ArkyCCRN

Now that I have gotten my deposit back - I can now say.. .AVOID THE LINKS AT JONESBORO. (Or any LINDSEY MANAGEMENT property - same places, same type of management, just different names on the outside). It was funny.. I would tell people my experience in Jonesboro and then I would get their stories from other complexes across the state. I just wish someone would've warned me beforehand. So tell anyone you know going to Jonesboro!! Here is a link that specifically rates "The Links at Jonesboro" with comments about the place. But it's also a way to see some other Jonesboro apartments that were rated. http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/AR-Jonesboro-The-Links-Jonesboro.html Basically what happened to me, everything that could go wrong.. did. The management staff is HORRIBLE. It's noisy, not safe, poorly built. There's truly not one positive thing I could say about it. My take on the situation, once they get you to sign your lease and have your $$$, they know you're stuck if you care even a little bit about your credit, and they could care less if you're happy. In my building alone, I saw at least 7 different groups of people move in and out and they either didn't fulfill their lease or they left right when it ended. I think that says a lot right there. If you just take your time to drive around and look, you'll find something much better. At the back side of The Links there are brand new apartment buildings, and across from there are brand new duplexes. Many people make the mistake thinking that the Links is the only place worth living at since there are slim pickings in Jonesboro, but trust me.. it's not worth it. Just pay the extra $$$ and stay somewhere better - you'll need a nice quiet environment while you're in school. If you do decide that it's the only place to live, JUST A WARNING, they don't tell you this in the beginning when you've put down your deposit. The day you come in to sign your lease, in the lease it states that they will automatically take out $145 of your deposit for cleaning that they do once you move out. So no matter what you do, youre not getting all of your deposit back. They also took an additional $16 for replacing burner pans. I personally think that it's pretty bad for someone to withhold this type of information until you've loaded up a U-Haul, paid your deposit, and have no choice but to move it. One more thing, I heard this from an ASU student. With ASU, if your clinical site is not local, you're in Jonesboro until the end of April (4 months). They told this person that if they sign a 6 month lease, they would not make them fulfill their lease term and would let them break their lease. When it came time to move, they told them they had to finish their lease term and had to pay the remaining two months left even though they wouldn't be there. They pulled the say one thing and conveniently deny saying it act on me as well. But, I just wanted to put this out and keep anyone from getting into something they're not aware of. Hope this information helps!

Hi I just wanted to offer any help to students moving to Jonesboro, Arkansas for anesthesia school or clinicals. I was in a pretty bad living situation at The Links at Jonesboro and knowing what all goes into anesthesia school - don't want anyone else to have to deal with what I've gone through. So please feel free to PM me if you were curious on what places are good to live in (because there are not a whole lot of options when it comes to descent apartments here).

I just wanted to say that I didn't have any problems with Sallie Mae when I applied last year. The application process was very easy for me and I got my check when I asked for it. But.. I didn't have to deal with them with any problems I was having so that could be the difference between me and those who have experienced problems with sallie mae.

I would wait on getting the check disbursed to you until a lot closer until your start time. It only takes a couple of weeks from the day that you ask for the check to be disbursed to you to actually receive it. As soon as you get that check you start drawing interest on it and believe me.. the interest builds up in NO TIME. My company sends me a monthly statement telling me how much interest I owe and it just depresses me everytime. But, the company usually won't disburse your check to you until so many weeks before your actual start day so even if you did get it now they wouldnt give it to you until later(not sure how many weeks that is since it's been a while since i've applied). I would just take this time until January to do whatever you have to to build your credit score up bc that can help with the APR and disbursement fees. As long as you have recent proof of employment you shouldnt need a co-signer. Now if you decide to quit 3 or 4 months before January im not sure how that will affect anything.. youll just have to talk to the loan people about that but a few weeks shouldnt make a different. I started school in August and applied for my loan in July and received it a couple of weeks before school started. Hope this helps!!

I dont THINK your federal loans have an affect on private loans. I applied for my federal loans first and then applied for my private loans later. The ONLY THING that was really stressed to me was to apply for my PRIVATE loans BEFORE i quit my job so it shows that I have a job and income. If you apply after you quit you'll more than likely have to get a co-signer and it could affect your APR and fees and all that.

I just wanted to say how surprised I am that this thread has been used so much and Im glad that it's been helpful for a lot of people. This is one of the fun parts of going back to school and what was helpful for me was just seeing what everyone else chose to do. Just finished my first semester and it's hard but when you're doing your labs and getting to kind of see what it's going to be like when you're done it's worth all the headache before school starts and during. So get ready!!!

That was something stressed to me many, many times from our financial advisor to get your loan BEFORE you quit work.. in order to prove you have an income... because if you aren't working... then you have to get a co-signer. Now.. the sallie mae loan that is disbursed to the borrower is the Sallie Mae TUITION ANSWER LOAN. (just in case anyone was wondering). All these different companies offer SO MANY DIFFERENT LOAN TYPES that it's hard to know if we're looking at the right one.

I think as long as you feel confident in providing care to "critical patients" and are able to handle the stresses that go along with a critical care unit and feel confident in yourself that you're as ready as you can be to pursue your next goal.. with your 5 years experience as an RN.. there's no reason why you shouldn't apply.. but it's always best to talk to the school's that you are interested in to get their opinion since they are the ones making the final decision. But your stats look great and the best of luck to you.

