Questions about grad school, family, and pre-pre planning

Graduate School
1

<p>I don't even know where to start with all my questions...</p>

<p>I am currently a sophomore at a small regional state university in Michigan. I am definitely unconventional; I dropped out of high school at 16, got my G.E.D., had children, got married, and then started college at the age of 27. I live in the middle of nowhere, Michigan, and my drive to school is over an hour each way. I currently cram a full-time course load into two days per week in order to save on gas and minimize our need for child care. Therefore, I don't have a lot of extra time to become involved in other activities on campus.</p>

<p>I am a double major in nursing and psychology, with a current gpa of 3.9. I don't find the coursework (so far) to be terribly difficult, though I do put a lot of time and effort into my classes. I know that I want to go to grad school (eventually) to be a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. I still have about 3 years of undergrad left, and I plan on working for a while in my chosen field before applying to any schools. I realize this planning is premature but I still want to be preparing for it. At least to know what to expect. I guess I am uncertain how to go about it, or where to start. So... the issues to consider are:</p>

<p>1) Paying for it. I'm not sure what kinds of grants/scholarships/etc are available for master's programs in nursing, or where to find out. Of course, I would love to have grad school paid for, or at least really affordable. Because...</p>

<p>2) I am going to need to move, at least temporarily. My husband and I own our house, but we are far away from a city that offers this graduate program. He doesn't have a college degree, so if he leaves his job here, he will have to look for another entry level type job. (Along with zillions of other people in Michigan and/or across the U.S.) When you have two kids, it's kind of scary to pick up and move. I'm not sure if I could go to grad school without financial assistance. I am paying for my undergrad with loans and grants and I don't want to add too much to that debt if I can help it.</p>

<p>3) Getting into a program. One option is U of M, because they have a PMHNP program (although I admittedly know little about it beyond what the program website tells me), and because it is close enough to our current home to be a safe backup in case things went wrong. (jobs, etc.) I would be willing to move out of state if I had some reasonable assurance that everything would be O.k. financially.</p>

<p>Can someone like me (a high school dropout, non-prestigious uni) get into a school of Michigan's caliber? Even with a good gpa? I know this is what I want to do, and I am willing to work extremely hard to get there. I don't know anything about the competitiveness of the program at U of M, but I have a lot of self-doubt about my ability to get in. I'm unsure what things I should be doing now to better my chances. If I choose different schools, I will likely have to leave Michigan and my safety net.</p>

<p>How can I get this paid for? I know that you can get grad school paid for by certain employers. Which types of employers are likely to do this in the field of psychiatric mental health nursing? Where can I find this out? My searches on the internet aren't getting me too far. I might be looking in the wrong places.</p>

<p>I realize that I don't need to worry so much about grad school yet. I just like to plan my planning, to have everything well thought out. I am lost without a path, and I have a lot of complicating factors. (This is why people go to college before they have families!)
So far I've done it all on my own- our academic advisers in my school are marginal at best- but this is beyond me.</p>

<p>Sorry if this is too lengthy, and thanks in advance for any advice!
Sarah</p>

2

<p>First of all, you are amazing! Congratulations on all your hard work and determination, and it’s just like a breath of fresh air to read your post. </p>

<p>I don’t even know you and i’m proud of you.</p>

<p>I don’t live in Michigan or know much about the schools there, unfortunately. But my first thought when reading your post was that there MUST be support out there for you, it’s just going to take some research to find it. </p>

<p>Also, you can get into a good Michigan state school. Your hard work in college is what will matter to them, and how well you do on those important standardized tests.</p>

<p>I’m not sure how the psychiatric nursing programs work, but in most grad programs, to get funded…you will need to hook up with a professor whose research you like and get them to admit you, and work in their lab.</p>

<p>So start looking at websites of at least 2 schools you want to apply to, find profs who are doing research that sounds interesting to you, and start emailing them–this is the easiest and most traditional approach to going to grad school and getting funded. </p>

<p>If you’re wanting to possibly be employed and get funded by your employer, i would say you might want to look at a mental hospital where you could be a nurse, that is near a school you would possibly attend.
Like find a mental health facility near U of M and just look on their site, and email the people in HR, or call if you have to…and find out what types of programs they have and tell them what your plan is and start asking questions. </p>

<p>If you are going to be an RN --there are just a bunch of jobs for that ! and you can make bank. I’m sure there are probably several mental health facilities near U of M or any other state school…and those places are probably desperate for RNs. </p>

<p>Your best bets are going to be

  1. Get a job as a nurse in a public or private mental health facility that will pay your tuition.
  2. Get on with a professor at a school and work in their lab. Which might be easier than splitting your time between school, work and family. At least your work and school would be combined. </p>

<p>Also…it really makes sense that to take such a big step with your family, you want everything to be planned out to the hilt. But there are opportunities out there for you. </p>

<p>If your husband will support you, just remember whatever you decide is not going to be lasting forever…anyone can do anything for a few years. If he is willing to move and take a different job and such, you all can do anything and will be fine. </p>

<p>It’s all for the future of your family, and you can make it work for a few years.</p>

