state school in CA vs. prestigious school

[dcwang]

I am currently in a dilemma. I have been accepted at Hopkins, Duke, Emory, George Washington, Miami, MGH Institute, and CSUN. I'm leaning between Hopkins/Duke or CSUN.

CSUN will be most cost effective, but Hopkins/Duke has the prestige nationally. No matter what financial aid I get, CSUN will be most cost effective. I would like to get a Master's in the future. I'm hoping to stay in SoCal after I graduate. I know the job market is extremely tight here and hope to maximize my chances of getting a job around here.

I don't know if its a bigger risk to move out of state and come back to CA.

I plan to apply to residencies in the big hospitals in SoCal and I'm also interested in working for LA County or the VA in Los Angeles. as a new grad, I know I have to be as flexible as possible with my schedule and specialty.

It's so hard to decide between CSUN and Hopkins/Duke.

[mani96]

Are you doing a BSN or MSN? I just graduated from Hopkins. I was living in CA before going to Baltimore for nursing school, and intended to go back to CA upon graduation. My experience has been that it's extremely tough to get a job in CA. There are usually 250-500 applicants for one residency position (at places like UCSD and Sharp).

That said, it's possible to get a job in CA even if you leave to go to nursing school elsewhere. If you do choose out of state, my advice is to make connections at the hospitals you are interested in working at when you go back to CA during school breaks. One of my classmates did that and got a residency position in LA, but she made those connections in person during our month-long August break.

If I had to do it again, I would probably do a two-year community college program in CA, because you can network more easily that way (being in state as well has having clinicals in the hospitals you might end up applying to) instead of working it from a distance. Hospitals are more likely to hire internal candidates, such as those who are working as CNAs or those who had nursing school clinicals there, because they already know how those candidates perform and it's less of a gamble for the unit.

I did the BSN, so I don't know if all of the above would be true for a masters prepared student with no experience. Good luck!!

[dannibeeRN]

Take the easiest and cheapest route to get the best education. If someone is going to fully pay for your education, then by all means take advantage of what the prestigious school has to offer. My suggestion is to avoid going into debt trying to pay for nursing school. Student loans are definitely a pain in the tail!

[dcwang]

thanks! i'm trying to get a perspective from nurses around a wide range of experiences/ages. it's a very very tough choice.