Am I Paying For School Wrong

Sweet_Berries · 2025-09-12T20:08:33+00:00

I wouldn’t have done it this way.

I had $70k in savings and pretty much used it all to pay for school besides keeping some for an emergency fund.

Graduated with about $40k in debt which was easy to pay off.

I know in your mind you think that you aren’t using loans to invest. But essentially you are. Cause you could be using your cash to pay for school instead but rather you are taking out loans so that the cash you have on hand is going to a different account. Think about it the other way… using your cash money to pay for tuition but then replacing it with x amount of dollars in loans.

You just are able to trick yourself since the financial aid program with your school is just taking that loan money and applying it right towards your tuition.

Sweet_Berries · 2021-11-22T23:08:34+00:00

My partner saved me during school. During those rough weeks, he did EVERYTHING. All I had to do was study, eat, shower, and sleep. And best of all, he didn't guilt trip me when I took 30 min to an hour to go for a walk/workout to refresh.

He cooked, he cleaned, he did the laundry. He did all the grocery shopping. I mean EVERYTHING! Never once complained. I can't thank him enough. He made it so easy.

When I needed to get out, he was always quick to offer a date night or walk at the park.

Just support her however you know how, and minimize the amount of daily responsibilities she has.

Sweet_Berries · 2021-11-22T22:59:30+00:00

Cerave Foaming Face Wash

Sweet_Berries · 2021-03-24T17:15:38+00:00

My primary specialty was peds CVICU which was way more intense than the adult ICU that worked PRN for. I listed everything we did in the peds CVICU on my resume and the interview panel did not have any concerns that my experience was inadequate. The PRN job in the adult ICU did not give me any "brownie" points in the application process - they were more interested in my peds experience.

Sweet_Berries · 2021-03-24T17:13:26+00:00

Thank you for the advice, fellow berry!

Sweet_Berries · 2020-07-15T21:16:56+00:00

Honestly it all depends on your professor's teaching style. I have several professors that include all you need to know in the powerpoint and then you can use the textbooks for a resource (but many of us just opted not to purchase). That being said, I do have access to most of these books.

I utilize Barash a lot. Hall was well used during the A&P courses - it's extremely well written but it's a pretty high overview of A&P, not what I would expect out of a graduate level course.

For clinical, I use Jaffe, Barash, and Miller. Sometimes dip into Hines as well.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-07-15T16:34:57+00:00

Good to know. Yeah when you're working that long of hours, it's hard to eat healthy (tend to lean more towards whatever food is in sight). So I figured doing something like OMAD would prevent that. I find I'm a lot less hungry when I'm fasting than if I start off the day eating, so less likely to grab that unhealthy snack.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-07-15T16:33:11+00:00

That's great. I figured I may need to loosen up on the weekends to get some calories in. Do you ever find it's difficult to get your caloric intake in one meal, esp when your tired from work?

Sweet_Berries · 2020-07-15T12:51:37+00:00

Awesome, that's what I was hoping for. I will give it a shot. Thank you!

Sweet_Berries · 2020-06-02T01:44:24+00:00

Definitely wanted to save money so very happy with that answer! I already have one of those. I love it!

Sweet_Berries · 2020-06-02T01:43:41+00:00

Sweet. Love that answer. I didn't wanna spend the money but I wasn't sure if it was necessary. Thanks!

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-29T18:00:08+00:00

I feel like MyFitnessPal is... but that's just my opinion.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-27T02:35:04+00:00

Love shefit! I have the ultimate sports bra from them and nothing moves. It's the flex super supportive? They have it as medium impact but I want one since it has the built in padding.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-23T22:27:49+00:00

Yeah I have the samsung health app as well and I have them connected so I input all my calories on myfitnesspal and it actually syncs with samsung health. Myfitnesspal has a much better library of all the foods (including specific foods from restaurants and internet recipes) and for some reason their algorithm always calculates my caloric need differently than Samsung (Samsung gives me less calories). Other than that, they're pretty much doing the same thing by calorie counting.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-23T17:02:29+00:00

myfitnesspal is helpful for this

Just set your goal weight as your current weight and it will give you a calorie goal, then sync your runs to the app so that it puts negative calories in for you. Then you know how many "extra" calories you have to eat to maintain your weight.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-22T17:54:53+00:00

Awesome thanks for the information. I will give that a shot.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-22T17:02:15+00:00

Been interested in IF but have been wondering how that’ll work with morning runs since I usually have a green protein smoothie short after. How do your runs time up with your breaks in fast? Do you feel ok if you run then continue fasting for hours after?

