questions for nursing/pre-nursing students!

serasarah18 · Jun 14, 2009

I chose the nursing school I will be attending in the fall mostly because of prereqs. There are just so many and this school had the least. When I applied, I was just so sick of taking classes that I just wanted to get into any school as soon as possible. This school is also one of the top 5 in the U.S and a lot of their students seem pretty happy. I didn't pay much attention to the cost which I kinda regret, but it'll be great experience nevertheless. I know I'll gain the experience I need to be a great nurse. Things that I think really helped me get in was my experience volunteering abroad, my prereq grades, and involvement and various activities (teaching assistant, college sport, coaching). I know this school looked at the whole package so GPA is not everything.

I think the greatest challenge will be time management and trying to study all the material thrown at us in a small period of time. For me, I know I have the ability to learn, but I'm just afraid I won't be able to do it all in a short allotted time. Especially since this material will be so dense. But everyone is faced with this challenge and we all learn to manage somehow.

Good luck! Don't let anyone scare you out of anything without trying it yourself.

bluechick112, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 14, 2009

Wow--congratulations! Your school sounds really great. Is it a private school or a state school?

serasarah18 · Jun 14, 2009

It's a private school and an expensive one at that. I remember looking at data last week regarding areas/schools that has students with the most debt and this was rated one of the top ten most expensive schools. Luckily this is only a two year program. I can't imagine people that go for all four years.

bluechick112, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 14, 2009

Mine is also a 2 year program--thankfully! I think it's somewhere around 70K/yr including all extra expenses which is RIDICULOUS. I heard even with financial aid it's still somewhere around 28K/yr! What state is it in? Cause here in CA, if you get into a program, you take it! No matter how expensive--it's so hard getting in around here!

serasarah18 · Jun 14, 2009

Yeah that's about the same for mine. I still couldn't afford all of tuition with financial aid. I had to get out my own loan just to cover tuition and luckily my parents are helping with everything else. My school is in Maryland, but I'm from California. Good thing rent is cheap in Baltimore unlike California (at least in San Diego). Like I said before, the amount of prereqs was the decision maker for me and California schools had a lot and they all varied too much. It is very competitive here. (Who wouldn't want to go to school in sunny California?! I sure will miss my last non-humid summers and snowless winters.) I agree that I would have loved to stay in California even with a big price tag.

bluechick112, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 14, 2009

Agreed, CA is pretty great! But it's just too difficult to get in! Like I said, I'm staying hopeful---but #11 on the waitlist doesn't make me feel too great.

I also started to look out of state. My thing is that my GPA isn't as high as it could be due to a low Chemistry and low Statistics grade earned way back in the beginning of college when I didn't know what I wanted to do. Great. So I need to find the schools that look at the whole package rather than just GPA!

I'm looking into Maryland too, funnily enough. But not until Spring!

guiltysins · Jun 14, 2009

I chose the school that I go to because it was close to where I lived, I've heard some good things about the program and out of the schools in my area, it was easier to get into than a few of the others but still competitive. I transferred to the school and thankfully they took my 2.2 gpa and spent a semester as a liberal arts major to pull up my GPA before switching my status to nursing. I'm halfway through my nursing pre-reqs and have pulled it up to 3.4. I live in NYC and it's a private school and it's a four year program so I definetely know what you guys mean when it comes to expensive. Four years all together is about $100 grand but thankfully financial aid has been a blessing and out of that I'll only owe about 30 to 40 grand when I graduate. The public colleges here aren't so great, CUNY system so I opted for the more expensive choice and I'm glad I did.

It's not a top rated school or anything like NYU or Columbia and it certainly doesn't have their steep price tag but it's got a good pass rate on the NCLEX, the students seem well prepared and it was really the only shot I had so I took it! NYC programs are much like the ones in CA, you'd be pretty crazy to turn down any nursing spot that you get.

Freedom42 · Jun 14, 2009

Mine is also a 2 year program--thankfully! I think it's somewhere around 70K/yr including all extra expenses which is RIDICULOUS. I heard even with financial aid it's still somewhere around 28K/yr! What state is it in? Cause here in CA, if you get into a program, you take it! No matter how expensive--it's so hard getting in around here!

What two-year program charges 70k/year?

bluechick112, BSN, MSN, RN · Jun 14, 2009

It's actually about 58K/year, but with all the extra expenses including uniforms and all that nonsense, students who are currently enrolled say it comes out to just about 70K/year. The school is Samuel Merritt University in CA. It's a private school. Very expensive! I know!

Unique87 · Jun 14, 2009

I live in maryland and I applied for the nursing program at my school Prince George's Community College back in March. I'm still waiting to hear back won't know anything until mid or late this month. My school costs roughly 8-10 thousand for the whole program including books. University of Maryland Baltimore is another school I'm looking to apply to if I don't get in this fall. They are the least expensive four year school in the state according to them. It's a really good school though. Although I don't recommend Coppin State, Bowie State or Towson University because they failed to meet the required NCLEX passing rate required for maryland. Here is a link to the schools and their NCLEX pass rates http://www.mbon.org/main.php?v=norm&p=0&c=education/nlcex_stats.html .

lolasmomma2bLVN · Jun 14, 2009

I go to a really good community college in Southern California and my LVN program only cost $2000 for the entire program. including everything. I got a pell grant which allows me to pay for essentials so I don't have to work and my hubbie covers the rest. That's basically why I choosed my program. The private schools are just to expensive for myself and my family.