Good afternoon all!

I'm super new to these boards but have been stalking them for a couple days after finding them the other day. I have a predicament and would love advice from people who are either in similar situations or have gone through this. I have a bachelors degree already and worked as an inner city teacher for a few years before finally quitting because it wasn't for me. I have since applied to and been accepted to the University of Maryland for nursing school this fall. It's an entry into practice masters program that I would be completing in about two years. I am having a hard time getting my head around the whole butt load of debt thing. I already have about 27k in student loans that I've been paying and the addition of this degree could make my loans skyrocket to anywhere between 58-78k. That's really hard to stomach for me, mainly because I am currently in a committed relationship that will lead to marriage soon and I hate that he would be essentially adopting my awesome school debt! So the other option I've thought about is going the community college route due to cost and the ability to work comfortably while in school. The only problem with that is that I know for sure that I want to eventually be a practitioner so I would eventually have more school ahead of me. And by eventually, I mean I planned on starting a practitioner program once I had completed my CNL. This seems like a lot of scattered information but I'm basically asking if the debt load is something to be afraid of or something to embrace. I should also state that getting into my nursing school was a huge accomplishment and I'm afraid of passing up the opportunity to study at one of the best schools in the country. Thanks for all help in advance!

Stephanie

And if anyone actually lives in Maryland with advice and that could comment on this would be super!

Thanks for the encouragment, I just hope my debt load agrees with it!

For Me The answer to the Question of Student Loans was a deffinite YES ! I did not owe as much as you, however, by working in an underserved area for three years My debt was reduced to a Minimal Amount.  My sufggestion would be to examine areas where you could work and reduce your debt at the same time.  That way you are being paid twice, Once the salary you recieve and then the amount your loan debt wil be reduced.  The latter is like an additional salary that you don't have to pay taxes on.  Good Luck and Best wishes.

Excuse me for asking but how do you know you want to be a NP when you are not yet even an RN? You should get your feet wet first and then decide if you want to go on. As far as loans go I have approx 50K in loans from an LPN and then RN school after that. Was it worth it definitely NOT. Im 56 and it has devastated my retirement and with the hit I took in the stock market during the recession this nurse will be working the floor til I drop. Not a good prospect at all. By the way an ADN/ASN makes the same money as a BSN (generally speaking) so if you are sure you want to be a nurse why not take the cheapest route possible. In terms of "critical thinking" its a no brainer.......

Iam think its worrth for you to go through nursing school.Because you can get what is called loan for forgivingness working at hospitial. If you commit to a hospital for least two years they will pay off your student loans and your going to being making in salary about 100k. I think its worth it and hear our some other websites  discovernusing.com and allnursingschool.com. Check out some the websites i provide you . Best reguards

Thanks for the advice. I'm still unsure if I'm going to go the masters route first or community college because I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the whole debt thing. To answer the question of one of the posters, I know I want to be a NP because I know that I want to be able to provide primary care to individuals and was thinking of going the Family Nurse Practitioner route. I have heard about the loan forgiveness options and read up about them but I'm still trying to justify not going the cheaper route and continuing my education immediately following the community college program. Also, I want to make sure that this is something I really want to do before completely jumping in. I can't say that I've always known that this is something that I wanted to do with my life. I'm super indecisive and change my mind a bit. The only thing I knew I wanted to be when I was younger was a teacher and I totally hated that because of classroom management. I didn't, however, hate giving general information to my students about various topics. In college I was so sure that I was going to major in political science but had no clue what I wanted to do with it. I even signed up for microbiology my freshman year of college because it sounded interesting from the course description. I ended up dropping the course at the recommendation of the professor after the first day because I was not a nursing major and everyone else was. I probably should have just stayed with the class because I ended up loving micro when I took it recently. I wish there was some crystal ball I could look through and it would tell me exactly what I should do with my life. What stinks is that when I started this whole exploration into nursing, I told myself that A&P I would be my barometer and if I did horribly in it, then nursing wasn't for me. Yeah, that whole plan didn't work out because I ended up getting As in all of my science pre-reqs. So I guess what I'm asking now is this: how would l know that I am suitable for this career? I'm not someone who gushes about nearly anything but I think I'm really compassionate-I just show it differently. I guess I just don't feel like I fit the stereotypical mold for what makes a great nurse and I need to know if that's okay because I'm not alone. That was probably off base from my original post but I really need some sort of guidance because my family and friends have no idea how to help me with this delimma! Thanks!

(side note: is there really not a spell check on here because I hate having spelling errors!)

You and only you can make the committment of time and money for the schooling you are considering. However, I would suggest that you at least try volunteering in a hospital, nursing home or some other medical facility first. Often we can get a better idea of what we want by seeing what we don't want. Just thinking.

But after that if you still want to be a nurse practitioner go for it!

As wonderful as the program you were accepted into is, perhaps you may wish to weigh  the options with your significant other. He will be there to carry the load, so he may appreciate weighing in on how big your debt load becomes.

Something that I always say to myself and others is that if your gonig to school for what you want the loans will be worth it in the end. As far as programs go my plan is to go to a community college and get my ADN/ASN and then go for my BSN, since the bridge program for the schools that have the transition program is only a year.

make a decision you won't regret..

Wow, I am pretty much in your exact same situation. I have a bachelors degree in Microbiology, and I am about to apply to a program at Louisiana State University that would allow me to get a B.S.N. in two years. After that I will work for a year or two and continue on to a nurse practitioner program. My father paid for my first four years of college, so that is a blessing, but from here on out I am on my own. I am about to get into the world of student loans, and I am completely new and uneducated about them.  I, also am in a serious relationship. My boyfriend is the main reason I am applying to school in Louisiana (I am a Mississippi resident). So, I understand the frustration of not wanting to put your debt on someone else. But what can you do? All I know is that I feel a calling to do this, and I will figure out a way to get it done. But, I am also scared of my relationship suffering among other things. I thought surely there would be plenty of government money set aside by now. Obama sure did talk up helping health professional students. But that is a whole other topic. Wish I had all the answers too. :(