HellooooNurse

This is helpful!! I had to take time out of school bc of family financial issues (hooray for the economy!) so I'm looking into FAFSA and WIA and all that other stuff now. I don't want to switch schools, but I have to keep my options open and see what kind of help I can get and where and for what school. Any other suggestions folks?

Are community colleges not an option? They have lots of options time-wise, but not a lot of room in the program. That's the only bad thing. The private places usually have lots of options, but you have to weed out the crappy ones. I looked at these guys: *Americare Institute Americare Technical School CMK Healthcare International Career Institute *J. Renee Career Facilitation, Inc. Northwestern Inst. of Health & Tech Omega Healthcare Technical School *PCCTI I put stars next to the ones that caught my attention for one reason or another. Not that the other ones aren't worth looking into, I'm just particular about some things.

Cool!! I didn't know that existed. Thanks!!

Hmm. That doesn't sound too great. Before I chose the school I go to now (sort of - I had to take some semesters off bc of family stuff but I plan to start again in the fall), I looked into NWIHT. It seems as though a couple of the private LPN programs have very similar prereq requirements. I don't see why there's a time limit on English. Math and Science I understand because I know that the community colleges are all that way. But English? Seriously? Specially if they have a Bachelor's degree already. Was the degree earned here or in another country? It seems silly. Also, I can understand if the person who grades the exams is out to lunch, but why wouldn't they offer to call her back or something before encouraging her to cough up $650 for a class she seems to have already taken? Idunno.

OMG that's great that they have financial aid. They also have a new website. I guess I could have looked there first. There's a ton of info there. I'm gonna call and make an appointment with the FAFSA lady if I can. It will be such a blessing to have some of the tuition taken care of. I'll keep you guys posted!! Oh, and Miss Peachy, who was your A&P teacher? I took A&P a while ago and had to take time off, so I will be starting Pharm and Fund in the fall I hope.

Wow, great feedback!! This is really good to know. Thank you!!

Wow, it's been a while since I've been here. This thread has grown!! I'm sorry to hear the Americare has been disorganized. I had to take some time out of school because of family issues, and I'm itching to go back to school but I don't know if it's going to work out financially. I hear they have financial aid now or something. Does anyone know anything about this?

They have to do background checks at the school I go to, and one of them is through TransUnion to make sure that we're giving them correct SSN and address info. Makes sense because what's the point of going to nursing school in I'm not legal to work in this country or something. And based on my understanding (I had concerns myself and happened to talk to the FAFSA lady at my school who knew a lot about credit stuff, and she helped me, lol), an employer would look into what caused the a credit score to go down. Like, it wouldn't go down much at all (a point? half a point?) just for checking my SSN and address. Plus they wouldn't deny me employment because my credit report said that my SSN and address was checked for nursing school. I don't know. Maybe I'm not concerned enough bc my credit is fine. Should I be?

The fact that you want to continue your education is a step in the right direction. It sounds like you've been pretty dependent on this guy, and he knows it. It's pretty clear that he's holding you back. I think that moving yourself and your sister in with your brother and his foster parents is a good idea. Get federal funding and start your education. You can start as a CNA and will be making way more than just gas money. You'll also have a good chance at getting help from an employer as far as tuition reimbursement is concerned. I think a really important factor is getting away from your boyfriend. I'm not saying that you need to leave him (although your new-found independence may cause you to eventually decide otherwise), but I think you need to stop allowing him to be your entire means of living. A number of my classmates are single mothers who don't have ANYONE for support, and my goodness, it's really inspiring the way they juggle everything. If they can do it, you can do it!!

It takes a caring, competent individual to be a nurse. If someone considered going to nursing school, I would only encourage them wholeheartedly if they felt that was their calling. I have no patience for people who are in it "for the money." Nursing is not "just a job," it's a career. :redbeathe

Based on the experience that I've had so fair, again, it's the failing students who complain, and by the look of those horrendous writing skills... well... Theres always some excuse as to why they're the victim. I'm glad some students get weeded out (in this context, weeded out = failed out). I don't want them to become my nurse anyway. Why would I want someone who failed out of courses to become my nurse? It was the same when I took courses at COD. The students who don't focus on how important school is are the students who have something to complain about. I'm not a straight-A student, but if I am paying this kind of money, then I'm not gonna slack off. And in my opinion, the schedule is fine. When I made the decision to go back to school, I knew that I would have to make sacrifices. For fun, I'd really like to hear some suggestions because it boggles my mind. 250 students, morning and evening lectures for 8 classes, 1 clinical for every 10 students for each class. 10 lecture instructors, 20 clinical instructors. Just the thought of it gives me anxiety. Seriously, I do NOT want that job!!! I am being naive, or does anyone else feel this way?

If you want a charismatic teacher who will push you to do your best, pick Professor X. I know a lot of my classmates hated him because he takes no excuses, but they were the lazy teenagers who were too busy playing on their iPhones to pay attention to lecture. He's my favorite science teacher so far, and my science teachers have always been so boring in the past. I don't know about lecture, but the one I had for lab, and he's very nice and knowledgable. If I were to pick one though, it would be Dr. X.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. So Keeplookingup7, what did they do to you that has made you so upset? I'm having a hard time with your post because I've never experienced anything like what you're describing. Also, I think you're being rather unreasonable about what you think is so ridiculous. Piggybacking on wannabeRN's post, private schools are expensive to begin with. Why is Americare's tuition so bad? I think it's reasonable. Sure it doesn't beat COD or ECC or something, but let's face it... If you could get IN to those programs in the first place, you wouldn't be having this discussion. I also can't imagine that they'd do illegal stuff and get sued. They've been really anal with filling out forms and documentation and all that, it kinda gets annoying all the paperwork you have to do. But I don't know. It just seems pretty uncharacteristic of them. Also, I love my teachers. I'm in AP2 right now, and half the class hates my teacher, the other half loves him. He's sorta strict I guess, but he just wants us to do well. It gets annoying when some of the people in my class complain though. But it's usually just the lazy kids who don't do the work that complain because the quizzes are "too hard". As if the human body is simple. I guess hating your teachers is the "cool" thing to do nowadays. He really makes lecture interesting. He cracks jokes all the time, some of which are a little off color, but we're all adults. He sticks around after class if you're having a hard time with the material and you ask him for help. But you have to take initiative, he doesn't hold your hand like you're a 5 year old - he's just not that kind of teacher. Anyhoo. I'm sorry you had a lousy experience, but I feel like you're exaggerating to be honest. If there's one thing I can't stand about school, it's when students think they know everything. When they think they know how a classroom should be run, when they think the teacher is wrong and that they know more, and when they interpret administrative decisions as arrogant demonstrations of superiority. Some people just need to put their pride aside and just try to work WITH people instead of against people. Life's more enjoyable that way.

You should consider it. Some of my classmates are working as CNAs and are getting tuition reimbursement because they're in school for healthcare.

When I took the exam, some people failed. I felt kinda bad for them because they were older and got all discouraged.