Students asking for free money

[l.a.m.b]

Upon browsing different nursing groups including this one, I have noticed a new trend...current or nursing students to be asking for money via goFundme. Why don't they apply for scholarships or for student loans the way most, if not all of us, did?

I really think its a self entitlement attitude they have, and no, I am not an old fuddy duddy. I worked part to full time to put food on the table whilst putting myself through nursing school with the help of my money, grants, loans and scholarships as I raised my kids. I am 40 years old now, and I EARNED what I have due to my hard work and yes, I did have hardships just like everyone else. But having put myself through school without asking anyone for free money such as goFundme has made me appreciate everything I have even more.

Yes, Scholarships are a form of free money but that required writing essays, gathering documents, putting packets together, rushing them to the post office before the deadlines, only to get turned down multiple times, but so what? Eventually one says yes, and the efforts pay off. But now people don't want to do any work for it and would rather put their face on the web to ask for a free ride?

I find this very annoying and a slap on the face for those of us that struggled, AND made it. I know I am being harsh and it sounds terrible, but I hope these people that ask strangers to fund their education simply by asking for free money fail school because they do not deserve to be nurses. I know many people that had deaths in the family or other crisis happen in their lives and they got through school by working or loans instead of playing victim and mooching off others. This is my opinion.

[turtlesRcool]

We don't have to go to the site. Every so often, a poster, usually brand new never posted before, posts a request and link to their gofundme page. The mods are just pretty good at making them disappear before too many people see them. I believe that was what triggered this thread- and someone's post linked to that now deleted request from a one-time poster.

But so what? It's not like you have to follow the link. You don't even have to open the thread. And if you do open the tread because it's not well labeled, just click back out. Then the mods take it down, and it's over.

I see so much random garbage on the internet, I just can't get worked up about a short-lived post from someone asking for money. When I accidentally come across something I don't want to see, I just navigate away, usually after the first sentence. Annoyances are everywhere on the internet; I just filter through them. I mean, does reading the first sentence of a gofundme request really create that much angst? I don't get it.

[WookieeRN, BSN, MSN, RN]

This was about asking for money on the internet, not trading sex for money.

Some people come up with some seriously odd ways to pay for nursing school, I've seen. One girl on here was telling a poster to sell their used underwear on eBay to pay for school.

I was like "....uh"

[SmilingBluEyes]

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM EWWWWWWWWW???? Where is the market for THAT????

Some people come up with some seriously odd ways to pay for nursing school, I've seen. One girl on here was telling a poster to sell their used underwear on eBay to pay for school.

I was like "....uh"

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Some people come up with some seriously odd ways to pay for nursing school, I've seen. One girl on here was telling a poster to sell their used underwear on eBay to pay for school.

I was like "....uh"

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Some people come up with some seriously odd ways to pay for nursing school, I've seen. One girl on here was telling a poster to sell their used underwear on eBay to pay for school.

I was like "....uh"

Okay....now suddenly gofundme seems pretty darn reasonable!

[BrandonLPN, LPN]

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM EWWWWWWWWW???? Where is the market for THAT????

Rich Japanese businessmen have been known to be in the market for such things.....

supposedly there are vending machines in Japan that sell panties that were worn by schoolgirls. But that may just be an urban legend....

[nurse4ever08]

If they actually get free money, good. I won't be giving mine to anyone but my own kids. I worked OT to pay my way as well as loans.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

I have zero sympathy for people needing gofundme for education. Zero. Work harder and get scholarships. Or actually get a job and work to pay the costs of tuition. Or, go to a cheaper school. Or, just don't go to college if you can't afford it.

My boyfriend is a high school dropout and he has taken home more than $4k after taxes some months driving a truck. Who says you have to go to college to make money? You don't. Sure, it makes things easier, but there are plenty of things you can do that don't require an expensive education. College is OPTIONAL. It is not the only way to put food on the table. To equate it with a necessary life expense is a lot like saying I'm going to set up a gofundme so I can get a Ferrari so I can have a car because I have to have a Ferrari to get around town. Hondas get you places, too.

