vadrn

As far as cost goes, it will depend on the program itself. Some schools, i.e. private vs. state funded will be considerably more expensive than others. The norm IMHO is about 100k in debt. Most CRNA's that I know did not have a problem paying the debt off in a timely fashion. Most schools, including mine, strongly discourage working during the duration of the program. I will know more in a few months, but I'm sure that you will not find time to do much more than study while in a program.

As far as I know sreece is right. The class beginning in Jan. is full. That being said, when I interviewed last Nov., I was offered a spot in 2006 two days before school started. Unfortunately I had to decline and wait until 2007. So even though you are interviewing for 2008, there is always a possibility that you may get the same call I did. There was a problem with students deciding to not attend ASU at the last minute, but now they have a retainer fee to hold your spot if accepted to hopefully cut down on that. Basically if you get accepted, just be prepared to drop everything and start school just in case. As far as the interview process goes, to me, it was very laid back. Some of the students, as well as faculty were conducting the interviews. Ms. Campbell and her staff made me feel very welcome. Basically some general questions about yourself to begin with, and some clinical questions and scenarios. Nothing you shouldn't be familiar with. There is a clinical test to be taken when you first get there, but don't stress out over it. Just answer the best you can, and if you don't know, don't make something up. Just be yourself, be enthusiastic, and don't try to BS them and you will do fine. GOOD LUCK!

I'll see you there. I look forward to meeting all of our classmates, and getting this party started. See ya in Jan.

Congrats!:cheers: I'll see you in Jan.

Arkansas State, January 2007.

First of all, not all CRNA's have to pay their own malpractice insurance. If you choose to work for a large group, usually malpractice is covered. Second of all most groups these days will pay off all or part of your loan if you sign a contract to work for x amount of years. Granted this may not always be the best situation, but if it clears the debt, then you do what you gotta do. You are in a higher tax bracket, and that will make a bit of a difference, but if the group is covering all or part of your loan, that will make a difference as well. I'm glad their are nurses such as your self that can make a good living doing jobs like dialysis, it just so happens that that area is not for me. I personally love my job in the transplant ICU, and make pretty good money, but along with many other srna's, anesthesia has been a goal of mine for a long time, and I feel privileged to be able to fulfill that goal. I'm not going to let something like debt deter me from doing it.

I know how you feel. I don't start until January of 2007, but the issues on my unit seem to bother me less and less. It will be a little "different" not doing bedside nursing after almost nine years, but I will not look back. I've enjoyed my job and the experiences it allowed me, but it will be nice not having to respond to the code browns that we all love. Anyway, you are not alone in your feelings, I'm sure that all of us that are counting down the days are all feeling the exact same thing. Good Luck!

I don't think that you have pigeon holed your self at all. I'll have to disagree with your OR preceptor. You won't need the same skills in ICU that you gained for the OR and vice versa. Although you won't get the hemodynamical monitoring experience in the OR that you will get in the ICU, I think your experience in the OR will pay off in one way or another once you start anesthesia school. If anything it will at least give you a very good idea of what to expect as an SRNA\CRNA. I myself have not worked in the OR, but I can imagine it definitely won't hurt your future plans. I've got a friend that just finished his first year of CRNA school that was a surgical tech prior to going to nursing school, and his knowledge of the surgical procedures was invaluable to him when beginning his clinicals. Don't let your preceptor deter you. Get your time in the OR, transfer to a good MICU\SICU\CVICU setting and you should be fine.

Congrats spastic airway! I look forward to seeing you and rayman both. I pm'd you as well.

Obviously I am partial to ASU because I had a pretty good experience and was accepted. Just understand that everyones experience or perception of the interview process will be different. I'm sure people came out of ASU with a bad taste in their mouth, but that doesn't mean everyone will. I have interviewed at a couple of different schools and no where was really the same. So just take that for what it's worth, just be yourself, be enthusiastic, and don't try to BS them, because they will see right through that mess. Hopefully you will have a good experience and become a classmate. Drew

To my knowledge the scores are not averaged. They take your highest. If you take the GRE and you don't think it's competetive you don't have to send that score, but I'm not sure if all scores show up when you do finally send one in. The schools understand that not everyone will score their best the first try, so if you score a 1200 on your second try, the fact that you may have scored an 800 on your first won't matter, unless of course it is below their minimums. Someone else may have more info, but that's what I know just from my GRE/application experience.

The book GRE for Dummies helped me imensely. I can't speak for everyone else but after going through a couple of prep books, this one fit me best. It gives a lot of tips on how to pick up on the tricks of the GRE. It has a very good math review in my opinion. I have been out of school almost ten years and math was definitely my weakness, and the second time I took the test my math score increased by over 100 points studying this book and taking the powerprep practice tests. You can download these from the GRE website, or they will send you a disc when you schedule your test. The director of my program suggested the Princeton review. You can take it in a classroom setting or online. It is VERY expensive (like 1000 bucks), but they guarantee a 200 point increase in your original score. You don't have to send your scores immediately when you take the test, but it will be your responsibility to do so when you are ready. Hope that helps you.

I start the ASU program in 2007. As far as I know they are still trying to fill spots. I know of at least two nurses that I work with who are interviewing this month. Their interview is not bad at all. They do a very good job at making you feel welcome. Sue Campbell is great, and she makes you feel very comfortable. Good Luck to all that have interviews!