AustinTex

That's not a bad idea so you can have more time to look around for a place when you get here. I live in the Zilker neighborhood, right by Barton Springs pool.

Macaroni84 - have you decided where you will be living yet?

Wow! Has anyone looked at the prices for parking permits?! Holy cow! It looks like if we buy the annual "S" pass it's $600 and we would be guaranteed a spot, but if we buy the annual "C+" pass, it's only $180. However, you are not guaranteed a spot with that one and they may fill up super fast. I am torn between which pass to get. I don't want to be searching for parking every day, so I feel like the "S" would be better.....but dang that's expensive! Anyone else decided what they're doing yet?

Macaroni84 - YES! I Love Zilker neighborhood. I feel like it's really close to everything I need. And getting to the nursing building takes me about 15 minutes (give or take depending on traffic). There are several different routes to take, and it's only about 5 miles away. I feel like we won't be driving right in the middle of rush hour most of the time - hopefully! EDIT - I take that back. I was calculating from my office (which is still right by Zilker Park and where I've left from to go to the nursing building before) where I can jump right on MoPac and take Enfield straight to campus - which I feel like is the easiest way to get there. Coming from my house would be probably more like 20-25 minutes.

I like that idea, KCast! I will probably get a parking pass no matter what because I know I'll probably want to go up there on the weekends to study (living in a one bedroom makes it really difficult to study at home). But, people can park at my house and ride with me; though I'll probably stay late after class to study most days and not go straight home. I usually find everything BUT studying to do when I'm at home, so I just can't be there if I need to get things done. Haha!

I agree with KCast - maybe going in together to find a place would be a good idea. I live in the Zilker neighborhood (which is not far from downtown). I just moved in with my boyfriend, but before that I was living in another three-bedroom house in the same neighborhood that was $1,800/month. I have friends in the neighborhood that pay a little more, but that seems to be about an average price. I have seen several for rent signs in my area lately, but they do go very quickly!

Hey Macaroni84, yeah....I swear I read that somewhere. Or maybe that was the amount that you could pull out in subsidized loans. And then you would still be able to pull out additional loans some other way (personal loans, Graduate PLUS loan, etc.), but only that amount would be subsidized. Don't quote me on that.....I could be totally wrong. I'll try to find where I read that and post the link here.

He did say that was a guess, that he couldn't tell me for sure until everything goes through. But I hope that's right. I have been trying to find other information on my own, and it seems that the max we are able to pull out a year is $20,000 (cannot remember where I read that, I need to start writing all this down). Which, if that's true, then that is a little scary for me. BUT, I did find something called Graduate PLUS Loan, which looks like you may be able to pull out the amount that is listed as your EFC amount on the FAFSA (if I read it correctly).....which still is going to be a very tight amount to live on after all the tuition and fees are taken care of. I'm going to try and call about that tomorrow. I plan to tell everyone I work with that I'm available to babysit their children nights and weekends until June so I can save up little bits of money here and there! Haha! I wish we would find out sooner how much we will get FOR SURE!

I just called financial aid and asked them some questions I had. I know some of the questions seem silly, but I have never done this before, so I'm not sure how all of it works. Below are the questions I had and the answers I received. 1. There was nowhere for me to indicate on my FAFSA that I will be unemployed during school and my EFC number is showing that I will be able to afford most of my schooling on my own which is not true. I will need to be living off the student loans, not just paying tuition. Answer - for grad students, loans are not need-based. You should be offered the max amount of loans possible and then you can decide how much you want to accept. (He told me it looks like just for the summer I should be offered $12,000ish, but that's just an estimate. Then there will be a separate number for fall/spring semesters). 2. If I receive scholarships, will that effect the amount of student loans I will be qualified for. Answer - yes. If you receive a scholarship for $5,000, we will reduce the amount you will receive in loans by $5,000. 3. When will we know how much financial aid we will definitely receive? Answer - should be around the end of March (he wasn't 100% about that answer, though). 4. We will not receive our financial aid until 10 days before class starts; how am I supposed to pay my tuition bill? The accounts receivable will be able to see that we will be paying using student loans, and the financial aid office will take care of it. So that's not something we need to worry about. However, if you plan to buy books before then, that will have to come out of your pocket and then just be reimbursed once you receive the remaining amount of your loan after tuition is paid. PS - I know I started the FB group, but I had to deactivate my account again (too much drama on there is stressing me out; plus I have realized I am much more productive when I don't have FB haha). But I think I will periodically log back in to see if there is any important info any of you have posted. I made it where UTVault is able to accept new people when they request to join the group. Hope you're all having a great week so far! :)

Carla, I don't think I'm finding you. When you looked for the group on FB, did you type in everything that was in the parentheses, too? Try copying and pasting this: University of Texas Nursing (AE-MSN 2015)

Carla, I'll try to find you on FB! Hashi, what is your name and I'll look for you also. As far as the housing situation, it has been my experience that it's really hard to find affordable housing in Austin. So if it looks like a good deal, I would take it! For instance, my friends live in the tiniest one bedroom apartment I have ever seen, and it's $1,800 a month! What?! And I think that's pretty much the norm these days. Maybe not, though, if you look in north Austin.

Went ahead and started the group already! It's called University of Texas Nursing (AE-MSN 2015). I made it a closed group, so I guess people will be able to request to join, but I'm not too sure how this works.

Haha! Great idea! I'll make some signs, too. Okay, I'll try to start it tonight! I'll post back here after it's started and has a name so you all can search for it.

I am also so nervous about the financial aid situation! I am terrified of not having a job. I didn't see anywhere on the financial aid form to show that I will be unemployed, so according to my taxes, it looks like I'm able to afford to pay for school myself for the most part, which is NOT the case. Oh geez.....!!! On a different topic, my friend who started OT school this year said that all the new students started a Facebook group to keep up with different things that are going on. I actually got off of Facebook (and I don't miss it much) in October, but would consider getting back on for this. Should we start one? And, then maybe at some point before school starts we can work on getting a group together for a happy hour (or whatever) so we can all meet!

I'm not sure which one we need, but here is where we can do it on campus: UHS CPR Classes