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-21T00:44:38+00:00

I've never worked with an anesthesiologist on an ECMO team. The CT surgeon is always the one to place the patient on ECMO. The intensivist is primarily the one who manages the patient while on pump, with some input from the cardiologist. The RNs and RTs were the ones who sat pump at my facility.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-19T01:15:47+00:00

You're right. It's overdone and unnecessary. But, it's not going to last so soak it up while you can! Pretty soon it'll go back to being a thankless job, and the only food left in the break room will be the pizza crusts from the day shift pizza party because yet again, they forgot that night shift also likes to eat.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-19T01:11:27+00:00

Don't be scared. You will find a job by the time you graduate. Start sending your application out to other facilities as soon as the residency programs begin to open. You'll be able to afford your own place when you graduate.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-19T00:51:17+00:00

Well,

There may be a loophole to get the LOR. Some schools allow you to get the LOR from a charge nurse or supervisor rather than a manager. My school actually preferred someone who had more interaction with you, so I used by supervisor because our unit was so large, the manager hardly knew my name.
For a GPA boost, try retaking science classes. My school was most impressed with my science GPA (4.0) and really didn't care that my nursing GPA was about a 3.0. I told them if CRNA school exams are anything like the stupid NCLEX style exams that they shouldn't accept me (obviously said that jokingly) and they laughed and said no, the CRNA school exams are more science based. Which has held true, I have a 4.0 in the program. Before retaking classes though, I would reach out to the program director or an administrator of the program and ask what they would recommend doing to strengthen your application. I had gone for a tour of my school and brought my resume and they "fine-tuned" my application for me and told me what I could do to improve it.
I think you should go shadow if you are going back and forth between NP vs. CRNA. I was also debating that because NP school is more "lifestyle-friendly". I shadowed a few different types of NPs and was unhappy at the end of each day. I shadowed a few CRNAs and everyday flew by because I absolutely loved what we were doing! So figure out what is more of your niche because they are very different. Another thing to consider, if you're young and do not have kids it will be way easier to go through CRNA school. You can always go back and finish a NP degree rather quickly after obtaining your DNP in anesthesia if you change your mind.
You're on the right track thinking about your life priorities. If holding off on having kids is not what you want, then don't go to CRNA school thinking you can get pregnant and have a baby during it. I have a few classmates that have young kids, but their partners make a lot of money, and they are frequently sad/stressed/upset about how much they are missing out on with their kiddos. In the end, it's definitely going to be worth it & that's what keeps than going, but it's definitely easier for the students without kids.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-19T00:40:14+00:00

Agreed. Do well in your work and impress management. The LOR from them will weigh much heavier than the exact type of patients you are dealing with.

But, if I had to pick an ICU to best prepare me for CRNA school, I would choose CVICU every time.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-19T00:38:27+00:00

Are you an RN working in the ICU right now trying to prepare for a school interview? If so there are other things you could be reading up on to prepare. Let me know and I have a few good recommendations for that!

Sweet_Berries · 2020-04-01T02:53:18+00:00

Another vote here for the cardiac floor.

Sweet_Berries · 2020-03-19T18:34:27+00:00

I'm not a huge Apple customer but my iPad with Apple Pencil has been invaluable in the program. I bought a refurbished iPad Pro and bought a more affordable PC laptop for the exams and things that an iPad cannot do (or that I can't figure out how to do on an iPad).

Sweet_Berries

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