oldmare

If you and your husband are thinking about living in Ireland for the long term, what about applying to an Irish nursing school and getting your four-year degree there? I would assume they would let you in to live on a student visa; your husband obviously would need to hook up with a job in Ireland before moving there to support you both no matter what. Only makes sense if you plan to stay in Ireland, because then you face the reverse issue of transferring an Irish nursing degree to the U.S. I'm suggesting this because it appears that even if you had a BSN, as a non-EU trained nurse you would need 5 years of work experience before you could apply to their nursing board. Under the section where they say "Applications Not Considered by An Bord Altranais" they say they won't consider: [TABLE] [TR] [TD] Non-EU trained nurse or midwife who has not been engaged in the practice of nursing/midwifery during the five years prior to the application date [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

I got in and got the scholarship too, congrats everyone! I've now got to make a tough decision between going to UMD or going to Georgetown. Both great programs, both will cost about the same including the WHC scholarship. Only reason I'm on the fence is that I love the idea of having a job lined up at WHC, which is an awesome hospital, but all those extra non-nursing classes (religion, anyone?) that you have to take at Georgetown add to an already accelerated workload.

I got in too. I just emailed the WHC person to see when we would hear about the scholarship decisions, will update you if/when I get a response

I applied to SG and I'm IN Status changed to Decision Made--Admit Good luck to all and I really look forward to meeting all of you at SG!

Eramos809, what are your thoughts on childcare and nursing school? I have a 12-year-old and a 5-year-old and really can't afford a nanny, especially since I won't be working during nursing school. But I have my doubts about making it in time to pick up at aftercare at 6 pm, especially with a 40-60 minute commute. What are you doing?

I can't believe how crabby this is making me. There's this scenario running through my mind that maybe 100 students have already received their acceptance calls, and they are being nice by staying away from announcing their happy news on this posting thread so that they don't create an avalanche of anxiety from the rest of us. I dread the mail because I don't think for a minute that they are going to change the application status online to "rejected" without first officially notifying us in a letter.

Thanks for doing that! Ugh, every day that goes by without a call or a status change seems like bad news to me at this point ... of course when I think "within two weeks" I'm thinking I'll be getting a big fat "no" letter that's being typed up and mailed out to arrive .... next week.

Hi Grey Lady! Thanks for being such a great resource! I was wondering if UMD SON has an open house of some sort for accepted applicants once the process is over? An event where you get to meet current students, professors, other accepted applicants?

You could try Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. I volunteer in the ER there and it's all patient contact, not clerical. I do have a CNA, which I think helped me get in to ER, but if they know you are going to nursing school that may count in your favor. Silver Spring is a good hour away from Baltimore, so may not be doable for you

I think decisions come late March, early April?

I agree with the above posters--you kind of have to take what you can get--but I totally understand your aversion to nights, having worked nights in another career. Even on the weekends you have two not very good choices: you try to switch sleep cycles to see your family/friends and you're a cranky waste, or you stick to your regular sleep cycle and sleep the day away. Also, and this is just me, but I hate being the only one awake in a dark house at night when I'm not working. It's not like I live somewhere that I'd go clubbing or have the interest in hitting an afterhours bar. I find it kind of depressing to be doing laundry or watching TV at 3 am, waiting to go to sleep. However if I were single with no family, maybe I'd find some very interesting clubs to hit at 2 am.

I know. Beyond the scholarship, I also liked the idea of having a hospital job locked in after graduation. I wonder if WHC just didn't have the hiring capacity anymore. Big bummer.

Leenak, what are your thoughts on the cost of JHU? It seems super expensive but maybe you got a sense from admissions that scholarships are plentiful? I also applied there and I know it's an amazing school, but I can't wrap my head around the cost. I wouldn't qualify for financial aid.

I am! Applying to the Shady Grove campus, which I'm told is a little harder to get into than Baltimore because it has less seats. I went to an info session recently and the admissions rep said that nearly all of the 2011 grads had clinched jobs, often at the sites where they did their senior practicums--that was nice to hear. So now I guess we wait until late march/early April to hear back--takes 8-10 weeks for them to make decisions.

I am! I am! And absolutely terrified I won't get in ... I applied to the Shady Grove campus. I just attended one of their info sessions (Last one I attended was a few years back, when I was still doing prereqs). Admissions person leading the session was very helpful, said: it's tougher to get into Shady Grove than Baltimore because there are fewer spots (about 44 vs. 70 in Baltimore) and that Fall is more difficult to get into than spring. She also said that she believed nearly ever graduate of Spring 2011 got a job, many through their senior practicum sites. I'm second-guessing every aspect of my application. I guess there's nothing to do but sit back and wait for 8-10 weeks ... we won't hear until end of march or early April