Besides, I maybe paid $20k total for my BSN if that. Tuition at my university was around $3k-$4k per semester. Where the heck are people going to school that you have to pay $70k? I went to a public university with one of the best reputations in the state, and almost 100% of my class passed their NCLEX first try because of the very high quality of my school. Paying $70k for a degree you can get for less than a third of that cost is absolutely stupid unless you're just made of money. See my above point on buying a Ferrari vs. a Honda. If the only school I could get into cost $20k per semester and I couldn't cover it and couldn't get student loans, I personally just wouldn't go. What ever happened to being financially responsible and not buying things you can't afford?

I don't visit gofundme because just the thought of this stuff makes me mad. People asking for handouts for unnecessary thing just get me. It's definitely a trigger point subject for me. If you can't put food on your table, I'll buy you dinner. When I worked at a hotel and some homeless people stayed the night in the lobby, I sometimes took them out to breakfast afterwards and made sure they had at least one good meal. I think all these helpless beggers on gofundme ought to spend some time with homeless people and see what it looks like to REALLY need help.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

I say why not.

If i was younger(i am 32) i would find a sugar daddy to fund my Bsn Degree.

I guess i could find one now,but then he would have to be older than 75

Off i go to Sugardaddy.com

I did have a sugar daddy partially fund my lpn schooling,and i was 20 at that time

I have no regrets.

I have more respect for this than someone using gofundme. Having people you know willing to pay for your education is something I'm totally okay with. It's the concept of begging perfect strangers for money that gets me aggravated.

[NYtoFLRN]

I'd like to just make two quick points based on what Calivianya said:

1) State schools can be expensive too. I went to a state school and still graduated with close to $70k in student loans just covering my tuition and room/board. State school tuition rates vary very widely between each state- consider yourself fortunate that you live in a state that could offer you that tuition, but understand that not everyone has that option.

2) You bring up the point that if you can't afford the school you got into, and can't take loans then don't go to that school. I just want to point out that in theory that sounds straightforward, but that's not always the case. I know because it happened to me- a lot of loan companies WILL lend you money for your first few years, but then will refuse to lend you money for your last semester or two. This is what one company did this to me. I was one semester away from graduating, and had always taken out loans to cover part of my tuition in my name only. I worked full time on top of going to school, paid my own living expenses, contributed what I could to my tuition, etc- in other words, I wasn't a "freeloader". All of the the sudden the loan company decided that I needed a co-signer to take out any more money from them. Every person I asked to cosign was denied for their credit, and I was unable to take out any more loans. So just please keep in mind that it's not always completely cut and dry for all people in all cases.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

I remember back to high school when I was inundated with college brochures all trying to sell me on their special college. It made me feel special and imagine this great college life, but they never really mentioned the cost and how it was going to be paid. I don't think we are doing children any favors by encouraging them to attend any college they like, when all these high priced colleges come courting. When median wages are stagnant and falling, people need to keep college costs down. That is pretty hard to do when people become enamored of expensive colleges that they really can't afford and then end up drowning in student loan debt with no guarantee of a job at the end! I think college is ridiculously expensive, beyond reason, and don't think giving handouts on go fund me is going to fix that problem. Ironically people are paying exorbitant fees when most of the staff is untenured adjuncts not even being paid minimum wage! Something is wrong with this!

I'm glad I didn't go to college right out of high school I can only imagine what my student loans would have been! I was from a working class family, didn't feel poor, but found it hard to picture myself in college. I worked full time as a secretary after graduation and then started taking some classes at the local state university part-time, paying as I went. But I don't think that would even be an option now given the cost of college and the average wage esp of young adults!

I think a college degree is more about having a pedigree and a way to screen out workers than actually giving a person job skills. College can be great and fun, but one can learn and grow on the job and via life and the school of hard knocks just as much. Having a college degree is almost like a form of snobbery, where grads feel special and entitled to the best jobs thanks to a shiny diploma.

For all the talk about the "profession" of nursing, it is really a technical degree and nurses are for the most part treated as skilled workers, not professionals. I don't think a BSN will change that reality for the majority of nurses. Nursing is one of the few college degrees that actually prepares you for a job, but so did hospital nursing programs of old.

Giving to go fund me sites is your personal choice, but I reserve charity for special circumstances not going to college. That is only fattening the college coffers and adding to tuition inflation. I think all high school students and new college students should be required to take a personal finance class to learn about money and budgeting and the rules and laws. Also they should be informed of all their options to pay for college such as scholarships, the military, etc so they can make a truly informed choice!

[smartnurse1982]

This was about asking for money on the internet, not trading sex for money.

All in all,I was actually working and not begging.