dakota7

I will be starting NS in the fall and although I am not worried about my marriage, I am really having problems with convincing my husband to be more financially supportive. He is a physician and so he makes really good money and right now I am working as a therapist making really good money. Tuition is going to be killer for this program probably looking at about 15+thousand/semester for a 16 month ABSN. I am really considering not going at all because it is soo expensive and I already have a little bit of loan debt from my Masters Degree and my husband is almost refusing to provide me with any financial support because he doesn't want me to be a nurse even though I plan on entering the NP program right away. I am grateful that he will be paying the mortage and all of the utilities and so I dont have to worry about the cost of living. I have always worked and made pretty good money too and so I have never needed him to do anything for me. I dont want to work while im in NS but it looks like I am going to have to keep my job and work PT because my husband will not help me with school nor will he help me pay make my car payment. I dont want to have to make my car payment for me anyways but I feel like he should offer even if I refuse....My problem with him is his hypocrisy in this whole thing. He has a sister who is about my age and she is in some program where she is taking a 6 year route to get her master degree in alternative medicine. His father who is a retired judge refuses to support her because he thinks she needs to get a real job and support herself because she choose to move across the country and to enroll in this program. Granted his dad worked hard to get where he is and he didnt do it by sponging off anyone else. My husband went on this rant about how wrong it was of his father not to support her because he has the money to do so and he should. I of course disagreed and said that it was her choice and that he shouldnt have to pay rent and utilies for a apt that he doesn't live in. He was furious. It got to the point where his mother who makes good money and recently retired was talking about getting another part time job to pay the girls tuition and for her rent and stuff. I said that it was selfish of his sister and him to encourage that nonsense when she can get a real damn job and work and take out loans like most people do. He goes on to say well my mother didnt want us to graduate with any debt....So I pointed out that he got scholarships in medical school and joined the military to pay his own way and that his sister should find a way to do the same. I would never make my mother get another damn job to support me financially for the decisions that I made. Like her I choose to attend grad school all the way across the country and when I got there I got a real job that paid money and paid all of my bills myself and took out loans for school. My mother had the money to support me but I dont think its right that she should because it was my choice and therefore I should be financially responsible for that choice. Anyways, I mentioned his hyprocrisy the other night but also saying that I would work because I didnt want him to have to pay for my car but also stated that most of my friends in grad school who were married and didnt work could rely on their husband to help them financially if needed. Even though I do plan on working because I dont really have much of a choice, I just dont understand when he became so selffish and his hyprocrisy is really irritating.....Sorry for the long rant folks!

Thank you for the replies. They were very helpful.

Hello All.This is my first independent post so bare with me. I am thinking about joining Army Reserve but I am not certain what the benefits would be. I already have a BS and MS and I was be starting an ABSN program in the Fall. I am interested in joining the Army Nurse Corps Reserve after I complete nursing school but I am just wondering if there are any benefits for signing up for Army Reserve while I am in school. My husband is in the Army and he did the Army scholarship as a medical student but they dont have such a program for nursing students (I wish they did). I read somewhere that if you sign up for Army Reserve that you will be able to finish school before being called to active duty. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this or can offer any helpful advice or insight.Thanks

Thanks Karen.... SFChef, You should be able to take out private loans but good luck with that in this credit market. I guess we just have to wait until we get our financial aid packages in April to see what other funds we need.

Giardiafan-----Did you have a high EFC? I too am worried about financing Duke. My EFC was $25,000, which is $25,000 that they will not be including in a financial aide package for me. I called the FinAid person and she said that they are looking at a budget for the year of 60something thousaund. Can you believe that? I have no idea how much financial aide they are going to offer me but I am worried about financing too. My husband is a doctor but I dont see how he can possible contribute that much money too my education when he is going to be paying our mortage and everything else. I was thinking I could keep my job and work part-time but even still I don't think its going to be enough. You said, "I was hoping to get 50%+ tuition covered by the school one way or another, and now I'm not so sure." Is there any reason why you think that you won't get at least 50% coverage???

Well good luck to you both and hopefully you will be hearing good news soon. And yes it is true that Duke will start accepting ABSN students in the Spring so don't be discouraged! Good luck!

Earthylgirl and gtscryss, have you all talked to anyone at the school since your interviews? Maybe you all will at least make the waiting list and thats why you havent heard anything yet. I am surprised that it is taking this long esp. since gtscryss had the interveiw back on the 16th of Jan. Hopefully you all hear some good news soon....Good luck! SFChef, congrats.......

Congratulations!

I had my interview over the phone on the 16th and it wasnt as stressful for me. They ask five or six questions, I believe and most are going to be specific to what you wrote in your personal statement . I would recommend that you review what you put in your statement and think about possible questions they could derive from the personal experiences you discussed in your statement. I believe we were on the phone for a little over 30minutes and they told me we were over our alloted time and that ppl were coming in for their face-to-face interviews. Don't stress about it, if you told the truth in your personal statement and you can answer questions surrounding your PE you will be fine! They told me that I would find if I got in around Feb/March but I found out I got it a few days after the interview. Good luck!

Hey ncgal...... I was accepted into Duke a few days ago shortly after my interview. I honestly hated myself after the interview because there were things that I wish I would have said that I didnt. I didnt think that I did as well as I could have in my interview but I guess I did better than I thought. I am not sure what they thought I stood out but I do know that one of my interviewers asked me about being on the track team and what I learned from being a scholarship athlete. Also, we talked about my background in counseling (I have a masters degree and counseling and am a licences professional counselor) and how that would help me in the nursing field. I am guessing that those are probably the things that stood out. Besides the volunteer work that I have done, I didn't have a medical background. I was actaully suprised that I was accepted because I had a terrible semester in college when I was pledging and my semester gpa was terrible. I am just glad that they looked at the whole picture. I didn't have to submit GRE scores because I had a masters degree. My undergradue GPA was ok not that great and my graduate GPA was perfect......so they definately consider the whole picture and not just one semester. Anyways good luck!

I got accepted to Duke ABSN program today! Haven't quite figgured out how I am going to pay yet but I am excited none the less!

I am new to the forum and this is my first post but I'm in as well! Congrats to all who were accepted and to those who were not, dont give up. Try again next year!