University of Rochester Accelerated Nursing Program - ABPNN

UR2010 · Sep 19, 2011

Just a question about financial aid/scholarship money. Does anyone know if our financial aid packages will include merit-based scholarships? I know that there are several smaller scholarships that we can apply for later, but I'm wondering if we'll be notified about the larger scholarships right away...

zucchetto · Sep 19, 2011

I was admitted to the September 2011 cohort, but my overall GPA was 3.78, and my pre-requisite GPA was 3.74, I think.

veebeeG · Sep 19, 2011

Hi! I called today and found out I'm on the wait list =(! Does anyone know what the status of wait list students have been in the past? Somewhere on here I read that for the last term, everyone on the wait list got in? I can only hope for the best now =)....congrats to everyone that got in!

zucchetto · Sep 19, 2011

What I was told about financial aid is that there is no package, per se. When you receive the admission materials, you get details about applying for a few small scholarships. You also need to file a FAFSA to be eligible for loans facilitated through the university, and you can take persona loans as well. You are also free to pursue other scholarships that you can find yourself. It is a lot different, financial aid wise, than a lot of undergraduate programs.

zucchetto · Sep 19, 2011

I was admitted to the September 2011 cohort, but my overall GPA was 3.78, and my pre-requisite GPA was 3.74, I think.

Whoops, my prereq GPA was actually 3.95. I did them all at the U of R.

mzrn662 · Sep 19, 2011

Just a question about financial aid/scholarship money. Does anyone know if our financial aid packages will include merit-based scholarships? I know that there are several smaller scholarships that we can apply for later, but I'm wondering if we'll be notified about the larger scholarships right away...

None that I know of... There's the 2 school scholarships that you can apply for but they only go to a small number of students. Basically you need to be prepared to take out loans. There's federal direct student loans (which have a limit), a nursing loan that's based on financial need (which has an even smaller limit,I believe no more than $3,000), and PLUS loans which can be taken out by our parents on your behalf and can cover up to the cost of attendance.

You will more than likely need to take out an alternative loan (considered the least desirable form of aid) which is a process I'd start ASAP. There's been some staff changes at the school's financial aid office so I found that there was very little guidance from the school on this matter.

One thing that I found to be frustrating is that you do not get much financial assistance as a second-degree seeker. I got much more financial aid during my last undergraduate career and very little has changed financially since then. Added to that, because you're considered an undergraduate if you only do the ABPNN (and not AMPNN), most alternative loan providers will require you to have a credit-worthy cosigner which can be a hassle to as someone to do, and you can't apply for more desirable graduate loans (i.e. the Federal PLUS Graduate Loan) because you don't fit the criteria of a graduate student.

FYI: The total estimated cost of attendance for the program is around $79,000. For just tuition and fees it's about $57,000! Yes, it's A LOT!

I should note that everyone probably has a different experience but I found the financial obstacles to be one of the biggest challenges in doing this program. It all depends on your situation though. I'm a recent college graduate and considered a dependent. It probably helps if you've been working a while and have more money saved up. But I'm also lucky that I moved back in with parents so my actual cost of attendance will be much less than the $79,000.

Also, if you're a NYS resident there's an good alternative loan program (requires a cosigner) with nice rates. Here's a helpful link: http://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial/loan/

(Sorry this post got long but the financial aid stuff is something I wish I THOROUGHLY knew about before going forward with the program. I knew I'd have to take out a huge alternative loan but there's so many other factors to it all that made it stressful )

URredux · Sep 23, 2011

For those accepted, have you received anything in the mail? I got the call one week ago, but nothing in the mail. I'm starting to think I dreamed the whole thing...

zucchetto · Sep 23, 2011

When I walked by the Student Affairs office on Wednesday, I saw a big postal bin full of "big envelopes" that looked like it was on its way out the door. So check your mail today or tomorrow if you live reasonably close to NY. :)

URhopeful · Sep 23, 2011

Hi URredux,

I just my envelop yesterday. It has a load of forms, health form, etc, they give you your financial award right away. I ended up getting 20k which i was absolutely shocked about. The 600 dollar deposit is due oct. 7th i believe. If you have any more questions, hit me up.

URredux · Sep 23, 2011

Thanks for the update URHopeful,

By 20k, do you mean loans or scholarship funds?

I was under the impression that the program does not give scholarships in that amount.

URhopeful · Sep 23, 2011

Hi urredux,

It is in scholarships and grant. I dunno if I received that amount bc I am a international student. In the forms it says 15k is the highest but I must have received another type of scholarship in addition to the 15k. Whatever the reason, I am just happy to have been do luck. Hope you also receive a pleasant surprise when u get your package

URredux · Sep 23, 2011

Hi URHopeful,

The good news is I received my packet today. The bad news is that's the postal worker left it sitting out in the rain. All the papers inside are wet. I picked up the packet and the papers essentially fell apart.