3

<p>Congrats on getting to where you are!</p>

<p>1) Grad school funding depends on a lot of things, most immediately the type and level of degree - you said you wanted a masters, are you set on the type? Masters degrees in general are not well funded, and if it is a “professional” degree funding is all but impossible. On the bright side, a lot of employers will cover some or even all of the expense for a current employee. If you are set on the professional degree, you may want to consider finding an employer first - if they fund it, great, if not you can pay down loans for a couple of years before you go back.</p>

<p>2) I know how hard it is to do this with family - I have two girls in tow. For your husband, ask him to research the job markets while you are getting ready to apply, that way you can apply to schools where he is better off. Remember that he has 3 years to establish himself in field (if he is not already) and there are many jobs where that is more valuable than a degree. He may also want to consider going back to school at the same time, for an associates or a bachelors - it sounds counter-intuitive, but it can sometimes be a better solution than working.</p>

<p>3) Since you did not mention the school, it is hard to be sure what your chances are. Is it accredited in nursing? If so, and assuming you keep up a high gpa, you should have no problem getting into a good school. Oh, and the high-school thing is a non-issue - I was kicked out of college a decade ago, I start my PhD at Illinois this fall. They care about who you are NOW, and you are sounding pretty strong.</p>

<p>To find employers, I would investigate the major psychiatric hospitals - with tuition reimbursement it is always better to go with the bigger company, as they will usually be more generous and more flexible in scheduling. Bear in mind that most of the good schools are probably nowhere near the best employers (for you), so getting this company-funded may mean settling for a lesser school. Also, many employers do list all of their benefits online - a few years now, apply to grad schools and jobs, and ask about tuition reimbursement during the interview process. You’ll find a few.</p>

4

<p>Yes…Cosmicfish points out and i didn’t think of…if you’re going back to get your nurse practitioner degree…that would be a professional degree, which would change your plans for seeking funding.</p>

<p>If you go to this website :
[Resource</a> Center - American Psychiatric Nurses Association](<a href=“http://www.apna.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3310]Resource”>Resources Archive | APNA)
it is the American Psychiatric Nurses Association…that link goes to their “resource” page.</p>

<p>It has a link for graduate programs in the US, as well as grants/scholarship info.
The first thing i noticed was that you could might be able to find funding through the goverment…if you wanted to go that route. Sounds like a sweet deal :</p>

<p>U.S. ARMY ANNOUNCES NEW SCHOLARSHIP FOR PSYCHIATRIC NURSE PRACTITIONERS</p>

<p>The U.S. Army has expanded the educational programs covered under its F. Edward Hebert Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) to include funding for those seeking a masters degree to become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.
For those planning or currently pursuing a career in nursing, the Army’s scholarship program provides benefits while in school and after graduation. In addition to paying the full cost of tuition, the program pays for required books, non-expendable equipment and most other academic fees. HPSP students receive a monthly stipend of $1,605 for 10-and-a half months of each school year which is adjusted each year to allow for cost of living increases. The remaining six weeks of the year are dedicated to hands-on training during which program participants receive officer’s pay as a first lieutenant.</p>

5

<p>Thanks very much for your replies!</p>

<p>I always thought that a masters was the highest you could go in nursing, but I see that you can now get a PhD. I am curious about the difference- I will have to research this. I think that I will probably keep with my current plan of getting my MSN. This degree would be worth it to me in the end, even if I had to take out loans. I just need to figure out the best way to do it.</p>

<p>I go to SVSU, and yes, the college of nursing is accredited. I will graduate with a BSN (nursing) and a BA (psychology.)</p>

<p>I had pretty much assumed that I would work in the field after I graduate, since most NP programs require some work experience anyway. I will need to take my state licensing exams and will also need to specialize in psychiatric/mental health nursing after graduation. It sounds like either way I will need to move, since I am doubtful that I will find a job locally that will offer tuition reimbursement. But you never know…</p>

<p>It’s not that I had my heart set on U of M because of prestige-- I am flexible about which university I attend. It’s just that there aren’t a lot of universities that offer the PMHNP program. There are 3 in Michigan that do; two are in the Detroit area, which is about 2-3 hours away from where I live, and the other is well over 4 hours away. It would be really great to get into U of M, though. Since we own our home, (we have no payments) I thought staying within the state would be wise, should we need to come back for any reason. Michigan is in such bad shape economically, I doubt we could sell our house anyway. I am apprehensive about making drastic moves with my family in tow.</p>

<p>My husband plans to go back to school also. He will probably do so after I graduate and begin working. That way, there is always someone with a full-time job.</p>

<p>Do I have an advantage in the admissions process since I am a Michigan native, and am obtaining my undergrad degrees from a state university? I know that U of M is highly competitive, at least with undergrad admissions. I have no idea about the competitiveness of their grad school or this program in particular.</p>

<p>That Army deal does sound sweet, except for the ‘joining the Army’ part. :wink:
I’m not what you’d call Army material.</p>

<p>I realize that a lot can change in a few years, so I am not going to worry too much yet. I do appreciate your help. I will try to keep my high gpa and hopefully I will find a way to make everything work.</p>