AniLMT

Hello all! I was accepted but deferred until next year, so I never got a financial aid estimate from Hopkins. Comparable schools (Penn and Columbia) gave me a pretty dismal package--about $90,000 in fed. loans and another $20,000 to come up with out of pocket after grants and scholarships. I have 0 EFC and absolutely no income or assets (I'm POOR!), so I was just wondering if I can look forward to an equally dismal financial aid package at JHU, or if people with similar financial situations got a more reasonable package. You can PM me if you'd prefer. Thanks so much!

Thank you all!!!! You've no idea how encouraging it is to hear that. I want to go with the ADN because intuitively it feels like I'll be getting a good foundation without having to sign my life over in blood for my education. I am a self-starter, and obviously, to get into these schools it took a lot of motivation, passion and independent thinking. Those things don't go away just because I'm attending CC vs. an Ivy League (in fact, I got my A.A. many years ago!). I found a really affordable ADN program in a location where I want to work as a nurse, and I told a friend about it who's in a graduate-entry nursing program...she got really defensive and told me that an ADN is worthless----but, I want to work in rural health, with minority populations. My gut tells me that no one is going to turn away an RN in those high-need areas. :)

I was accepted to all of the BSN/MSN FNP programs I applied to this year--three of them among the most selective in the country. My thinking was, if you're smart enough to get in, and have high financial need, they'll do whatever they can to keep you in the program. One school even claimed to cover 100% of financial need! Well, I was wrong. I decided to accept one of the offers and manage to close all but $20,000 with loans, scholarships, grants and a resident assistant position. But, I've got no way of securing that $20,000 without a huge risk because I don't have cosigners and the interest rate on a private, alternative loan would be astronomical. I am devastated and in a big rut. I could: 1. take the risk, start school, and hope that I get more aid during the school year. 2. wait til next year and apply to other accelerated BSN programs which are cheaper, but still way out of my price range, and that won't offer the same quality of education 3. Go to CC for my RN and pay almost nothing but also have what seems to be considered a "useless" degree in the nursing field after two years' work. Help?

I was invited to interview via telephone for the FNP track, but I actually decided to decline the invitation. I've already accepted an offer from another school and as much as I'd love to attend UIC, I feel there is a disadvantage that this program doesn't bestow a BSN, only an RN and MSN. Also, the whole group interview with half the interviewees present while the rest of us were on telephone definitely made my stomach turn--I am NOT great at group interviews, especially when no one can read my body language! I think the should do one-on-one interviews, especially if there's only 25 interview slots for FNP applicants. Anyway, UIC is an AMAZING school and I hope whoever gets my interview spot makes it in and does awesome things :)

Hi all! I also applied for FNP, and was surprised to visit the forum and see that anyone applying for the GEP has received invitations to interview this early! UIC must really be on top of things, because it took months for other schools to get this far in the process. I saw some applicants stressing about credentials. Don't stress! If your heart's in it, then it will show :) I'm crossing my fingers about UIC because I lived and worked in the medical district during college and feel very compelled to continue that journey in Chicago, but know my chances of getting in may be slimmer because I'm not an Illinois resident. I do have words of encouragement, though--my GPA is a "measly" 3.2 and my GRE score was 1100 (on the old test)...but, I have been accepted to all the schools I've applied to so far, including UPenn and JHU. So, it's not about the numbers. My advice to nursing school applicants is don't doubt yourself!!! Unfortunately, money is also a big part of the decision (it's going to keep me out of those other programs) but hopefully UIC will be a bit more generous with scholarships and financial aid. Best of luck to everybody! All will be well :)

I am looking for advice from current students and alumni, especially of the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University BSN/MSN Family Nurse Practitioner programs to share their experience on taking out private alternative loans and how you have managed those loans, especially whether it is something you regret doing. Looking at $44,000 in private loans for the ABSN portion at Penn but right now feel like I don't have many other options, as I'm not very employable in my current field, already have student debt, and need job security to move on with my life...please help. (p.s. please only reply with comments about your own experience with these loans--I have already heard many opinions from those WITHOUT these loans on how I should avoid them, but frankly, no matter which school I choose (including state schools) I am going to be stuck with them)

I just wanted to check my interpretation of the guidelines--I'm a direct-entry BSN to MSN student, and it looks as though I'm not eligible because of that. Does anyone know if that's correct? Any past scholarship winners here know the answer? Much appreciation!

When I got my first acceptance I was sitting in a coffee shop. A professor from the college where I did my first undergrad degree was sitting a few seats away. I opened the email and started crying, then laughing, and shaking so hard it could have been mistaken for convulsing. I would've told my professor the news but she left before I could so much as speak--probably thought the whole thing was a little strange--but it was definitely the best feeling in the world. I knew then, and continue to believe, it may have been the best day of my life.

Thanks so much, Marina! I will take you up on that :)

Just looking for some cheering up... Tonight I went back and read my first post on this website from 2009. I had just transferred to a 4-year college and my GPA was terrible and I had very little healthcare experience, but I did have a dream of someday becoming a nurse (not a FNP--getting into any nursing program at all seemed impossible at the time!). Fast forward 'til now...I've been accepted to three incredible, top-ranking schools; two of the best in the world. Yet, when my first financial aid package arrived I realized that as hard as I've worked and as far as I've come, this will likely be an impossible dream. I simply cannot afford to attend nursing school. As other accepted students in my cohort received their award packages, they've had similar reactions. I have been in shock for the past week. There have been many tearful conversations with my family, as we are all struggling. I'm feeling silly and foolish for getting so far ahead of myself, for dreaming big, for applying to programs with huge price tags and thinking that things would just...work themselves out. I know that if I keep trying, eventually I might get there--maybe not those schools, maybe not any time soon--but right now I just want to give up on that altogether. Guess I wanted to post here because my friends and family who haven't been through the ringer applying to nursing school are trying hard to be supportive, but they can't relate. I could use some words of wisdom and encouragement, and a "chin up! Keep trying!" from someone who's been there before.

Or, were you not talking about JHU? (I just checked the UCSF website and saw that they don't offer a BS in nursing OR a BSN as part of the MEPN program, so hopefully I just misunderstood).

Weird. I just picked up the phone and called admissions at JHU--the man I spoke with assured me that there's no difference between a BSN and a BS with a major in nursing...are they really misleading folks?

Woah--what is the difference between the BS with a nursing major and BSN? I can't believe I overlooked that. Feeling very, very, very stupid right now. I thought they were the same?

Yeah, the expenses--including tuition--that UPenn listed on my financial aid package amounted to $130k!! Oh. My. Goodness!!! The grant *did* bring it down, for me it actually dropped the cost below that of Hopkins, *if* Hopkins doesn't offer any grants. I found somewhere on the JHU website that EVERYTHING (books, housing, etc.) for the 13-month program came to a grand total of $98k...still yikes, especially if we don't receive as "generous" an award from the other schools (does JHU also offer a grant? I am dreading the news...). I actually couldn't find the estimated total costs for Columbia, but it's NYC, so I'm imagining that's going to be bad news as well (unless I just crash on my friend's couch in Brooklyn for 12 months...). I really wish I had been able to apply for UCSF...I didn't graduate in time (you have to have your Bachelors *before* you submit your application)...it sounds as though most folks who got accepted to the other schools also got accepted there, and it would be much less scary to drop $70k in loans for a top-notch nursing education and an opportunity to live in San Francisco...

Awesome :) thanks for giving me some hope--it was going to be a long night staying up stressing! Gonna give them a call in the morning!