I just wanted to give you something to consider as well.. if I were you I would talk to some of the schools I am interested in and see if taking the management position would lessen your chances of being accepted due to not EXACTLY delivering patient care (unless you will be taking patient's along with your charge nurse role). I would hate to see someone commit to something like this with a goal of becoming a CRNA and then have to work a year longer because their experience was too long ago or didn't fit the school's description of "one year critical care experience".

i'm not sure about the Libor Index vs the Prime Rate. But I decided to go with Sallie Mae. I initially thought I was going to go with Wells Fargo because I have pretty good credit and thought I could get a descent interest rate. Although there are no origination or disbursement fees my interest rate was not low. When I applied for Sallie Mae I got a good rate and origination fee. Although they do charge a fee to give you the loan over all I decided it's better to lose something you never really had at the front end instead of paying a high interest rate over the life of the loan. If you think about a high rate over 15 to 20 years.. every % you can save can make a big difference. Plus, with Sallie Mae, you're able to get a larger loan in the beginning.. so HOPEFULLY I'll be able to live off what I got NOW and not have to worry about getting a co-signer later. Hope that helps!

Hey Guys! I only have 72 more hours of work left (7 more shifts)! My very last shift ends at 8 a.m. Friday, July 15th. I planned on working until the end of July but between Chemistry, working nights, and not seeing my family due to me going all the time.. I thought I'd give myself another 2 weeks. I can't believe how soon it crept up on me since I turned my notice in 4 weeks ago. It's kind of sad to leave something I've become so familiar with and all the great people I work with.. but I can not WAIT TO START SCHOOL! For all you going to Texas Wesleyan... see you in August!

With the Bank Of America loan.. I think it's only the education maximizer loan that can be used for anything.. they have a few different loans available but that's the only one that I found that sends the money directly to the borrower and all that.. the website is http://www.educationmaximizer.com and go to FAQ for details regardin that loan. I looked up the Bank One Loan and here's some info about that: Bank One - Education One Loan - Graduate/Professional Education Interest= 7.22% and APR = 7.84% borrow - 1500 - 30,000/year funds sent to borrower no financial aid forms or school cert. required origination fee from 5-10%; no repayment fee The other loan that I wanted to put at the start of the thread is from NextSTUDENT (http://www.nextstudent.com/private_loans/healthcare_eligibility.asp Health Professions Private Loan For CREDITWORTHY borrowers (good credit) -you can borrow up to 45,000 annually and must show proof of enrollment, satisfactory credit history, etc. - Interest (depends on credit) - Creditworthy health professional - Prime +0%; origination fee of 6% (and it said an APR of 4.56% but I'm not sure if that's correct.. I would double-check that) -Credit READY rates are slightly higher and have additional fees -Funds sent DIRECTLY to borrower I can't seem to access this loan (NextSTUDENT loan) through links on the site so you'll probably have to type the put the address in to read about it.

Hey, all these loans are deferred loans meaning you won't have to pay them until you're out of school. Most of them give you the option to pay while you're in school, only pay interest accrued while you're in school (helps lower payments SLIGHTLY), or completely defer paying anything. Most of the companies will defer for 6 months after you graduate/leave school and some will defer for longer. I think it would be great for people who read this thread to post which loan you're going to go with because that means it's probably the one you felt was best (the more popular one is probably the best). THanks!

Hi! I've been using this forum to research the different loans that people have mentioned and here's what I've found.. The first thing is if you're looking for loans to live off of the key words that you don't want to see are "borrow up to the full cost of attendance minus any other financial aid that you have received". Those are based on what your school determines is what it costs to attend school for a year and for example.. the school I'm going to attend.. after federal loans.. loans that say that will only give me $10,000. These loans fall under "cost of education loans". What we're looking for are OUTSIDE THE COST OF EDUCATION LOANS. If a company disburses the money directly to the borrower - then it falls under this category. Wells Fargo Ed Connection/P.L.A.T.O. - Annual amount 1,000 -25,000/year; no origination, disbursement, or repayment fees; interest from 5.75%-15.50% (depending on credit); can decrease your interest by 0.25-0.50% with auto-debit from checking acct.; decrease interest by 0.50% after 48 consec. monthly payments; 15 year repayment; $$$ disbursed to borrower Suntrust - eMax Loan - Annual amount 1,000 - 25,000/year; no fees (origination); interest from 6-15.5%; decrease interest by 0.25% with auto-pay; decrease interest by 0.5% with 48 month on-time payments; forgot to write down the repayment length; never got a hold of anyone to see if it's disbursed to the borrower or school Bank of America - Education Maximizer - 1500 - 30,000/year; Interest is figured with the Libor Index (couldn't find an exact interest rate); origination fees from 5-10.5%; proof of enrollment; proof of income; funds sent to borrower PNC Bank - National Collegiate Loan - 1500 - 30,000/year; interest using Libor Index + 4.65%-7.25%; origination fees 5-10.50%; repayment up to 20 years Sallie Mae - 1500 - 45,000/year; 20 year repayment; funds sent to borrower; supplemental fee from 5-10%; Interest from Prime + 1.5%-6%; fees and interest depends upon credit Wachovia - Educaid Select Loan (???) - 5,000 - 45,000/year; no origination fees; Prime+0%; unsure if it's an outside the cost of education loan. If anyone has info about this one please add on! There's one more loan company that I found that offers these types of loans - I'll add that at a later time - but pretty similiar to Sallie Mae I believe. I figured I would take all my research and save some people some time. If anyone has any additional information, wants to correct me or add to what I've found PLEASE DO! I want to make the best informed decision before I owe someone this much $$$ and I'm sure others do as well. I hope this helps!