Tuition for nursing school...

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Specializes in ICU/ Trauma/ Med-Surg.

The problem with nursing school or college in general is the tuition. At my school, which is a small private college tuition for one semester will run you about $11k. Now with that being said, they do offer a lot of private endowments and grants, but the students who actually deserve them, rarely get them. Let me be the first to tell you, if you haven't figured out by now; the old saying "smart kids go to college for free" is a total joke. My GPA is a 3.7, and I tutor for the nursing program. I receive $3k per semester for a transfer scholarship and THAT'S IT. The $8k that is left over, I have to pay for with student loans. Well, no offense to anyone, but there are students in my program that barely have a 3.0 and get wayyyyyyyyyyy more in scholarships than I do. Do you see the problem, that I see? I work my butt off studying and make great grades and it gets me nothing. I have applied for numerous scholarships, probably over a 100! In my opinion, the students who succeed and need financial assistance should receive scholarships before the people who are barely squeaking by do! This is so frustrating to the, and I hate knowing that I will be in debt up to my ears when I do finish school. Does anyone have any advice at ALL, on how to increase my chances of getting a scholarship or know where to find any !?

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Specializes in ER/Tele, Med-Surg, Faculty, Urgent Care.

Are you saying there aren't any community college ADN RN programs that are cheaper? Why did you pick this college which such a ridiculous $22 thousand dollars per year? I realize you are asking how to get scholarships but the questions about your choice of school. However, you knew the cost of attending and went ahead and started your studies there.

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Specializes in ICU/ Trauma/ Med-Surg.
Are you saying there aren't any community college ADN RN programs that are cheaper? Why did you pick this college which such a ridiculous $22 thousand dollars per year? I realize you are asking how to get scholarships but the questions about your choice of school. However, you knew the cost of attending and went ahead and started your studies there.

I am going for my BSN. There are a few community colleges that offer ADN programs, but the programs aren't very good. One of them just lost their accreditation. I chose my school because it's small and the professor's for the most part are fantastic and are willing to go the extra mile for their students. I mean sure, I could have chose a program that is cheaper, but I was under the impression that I would receive more financial than I do because I make great grades and my advisor at the community college told me I'd have no problem getting scholarships. Well, that turned out not to be the case.

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Specializes in ICU.

I would say lesson learned. You could have chosen a cheaper school. Nobody can guarantee you scholarship money. Especially an advisor at another school. You knew the cost going into this. I'm sorry if I seem harsh but it's reality at this point. You don't know the circumstances under which the other recipients received their scholarships. Most scholarships are based not just on grades but interviews and essays.

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Have you asked for feedback as to WHY you are not getting the scholarships? What are the requirements? Is it just GPA, or is there an essay and community or college involvement as well?

Because if your essay is not up to participate or other students are part of multiple clubs (more compared to you) those might be some culprits

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Specializes in ICU/ Trauma/ Med-Surg.
Have you asked for feedback as to WHY you are not getting the scholarships? What are the requirements? Is it just GPA, or is there an essay and community or college involvement as well?

Because if your essay is not up to participate or other students are part of multiple clubs (more compared to you) those might be some culprits

They all have the same requirements at my school. You fill out the application, and write a 250 word essay. And yes, I have gone to the financial aid office several times this semester and they aren't much help or always say "I can't recommend any other scholarships to apply for", and I'm always like "oh, well I thought that was your job".

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A) I've never heard the saying "smart kids go to college for free."

B) The financial aid office may know of some scholarships to which they can refer you and they can provide you with information and counseling re: the financial aid the school is offering you, but it's not "their job" to find you scholarships to cover your school costs.

C) Financial aid awards do not always appear "fair" or make much sense to the people getting the short end of the stick.

D) Does your college have a student writing/tutoring lab? Or do you know personally a faculty member who could take a look at your essays and help you polish them? Are you writing individual, tailored essays for each scholarship you apply for, or just schlepping the same essay around to everyone?

E) Have you looked for scholarships on your own? (Are the 100 scholarships you've applied for so far the ones for which you submit an application and 250 word essay through your school?) There are a lot of scholarships "out there," some large and some small. When I was looking for funding for graduate school a kazillion years ago, I was able to locate all kinds of available grants and scholarships, some that had nothing to do with nursing, large and small, and that was before the Internet (I approached looking for money for school as a part-time job). Do you belong to a minority ethnic group? There are scholarships for people of different ethnic backgrounds. Do you belong to an organized religion? A lot of church groups offer scholarships (restricted to members of their faith). Do you live in a part of the country that has a traditionally low college-attendance rate? (There are often scholarships available to help people from those areas attend college.) Are you the first in your family to go to college? (Ditto.) Are there any community organizations in your home community that offer scholarships to local residents? The Junior League, the Elks, a local hospital foundation, etc., etc.? Does your state offer any scholarships for nursing? (A lot of those have probably been eliminated by now, but lots of states used to offer grants/scholarships for residents of the state who wanted to become nurses. A lot of those could be "worked off" after you graduate instead of paying them back. When I was going to graduate school, I discovered that my state offered three different scholarship/grant programs for state residents who wanted to go into nursing, or go further in nursing, and I got a nice chunk of $$$ from my state that I didn't have to pay back.) A lot of private, specialty scholarships are typically for small amounts of money, but, if you get multiple small scholarships, the money starts to add up.

