On the eve of making a major decision in my life, need direction.

[Doug]

I am about to start school, but I need direction on what to do.

I want to go to nursing school, but I have 4 options.

1. Stick with a 2 year community college, take the prerequisites, and pray I get accepted in one of the programs.

2. Try to get in one of the regional occupational center programs, (usually done by highschools), finish with an LVN.

3. Take out a $30K loan for a vocational school, finish my LVN in a year. But I will have to quit my current job, there is no way I can work and study. I have support from my aunt, and I was planning to liquidate some of my dads assets to pay for bills and such.

4. A longshot. I was helping a lady from our church today, and she mentioned that 4 years at an Adventist University in Mexico is as cheap as 1 year of school here in the US, $6k a term, and housing and food is taken care of. I would have to live there about 6 months to learn Spanish.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Does the Community College have the LVN program you desire?

If I were you, I would get the prerequisites out of the way at a a community college. You might then have a number of good references for submitting in favor of you getting into the program of your choice.

The $30K loan doesn't sound bad either. Getting done in a year and then having a job that you enjoy is very worthwhile to consider. The loan is the down-side, but nursing pays well.

I wouldn't go for #4 - the schooling in Mexico. You might have trouble getting licensure in the US with those credentials. But I could be wrong.

Just my random thoughts....

[Doug]

Does the Community College have the LVN program you desire?

If I were you, I would get the prerequisites out of the way at a a community college. You might then have a number of good references for submitting in favor of you getting into the program of your choice.

The $30K loan doesn't sound bad either. Getting done in a year and then having a job that you enjoy is very worthwhile to consider. The loan is the down-side, but nursing pays well.

I wouldn't go for #4 - the schooling in Mexico. You might have trouble getting licensure in the US with those credentials. But I could be wrong.

Just my random thoughts....

Yes, I have a pick of about 14 different community colleges in my area, all basically the same distance apart I think only a few offer the LVN. My original goal was to get my LVN, then take a LVN to RN bridge program.

Just at the city colleges you might have a waiting list, vs getting in at a vocational and finishing in one year.

Time vs money.

[Doug]

Thanks, I think I got my answer already. No LVN is worth $30,000. Yes, I can finish in a year, but I need to sacrifice too much, with no guarantee of a job, no guarantee of me passing the NCLEX. Most of the schools passing rate are terrible, if I pay all that money the passing rate should be 100%, and there are schools out there with 100% passing rates. And in the back of my mind I think they only really care about the money. I know a girl who took classes but they signed her up for the wrong program.

[Liz]

One avenue that you haven't tried yet, is to actually go to the hospitals in your area. See if they have any programs that could help you.

When I was deciding to go to nursing school, the local hospital was a rural one, and they prided themselves on "growing thier own nurses"; in other words they paid for everything as long as you signed a two year contract with them. This is exactly what I did. They paid for my schooling and I had a job right out of school.

Another route would also to be to get your Nursing Assistant certificate. In the program I was in about three months in, we all qualified to be a nursing assistant. This way you could also work in a hospital or nursing home, and you could work around your school schedule. Working while attending school should help to keep the student loans down if you were planning on getting those.

I really wouldn't do the Mexico one, I don't know how thier license would translate to the states.