tennyson

I'm with you on that one.

Psychology

I had a feeling that was going to come up...no, I am not only going into nursing for the money. Two words: social services. Now anybody understand why my current income options are so low I can't afford to pay down my debt? Never would I put tuition on credit cards...1st, my limits aren't nearly high enough, and 2nd, that's how I got into this mess in the first place...by using credit to pay schoolrelated expenses while waiting for my student aid to come in this year. Thanks for the suggestion on calling my CA employer..it's been a couple years, but they'll remember me. Is there anywhere nearby that's cheaper than NYC but doesn't require a car to get to & from work? Even here, the only job I could find (the one I have now) takes over an hour to commute via buses & trains. Each way. At midnight. For $10 an hour. With no benefits. Helping people.

It's really not the degrees I care about. All I am desperate for right now is the RN, partly because I have been unable to find a job that pays well enough. If I could get the ADN I would. But how to get the ADN without waiting 1-2 years to get into the program, then spend 2 more years completing it?

It seems like the problem is only this recent difficulty in making payments, since I received 2 Signature loans on my own credit during the 2002-2003 & 2001-2002 schoolyears. I would love to pay down my debt, but right now I can't even make ends meet. Which is part of the reason I accrued credit card debt over the past 6 months. The grant I was supposed to get from school won't be coming in until the end of the schoolyear. That's how efficient NYC community colleges are. And Stafford checks don't get disbursed until after the first month and a half of the semester! My credit was fine until this school year at a community college...

Thanks for all your replies. I talked to Sallie Mae, the rep there said that I was denied based on some recent delinquencies on my credit report (I missed payments for 3 months on 2 cards because I'm broke). There is a cap on how much you can borrow, but it's only counting the signature loan money, and while I do have some of those loans, I'm not capped yet (although this loan would do it). So now I'm wondering if I clear up the delinquencies and reapply within the next 2 months if I would be approved for the loan then. I asked Sallie Mae what range of credit score I would need, and if they would approve me if those two items listed as denial reasons were cleared, but the rep just kept repeating "I'm not allowed to give you any more information." Anyone got any idea on whether clearing up recent problems on credit would increase my chances of getting the loan? I have to put down a $500 nonrefundable deposit on the nursing program tomorrow, and don't know whether or not I should gamble like this with my grocery and bill-paying money for the next 2 months! But if I don't go to this program, I really need to figure out a way to survive. With this program, I would have a BSN and be eligible to work as an RN within 1 year. There is no faster option. Even an LPN program would take longer than that, especially with the waiting lists at the community colleges here. Every other school is too expensive as well and all would take longer to finish. Research job would be great, but half the 50 resumes I sent out last year were for research jobs, with no success (I did follow up with phonecalls). Competition is fierce here in NYC for any job, and even with an ivy MA I couldn't find anything that would enable me to pay my current bills, much less my debt. Has anyone applied for the Health Service Corp scholarship from the government that covers tuition and living expenses for regular undergraduate nursing programs? I qualify since my EFC is 0, but was wondering how competitive it is and what kind of facility you get placed in after graduation, whether you have any choice in location or not, etc.. Thanks again for all your suggestions!

Stafford loans don't have anything to do with your credit, they are only based on being enrolled at least half time in a degree program, and not having defaulted on previous student loans, or having a drug felony conviction. Signature loans, unfortunately, are based on credit, and I just got denied one because the past 6 months have been hard and I've missed 4 months of payments on one credit card and 3 months on another. Based on those two "delinquencies" I was denied the loan, even though I took out signature loans previously for two other school years. If I had a cosigner, I would get the loan. Since I don't, there goes my best laid plans. Anyone have any idea what type of credit score or report is necessary to get the signature loan? I'm wondering if I clear up the delinquencies and reapply for the loan within the next 2 months if I'd have a chance at getting it. I asked Sallie Mae, but the representative just kept repeating "We can not disclose that type of information" Have any of you been denied a signature loan, then reapplied immediately after "fixing" the problem?

Thanks...It seems like going to school for the ADN would take as long as getting the BSN for me since I have all pre reqs and all other classes other than nursing courses. Please correct me if this is wrong! I live in NYC, and spent all of 2003 looking for a job in a hospital, which seems to be impossible here to get without a license or connections. The only job I could find was one (not in a hospital) that doesn't even cover my rent at 20 hours a week, and no tuition reimbursement. I'm practically living off of credit cards and the Stafford loans from my community college where I'm doing pre-reqs. If I moved back to California, I could rehired at the psych facility I worked at, and get tuition reimbursement, but I would need a car, and the funds to afford to move. I could get the loan I need with a cosigner, but with no family, that's not a possibility. I think I'm gonna have to start full time at my job once school's out, scrape by paycheck to paycheck for the next year, and do some serious scholarship applications and apply to another school. I'm just really bummed because I was so excited about the program I thought I would be starting in May.

Hi all, Is anyone else out there lucky enough to be a part of the "I capped out the student loan limits" club? I took out loans for my undergraduate and gradutate non nursing degrees (which have certainly not paid off), and now that I've been accepted to my first choice accelerated BSN-MSN program, I need to borrow $50,000 despite receiving a 50% tuition scholarship. Although I gasped when I first saw that number in my financial aid package, I came to the decision that since I would be able to work as an RN within a year, and receive tuition reimbursement either through my employer or the government, it was worth it. But when I applied for the signature loan, I was rejected. They haven't yet told me why, but I saw something about aggregate loan limits on the Sallie Mae website and figure I probably maxed out my borrowing amounts. But I have never been able to make a payment on my prior loans because in the jobs I've held, I never make enough and qualify for debt-income ratio forbearance! However, if I was able to begin working as a nurse in a year, I would finally be able to pay back some loan money! But I can't begin working as a nurse in a year because I owe too much money to go to school! Going to a traditional program would take much longer, I would only be able to afford going part time, there are waitlists, etc. So I would be missing out on a decent salary during those years. I know I got myself into this mess by taking out so many loans in the past, now I'm just at a loss. I'm ready to throw in the towel...

you do need to take all the science prereqs wherever you go; these are generally chemistry, a&p i & ii, and microbiology. as a second degree student you're eligible to apply to accelerated programs that let you get the bsn in 12-16 months (less than the amount of time you would spend getting an associates from cuny). in new york, nyu, suny brooklyn, columbia, & pace have these programs (although at columbia you have to go through to the msn). suny is obviously the least expensive of these. if you wanted to do the traditional route, you would not have a problem finding a job in nyc with a nursing degree from a cuny school. hunter is the most highly rated, and bmcc is considered pretty good as well (but they don't offer a bsn as a 2 year college). the problem with cuny is that there are hordes of students who want in to their nursing programs, so you need a super high gpa in the science prereqs to have a high spot on their waiting lists. and be prepared to deal with massive amounts of red tape to get registered and receive financial aid. also, you need to be a student at hunter for at least 1 semester before even applying to their nursing program. getting into hunter at all is difficult due to high # of applicants, and then once you are in, getting into the prereq classes is difficult since they all fill up quickly. with your bachelors, you won't need to take an admission test, and they will transfer pretty much all the classes you would need to get the bsn so all you need to take are the nursing courses. i too always avoided science classes, but i've found if you're interested in the material and motivated, they really are not that bad! good luck!