Want to Nurse-Questions about schools and financial aid

tokyoROSE, BSN, RN · Dec 26, 2009

Community college will save you a ton of money. If you're not sure if you'd like to be a nurse or a PA, start with general classes like math, biology (A&P), chemistry, etc. The crucial part for you is to compare the prerequesite classes for both nursing and PA so that you're taking the right classes. Hopefully by the time you finish your first year, you will decide the major. Most PA's major in premed as it fulfills the requirements for PA school. Nursing, you could do an ASN or BSN.

As for financial aid, the holy grail is the FAFSA form. You can submit it January 1st and I would do this as soon as possible since you're a new college student. For this, you need to gather your parent's and your's tax forms and W2's. It will probably take 30 mins at most and will see if you're eligible for government grants and/or loans. You can supplement it with private scholarships if you'd like.

Last, meet with your high school career counselor! They can go over all this with you. I'm sure they know the ins and outs of the colleges around your area so utilize this resource. If they can't answer a question, you can email the colleges directly and ask for an advisor.

UVA Grad Nursing · Dec 26, 2009

In Virginia, there are four primary options for you to become a RN.

Option 1: A hospital-based diploma program (there are 5 of these in Virginia). These are generally a 3 year program. Tuition is relatively inexpensive, but you do not get an academic degree.

Option 2: Community college. There are 15 associate degree nursing programs in Virginia. These programs are generally 3 years long (1 year of pre-nursing/general education, and 2 years of nursing classes). Tuition is approximately $100/credit for Virginia residents. You should contact the comminity colleges directly to see about the availabilty of Pell grants. There are also a number of for-profit private schools that award an associate degree in Virginia. But if tuition is important to you, there are many very good community college programs in Virginia (that are about 1/4 the cost of some of the private programs).

Option 3: BSN programs. There is a few programs in VA that admits you directly into the nursing school from high school (with nursing classes starting in the freshman year). Other 4-year programs have students take general education and prenursing classse in Year 1, and then transfer into the nursing prorgam as a sophomore or junior. This will be a 4-year program. Tuition will be higher than for community colleges, but many 4-year programs in Virginia also have more extensive financial aid and scholarship opportunities. There are 17 BSN programs in Virginia in all corners of the Commonwealth.

Option 4: Second Degree programs. These enroll students into nursing programs (acclerated BSN or direct-entry MSN) for those with an underrgraduate degree in another subject.

Definitely plan on doing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). All schools use the FAFSA for need-based aid (as well as to qualify for low-cost loans). I recommend checking out the Johnson & Johnson website at www.discovernursing.com, their pages on financial aid and scholarships are very informative.