texanRN0415
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is there anyone who interviewed on the 14th and got an email? im so nervous and anxious.
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reach4dstars: Hi! I guess by now you probably see the trend: every person will be different in terms of how they prepared financially for school. I had some savings before I applied and I am also curently using student loans. The cost of living for the state and program I am going to is less than $65,000 for a DNP. That's relatively cheap compared to the majority of CRNA schools. I am also supported by my boyfriend and my family, and that has helped me a lot in saving money while in school. Although the first few semesters were relatively relaxed, I opted not to work during the free time that I have. It was more of a personal decision to take that extra time to relax or spend time with family. Some of my classmates are relying solely on the loans and they are doing just fine. They just make it a point to adjust their lifestyle in order to meet their daily budget. Goodluck!
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Hi AndyCRNA! I am glad you found this post to be helpful. That was really my main intention for putting this out there :) To answer your question, yes, I did shadow a CRNA before I applied to CRNA school. It was not required for my program but highly encouraged. Shadowing was really more of a personal preference for me because I did not want to commit to a profession that I was not sure of. I do encourage all those potential applicants to shadow! It speaks volumes of how committed you are in becoming a CRNA and it can help reinforce your decision. I always knew I wanted to take on this route, but seeing CRNAs do their job pushes me more! In those long days where I have to sit and study 10-12 hours, I recall those moments of shadowing and the reasons why I was here in the first place. Hope this helps!
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Leo135: I apologize for the delay in response. I was trying to catch up on school work during the weekend. Anyway, as far as I know, it is not common for your employer to reimburse your tuition for CRNA school. However, I do know that some government and non-profit hospitals offer what's called a loan forgiveness program. I am not sure on the exact details but it does offer some assistance in terms of paying off your loan. If I get firsthand information regarding this once I am in clinicals, I will definitely update you! This is also something I personally look into with regards to my choice of employment.
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Hi BCCCRN! When I applied to programs, I only applied to one Texas program. My other options were going out-of-state due to family reasons. But based on my experience and the cohort I am with now, it seems like you do have a slight edge over other out-of-state applicants if you are a Texas resident. However, I would not be discouraged in applying if you are not. If you have strong qualifications, you can still easily secure a spot in the program. My personal opinion in saying that you would have a slight advantage is that I think CRNA school do not want you to go through the additional stress of relocating and paying the higher out-of-state tuition fees (refer to my post above regarding financial issues in CRNA school). Again, this is my PERSONAL opinion. I do not know the exact reasons of admission committees on who and how they choose their candidates. This is purely an observation made at the time of my application. Based on your credentials, you have a sure shot of getting an interview. And from there, everything is fair game. I cannot stress this enough. The interview makes or breaks you. It is the biggest deciding factor of admission committees, and I found this to be true in most CRNA schools. And this makes sense because credentials get you an interview but it is how you present yourself in a very stressful situation that will truly set you apart from the hundreds of applicants. They want to see how you respond to stress because this is exactly what you are signing up for: a high-risk and stressful profession. My stats upon application were: GPA 3.74, GRE: 4.0, 155 and 159, almost 6 years total ICU (varied units), CCRN, CVRN and all other minor certifications (which they said they never really look at. haha) also done some precepting, charge and committees
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Leo135: Congratulations on graduating! Financial concerns are one of the top reasons for people opting out of CRNA school. Before you decide on which route to take, I highly recommend you shadow both a CRNA and an NP. CRNA is a very demanding program and so you really have to want it so that you don't regret your decision. Once you graduate and get a solid experience (I recommend 2 years), you will have enough time to save and really solidify your reasons in choosing whichever program. I honestly don't think you can be 100% financially ready for this program. However, I do think that with student loans that are offered and a very minimalistic lifestyle, it can be done. Goodluck!
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Hi Leo135! I personally did not attempt to work when I started CRNA school. However, some of my classmates did keep a PRN job to where they worked 1-3 times per month. Depending on the semester load, it can be doable. But as the workload started getting more and more demanding, my classmates eventually decided to quit. I have never seen or heard of a CRNA school that is online. And I honestly think that it will highly compromise the quality of education if they did decide to do one. The classes that we are taking are highly comparable to what medical students are taking. These are core subjects that require a face-to-face interaction to make sure that the students are assimilating the information. I cannot speak for all the programs regarding the clinical sites. For my program, they have our clinical sites picked out by the time we enter the program. I believe we rotate to 7-10 different clinical sites. This was one selling point for my program when I was trying to decide on where to go. I like the fact that we are exposed to different health care facilities with varying degrees of autonomy and supervision. It also provides diversity to the cases and surgeries that we can take. I spoke with the graduating cohort (they graduate in May) regarding the ease of finding a job. They said that all of them were offered jobs even before they graduate. Most of them received offers around December and January; that's 4 months before even graduating. However, like I said, I cannot speak for all programs. Job opportunities are also highly dependent on the state and city. I have heard of some people (outside of Texas) who went to graduate without job opportunities yet were eventually able to get one after a couple of months.
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Hi ICUman! It is true that majority of CRNA programs will require a certain passing grade in order to be retained in the program; however, the specific passing grade is highly dependent on the school. For example, my program requires a minimum of 80% to pass. Also, some of the core anesthesia courses will require you to pass certain exams or DNP projects with a minimum grade in order to pass that particular class, regardless of what your grade is in other areas likes quizzes, homework or exams. That being said, not everyone makes it forward. Failing a class in CRNA school is cumbersome because you do not have the option to retake that class by itself. You have to wait another whole year in order to retake the class and fall behind your expected graduation year. I was very intimidated at first, but I also kept in mind that in anesthesia, there are no grades involved. You either put a patient to sleep successfully, or you can put them at harm, or even worse, kill them. With that as mindset, I am always encouraged to learn and study as much as I can to be the best anesthesia provider that I can be. And so far, that mindset has been working to my advantage. Haha!