UT AE MSN 2015

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Hi all! I know this is a bit early, considering the application doesn't even go live until August 1, but UT is my number one school for Nursing. I just graduated from UGA with a BS in Psychology, and have around a 3.5 GPA. I have yet to take the GRE. I also am going to get a CNA certification and work for a year (hopefully in MedSurg) as well as shadow a family friend who is a Pediatric nurse. Many years before us have started a thread so I figured it would be a good idea to start one! I would really like to go into their Nurse Practitioner program, but as of right now there are some changes going on that said would be solidified in the fall.

Any feedback would be wonderful! As well as personal experience and what not!

He did say that was a guess, that he couldn't tell me for sure until everything goes through. But I hope that's right. I have been trying to find other information on my own, and it seems that the max we are able to pull out a year is $20,000 (cannot remember where I read that, I need to start writing all this down). Which, if that's true, then that is a little scary for me.

BUT, I did find something called Graduate PLUS Loan, which looks like you may be able to pull out the amount that is listed as your EFC amount on the FAFSA (if I read it correctly).....which still is going to be a very tight amount to live on after all the tuition and fees are taken care of. I'm going to try and call about that tomorrow.

I plan to tell everyone I work with that I'm available to babysit their children nights and weekends until June so I can save up little bits of money here and there! Haha! I wish we would find out sooner how much we will get FOR SURE!

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Thanks for the information! I will be starting as an MSN-PMHNP student. I'm finishing up undergrad this May and would be moving to Texas from the Midwest. I'm not an AE-MSN but can I join the Facebook group? If so how do I find it?

edit - nevermind, found it and just requested access!

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AustinTex, $20,000 for the YEAR?? That doesn't sound right. Please update that?

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I remember seeing when I filled out my FAFSA that it estimated I would get the maximum amount for the year which was like $20,500. If you need any more than that you may have to look into private loans.

Maybe for those who need housing look at getting a few of yall together and renting a house? You can get a 3-4 bedroom house and split the cost and then all carpool to campus. I don't know much about costs in Austin, I live south in Buda and there aren't really any rentals here hardly but if you look in Kyle, rentals are not bad. I rented a house last year before we bought and it was $1200 a month for a nice 3 bedroom 2 bath 1 story. It was nice too. Again, I only know the Kyle-Buda area so I cant say if the prices there are any better than other suburbs.

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Hey Macaroni84, yeah....I swear I read that somewhere. Or maybe that was the amount that you could pull out in subsidized loans. And then you would still be able to pull out additional loans some other way (personal loans, Graduate PLUS loan, etc.), but only that amount would be subsidized. Don't quote me on that.....I could be totally wrong. I'll try to find where I read that and post the link here.

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I agree with KCast - maybe going in together to find a place would be a good idea. I live in the Zilker neighborhood (which is not far from downtown). I just moved in with my boyfriend, but before that I was living in another three-bedroom house in the same neighborhood that was $1,800/month. I have friends in the neighborhood that pay a little more, but that seems to be about an average price. I have seen several for rent signs in my area lately, but they do go very quickly!

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If you all carpool, you can split the parking garage prices which will be nice!

Speaking of, I dont think that is a bad idea for those of us who commute, to maybe find carpools. That parking garage isn't cheap!

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What's traffic like getting across the river? Is getting a place in South Austin (Zilker, etc.) an ok idea?

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I like that idea, KCast! I will probably get a parking pass no matter what because I know I'll probably want to go up there on the weekends to study (living in a one bedroom makes it really difficult to study at home). But, people can park at my house and ride with me; though I'll probably stay late after class to study most days and not go straight home. I usually find everything BUT studying to do when I'm at home, so I just can't be there if I need to get things done. Haha!

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Macaroni84 - YES! I Love Zilker neighborhood. I feel like it's really close to everything I need. And getting to the nursing building takes me about 15 minutes (give or take depending on traffic). There are several different routes to take, and it's only about 5 miles away. I feel like we won't be driving right in the middle of rush hour most of the time - hopefully!

EDIT - I take that back. I was calculating from my office (which is still right by Zilker Park and where I've left from to go to the nursing building before) where I can jump right on MoPac and take Enfield straight to campus - which I feel like is the easiest way to get there. Coming from my house would be probably more like 20-25 minutes.

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From what I understand, the financial aid office prepares each students "cost of attendance." This number is tuition + a stardardized cost of living amount - your EFC. If you have not taken out federal loans as a graduate student before, you are eligible for $20,500 in federal loans. If the "cost of attendance" according to the financial aid office is more than $20,500 for the year, you are eligible to take the difference out as a GradPlus loan. The GradPlus loan has a fairly high interest rate (7.21%). You can probably find better rates with private loans, but there are other reasons federal loans may be preferable to private loans.

Fortunately the summer semester is considered FY 14-15. So what you take out for the summer term will not affect the limits you can take for the Fall and Spring semester.

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Will we get an email when financial aid awards come out?

Also, does anyone know if there's such thing as need-based grants for grad students or should I pretty much just expect loans?

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