Rhapsody86

No problem! I don't live in that area, so I can't help you there! All I can say is research, research, research all the financial aid options. I can definitely emphasize because I was trying to figure out all that stuff too about a year and a half ago. Good luck! :)

I did my own research into this and I think she is right. You might want to try a Bachelor's program (BSN) or an Accelerated Bachelor's program (ABSN). I know all schools are different, this is what my particular school says about SAP and Second Degree students: "Second-degree students may only receive financial aid to earn the total required credit hours for the second degree. A second-degree student is defined as a student with a previous degree at the same classification, either undergraduate or graduate. For example, a student pursues a bachelor's degree in a new field after earning a previous bachelor's degree." Again, this is for a university, not a community college. In regards to working while in nursing school, if may be possible for the first semester or so, but at some point it is going to get insane busy. I am in OB/Peds/Psych semester right now, and that's 18 credit hours. Plus, remember you have to go to clinicals for those classes during the week. Many in my program had to either quit there jobs, go part-time, or go prn so they have time for all of this and study. If you really need to work full-time, I would consider being a part-time student. Only you know how you can juggle work and school. I work 1-2 days a month during school, over the summer and the school breaks at a restaurant, and knowing how I handle stress, desire to do well in nursing school and such, I can't do anything more than that. I would definitely try to continue to get in touch with the financial aid office to see what they can do for you so that you wouldn't have to work full time. Also, some hospitals offer scholarships if you agree to work with them after you graduate, may want to look into that also. :)

I have a previous Bachelor's Degree (graduated May 2009 with 126 credit hours, started BSN program in August 2010). For my BSN I have used Stafford Loans (subsidized and unsubsidized), and up to this point I haven't had any trouble receiving the amount to cover my tuition. Every year I actually get awarded way more than what my tuition actually is, but I only accept my tuition amount. I've never heard of Satisfactory Academic Success Progress Standards, but it obviously hasn't affected me! I would go to the school's financial aid office and talk to them if you have any concerns, but for me all I had to do was fill out the FAFSA and wait to be awarded. On a side note, I used the Stafford Loans for my first year of nursing school, but this current school year I decided to enroll in the honors program (have to write a research thesis) which gives me a scholarship to cover my tuition- was very thankful they let 2nd degree students into this. Maybe a college near you has a similar program?

I'm assuming that you aren't a pre-nursing student, but already in a program, I'll throw this out there anyways though. If you are a freshman or sophomore in college and still trying to get those pre-reqs out of the way (like history, English, math, foreign language etc etc), maybe going abroad with taking those classes would be the best way to go? I tried to look into the studying nursing abroad thing myself and never really found anything. I studied abroad for a semester with my first degree (right now I'm second degree BSN) and many students, actually the majority that I met, chose programs that are not even in their interested major. It's all about the experience of living and learning in another place and such a wonderful experience it is! Good luck! Hopefully you can find something, it's definitely an opportunity every student should be able to experience.

Don't get me wrong, if a question is horribly written and a large majority of the classes misses it, yeah, I believe it should be thrown out. For instance, on one exam less than 5% got a question right and it was thrown, and that's one class I have where the teacher never throws a question. What I am referring in my original post is just throwing out questions not because they are poorly written or a large number of students miss them, but just throwing out questions to insure that those that failed now pass. I'll give a good example. We had an exam with a passing average and there was a normal bell curve (originally, before questions were thrown out); however, afterwards about 10 questions were dropped to help those that didn't pass. We were told that the statistics of the test showed that all the questions were well tested and there was no reason to drop any as a result of poor testing. I should probably add that this hasn't happened in ALL my classes so far, but three of my classes have been like this.

I've just finished my first year of nursing school (BSN)! Whew! It was hard, but I've made all As, yet for some of those As, I don't feel as proud of them as I should be. Grade Inflation in the program is rampant in almost every class, if the teachers didn't throw out so many questions (in one instance threw out 20), some of my As would be Bs. Then there's the other side, there's been tests that I did great on, got most of the answers right originally, but to help those that performed poorly many questions were thrown out. Thus, in the end, most made As and Bs, and my grade wasn't that stellar compared to everyone else. I really do believe that if this did not occur about 20% of my class would have flunked out of nursing school. I'll add that I am a second-degree student, and for my first bachelor's I only had one class that the teacher used a curved and I cannot recall any class where the teacher threw out questions. Basically, you got what you deserved, and an A, B, C, F accurately reflected the seriousness of the student to learn and prepare for the exam. Everyone wants an A, but it's something that should be earned, it's not a gift. I'm curious if there are any others out there that have had this experience and how you feel about it? Does it hurt the integrity of nursing programs, and possibly the nursing profession?

rI am a bit skeptical about the "one year" part. Most nursing programs at the bachelor level are 4-5 semesters long. A year would just be 3 semesteres (fall, spring, and summer). But I guess a nursing school could make such a curriculum. I am a second degree student earning my second bachelors. First, 2nd degree programs are only available to those with a previous Bachelor's degree, not Associates. I got accepted into accelerated BSN program and the traditional (both 5 semesters long). Not sure about other programs, but here only difference with accelerated is that they include the summer semesters, while the traditional program just does the typical Fall/Spring semesters. I chose the traditional, mostly because I had a lease at that time and couldn't move for summer classes to start. Now, I'm glad I didn't accept the accelerated offer. Yeah, I'll be graduating about a year later, but I won't be so rushed. From others I know in the accelerated program, the summer semesters are the worst because the summer semesters are not as long as the Fall and Spring semesters, and as a result there is less time to learn everything you would usually learn in a regular semester. Too much stress for me. And in nursing school, having enough time to learn can make or break you, for most anyways. The AMOUNT of knowledge you must learn is intense!!! There are those that do successfully complete the accelerated BSN programs. My advice to your daughter is to apply to the program she sees best fit for her. :)

Hey everyone, I've tried to find this answer, but haven't had any luck. I am a first year nursing student with no previous health care experience and I don't work for the VA. Does the VA have any programs for students in which they will pay for your tuition and you agree to work for them for a certain amount of time after graduation? I know there's a program for current VA workers who chose to go to school, but I was wondering if there was anything like that for non-VA workers? Thanks!

Hey everyone, I'm new here, my first post! Here's my question. At our school, the nursing department offers an honors program (one course a semester is enriched and submit a thesis at the end of your education). The scholarship covers all tuition:heartbeat. I'm curious if anybody else here has done something like this? I am afraid my stress level may go through the roof:uhoh3:; however, I only have one semester of nursing school to judge by (I've done well so far, As). Did it get in the way of your classes, making good grades? Background info on me. 2nd degree student, using subsidized Stafford loans to cover my tuition- but I'd like to not have to pay that back Thanks!