Best wishes for your journey!

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They all have the same requirements at my school. You fill out the application, and write a 250 word essay. And yes, I have gone to the financial aid office several times this semester and they aren't much help or always say "I can't recommend any other scholarships to apply for", and I'm always like "oh, well I thought that was your job".

I have found literally hundreds of scholarships on my own just by using Google. I will admit, I haven't won any because the ones that are easy to apply to are the hardest to get, and I just don't have the time to devote to the more involved scholarships that need GPA, essays, letters of recommendations, watching certain movies/documentaries, showing involvement in community affairs, etc.

There are scholarships for belonging to different nursing organizations & there are TONS on Fastweb.com

At the end of the day, if you've already asked for feedback on your essay and still aren't getting it, complaining about it isn't going to do you much good. Just focus your energies into looking for and obtaining outside scholarships (which I don't think financial aid offices would know much about anyway, since I find financial aid offices to be more focused INternally towards the school)

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Specializes in ICU/ Trauma/ Med-Surg.
I have found literally hundreds of scholarships on my own just by using Google. I will admit, I haven't won any because the ones that are easy to apply to are the hardest to get, and I just don't have the time to devote to the more involved scholarships that need GPA, essays, letters of recommendations, watching certain movies/documentaries, showing involvement in community affairs, etc.

There are scholarships for belonging to different nursing organizations & there are TONS on Fastweb.com

At the end of the day, if you've already asked for feedback on your essay and still aren't getting it, complaining about it isn't going to do you much good. Just focus your energies into looking for and obtaining outside scholarships (which I don't think financial aid offices would know much about anyway, since I find financial aid offices to be more focused INternally towards the school)

Thank you for your suggestions, I've never heard of fastweb, so I'll look into those. I understand complaining doesn't do me any good, I was just frustrated when I posted this and wanted to see if anyone had suggestions that I may not have thought of. So, thank you. I will give an update if I hear anything back from the scholarships on fastweb!

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Specializes in ICU/ Trauma/ Med-Surg.
A) I've never heard the saying "smart kids go to college for free."

B) The financial aid office may know of some scholarships to which they can refer you and they can provide you with information and counseling re: the financial aid the school is offering you, but it's not "their job" to find you scholarships to cover your school costs.

C) Financial aid awards do not always appear "fair" or make much sense to the people getting the short end of the stick.

D) Does your college have a student writing/tutoring lab? Or do you know personally a faculty member who could take a look at your essays and help you polish them? Are you writing individual, tailored essays for each scholarship you apply for, or just schlepping the same essay around to everyone?

E) Have you looked for scholarships on your own? (Are the 100 scholarships you've applied for so far the ones for which you submit an application and 250 word essay through your school?) There are a lot of scholarships "out there," some large and some small. When I was looking for funding for graduate school a kazillion years ago, I was able to locate all kinds of available grants and scholarships, some that had nothing to do with nursing, large and small, and that was before the Internet (I approached looking for money for school as a part-time job). Do you belong to a minority ethnic group? There are scholarships for people of different ethnic backgrounds. Do you belong to an organized religion? A lot of church groups offer scholarships (restricted to members of their faith). Do you live in a part of the country that has a traditionally low college-attendance rate? (There are often scholarships available to help people from those areas attend college.) Are you the first in your family to go to college? (Ditto.) Are there any community organizations in your home community that offer scholarships to local residents? The Junior League, the Elks, a local hospital foundation, etc., etc.? Does your state offer any scholarships for nursing? (A lot of those have probably been eliminated by now, but lots of states used to offer grants/scholarships for residents of the state who wanted to become nurses. A lot of those could be "worked off" after you graduate instead of paying them back. When I was going to graduate school, I discovered that my state offered three different scholarship/grant programs for state residents who wanted to go into nursing, or go further in nursing, and I got a nice chunk of $$$ from my state that I didn't have to pay back.) A lot of private, specialty scholarships are typically for small amounts of money, but, if you get multiple small scholarships, the money starts to add up.

Best wishes for your journey!

Thanks for your time and for replying to my post. Yes, I've looked outside of my school for scholarships, and some on the Internet. I will definitely use some of your suggestions while searching for scholarships for the next school year!

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Specializes in ICU, Military.

GI Bill will pay for everything including your housing allowance. Just saying its a great deal and people these days miss out on this great opportunity. 3 years active duty is all you need :)

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Specializes in ER/Tele, Med-Surg, Faculty, Urgent Care.
GI Bill will pay for everything including your housing allowance. Just saying its a great deal and people these days miss out on this great opportunity. 3 years active duty is all you need :)

I used my GI Bill (Montgomery Chapter 30/Gulf War) for my MSN/FNP. Have never had any student loans. AnchorRN is offering another option for you to consider. Since you are going for your BSN, consider the military. The Navy Nurse Candidate Program might be an option though reading the posts in the Government/Military forum it sounds very competitive.

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