rn444

Congrats NeuroNutter! I look forward to meeting you and the rest of our class. Are you at Richmond?

Thank you so much for this VCUgassman2015. One of the many reasons my heart was set on VCU is that everyone I have spoke with both alumni and faculty, have been nothing but encouraging and supportive. Although I am crazy excited to begin school, I will take your advise and try and enjoy my free time now before its over.

I would love more info on the audio review! That sounds like a great tool. That being said...VCU's program offers all lectures on line once you are in the program. So I wonder if that would be an option for you depending on your program. For the questions about affording school...there are lots of great threads that talk about that topic...look for the treads about loans for CRNA school.

CoffeeL, great question! I look forward to meeting you in August. I moved to Virginia two years ago and LoVe it here. If you are going to be in Richmond, its a great city. I do not know much about it, but from the two times I went to visit the school, I loved the energy there. There are some great posts on here from previous years about the best places to live around campus. The CRNAs that I have asked the same question to have told me....first ...make my life a simple as possible, make all bills automatic, make sure car is in order, do all basic health/dental check ups before hand, and second....enjoy myself! Travel, visit family, watch tv. My plan to prepare is to take the 2 prep courses offered by VCU chem and physiology. And I bought an ipad app with anesthesia case studies I will look at this during down time on night shift. I am also planning several trips to visit with family this year, with a possible big trip this spring. Everytime I start to get stressed out about paying for school , or the intense requirements ahead....I try to remember the way I felt before the interview..."I will do AnYtHiNg to get into this program! AnYtHinG!" If the cost was double I would figure out a way to pay it. I have dreamed about being given this opportunity for a long time. I am going to try to remember that I am extreamly fortunate to have the "problem" of trying to figure out how to pay for CRNA school. Life is Good.

There is no question that paying for school is stressfull. I am in the same boat preparing for my first semester this upcoming august. When I ask current CRNA's what is the best way to prepare for school they all tell me to enjoy myself. Take some time off and travel. Live it up before I enter 3 years of having no life outside of school. I am torn between saving and working like crazy .... and taking sometime to travel maybe even a trip to Italy. I hopefully will be able to find a balance. I am grateful for the support of those who post their experience.

I was in a professional black dress with a sweater to cover my arms, I even wore stockings ( i hate them). There is no harm in looking "too professional". There is harm in looking sloppy. There is nothing wrong with being nervous....an interview for CRNA school is a huge deal! First of all be proud of your self for getting this far. My interview was out of town , so I arrived the day before and stayed in a hotel very close to the interview location. The interview it self had no suprises. I was asked the basic questions...why do you want to be a CRNA? What is the sickest patient you have ever cared for? What extra stuff do you do at your hospital? When have you caught something to prevent an error? I think they were looking more for motivation and dedication to the feild rather than GPA and GRE scores. Show them that this is the most important thing in your life and you are ready and willing to put your life on hold for 3 years. Dont let your nerves hide your passion for your dream of becoming a CRNA. You can do it.

The AllCRNAschools.com website was my guide in looking for CRNA programs. You can organize your search by state, application deadline, tuition amount. Its a great site!

Congrats to everyone who is in! Stay hopeful to all who are waiting. I am looking forward to meeting my new classmates. I am going to be in attending the Alexandria campus, Anyone else? The few times that I have been in Richmond I have loved it. Awesome city with great food! I was trying to think of a way to communicate with eachother other than this website. Anyone have any ideas? What about a private facebook group? It would be nice to get to know eachother.

Hang in there. I was told during the interview that they were going to try to let everyone know before thanksgiving break. When did you interview? I was the with the first day of interviews so maybe thats why I heard earlier. Are you appling for Richmond campus?

Im in a similar situation. I was accepted and I am struggling to keep it a secret. I want to shout it from the rooftops! I have heard from many people that telling the unit too early really make the last few months really rough. My manager really has a resentment against RNs who "use" the ICU to go to CRNA school. I would love to hear others experience with this!

pednurse4life, I interviewed the second week of September and got the good news early last week. How about you?

Hey guys! Super excited ! I was accepted into VCU's upcoming fall 2014 class. It's sureal. This has been my goal for over 10 years and it is hard to believe its acctually happening. I would love to touch base with my future classmates using private messaging, but I have not yet reached my 15 required posts ( working on that tonight ). I wish you all the best of luck!

Hang in there. Its not an easy test. Dont give up. It will be worth it in the end. I took the Kaplan prep, then for 10 days I studied like it was a job. Woke up to an alarm, ate ,sat down to take a Kaplan exam, then reviewed each question and the content of that question. You can do it.

I recently celebrated one year as a Critical Care RN. Its amazing the difference between how I felt when I was starting out and how I feel today. I was gripped with fear that I was going to make a mistake that could hurt someone. I struggled with what seemed to be simple tasks to others ( IV pumps, IV placement, drug titrations). Everyday was a little bit better than the last. One thing that really helped me was seeing senior nurses asking for help and learning new things. It reminded me that one of the gifts of being in the healthcare feild is that there is always something to learn. The scariest nurse is the one who knows everything. I have become more comfortable in the freedom to always ask for help.

The way I cope with nights is adding up the hourly nightshift diff and thinking of something I can buy with that extra cash.