they will be able to tell you what kind of aid you are eligible for.

hi slinkyheadCNA, thanks for clarifying that, but am still gonna be eligible?cause right now im working would it affect my chances of getting financial aid or grant??

rocketberger · Jan 13, 2012

I found that most community colleges are overcrowded with students wanting to take classes needed to get into the nursing programs. So some of them have waiting lists just to take the pre-req. class. In addition to that most of the programs seem to only be accepting students once or twice a year. So once you get all your pre reqs done and everything else needed you could still have to wait a whole year just to start the program ( and thats IF you get in). So it could easily take 2-3 yrs just to start the nursing program and then another 2-3 to complete it.

hi SarahNV82 well i dont even mind waiting for 8 years and so long as i could complete it with small debt or even possible 0 debt. i just dont want to rush the program and getting into a private school which afterwards would most likely KILL ME TO DEBT, lol well but im still doing my research and my possible options i still have at least 6 months to get it together before i could start getting my pre-reqs

and again thank you all for being such a huge help, i think im getting it little by little now :)