So I'm in need of advice from some folks who know what it's like to go out of state for school.

Here's a little back story information for you: I'm a nursing major and I have all of my prerequisite courses completed for AZ school standards. The waiting list to attend nursing school here in AZ, however, can be as long as three years. I've been screwed over a couple of times by life circumstances and some ridiculous clerical errors of one school. I'm tired of waiting.

In Texas, however, there is no waiting list. I have an awesome aunt in Texas, so moving down there and getting started on my life's dream isn't unappealing at all.

Now here's where you guys come in: is it worth leaving your home state for school? Who here has done it? What's it like? Did you like it? Did you hate it?

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!

You could be finished with your nursing degree in Texas by the time you start in AZ. Average nursing salary/ year for R.N.s here in Michigan is $45K. That means you would be $135K ahead by going to school in Texas. (hopefully U of T school of nursing in Austin)

Sounds like you could live with your aunt for the first year which would more than offset any out of state tuition increments--after that you'd probably qualify for in-state tuition. That's assuming your aunt lives near a nursing school. (preferably in Austin)

I wouldn't let moving out of state be an issue. Go wherever you can get a good education at a reasonable cost. (especially if it's in Austin)

Another option to consider is to enlist in the military (active duty, Reserves, or National Guard) and to have them pay for your nursing degree which you would pay back by working as a nurse for them. (Unfortunately, not in Austin)

Or to get into a Nurse Practitioner or Physician's Assistant program, get a National Health Service scholarship and work in an underserved area after you finish school. (probably not in Austin)

I'd say go for it. The sooner you are done the sooner you can start doing what you enjoy!

I didn't go out of state for college (because the best university is already in my state!) but Giller and I did just drop everything and move out to California for a year for a job opportunity offered to Giller (I actually had to take a year off from grad school to do it because it wasn't a permanent move, the company wanted to move us around a lot). It was seriously the best damn decision we could have made. I know we had each other so it wasn't a "we did it on our own" sort of thing but at the same time it was. It was a great experience for us. Everyone I know that has dropped everything and made a move out of state or country for a job, school, or to study abroad has been happy with their choice to do it and has grown/experienced a lot of great things. And like Virus said, you'll starting making $$ sooner, too! :)

Where are you looking to attend school in Texas? Giller and I are near the OK/TX border and several GwDR members live in the OKC area... so you'd already have people you know nearby (possibly)!

The biggest issue I have with being a state away from where I grew up (while Crawdad goes to school) is that it is tough to see family.

Other than that, there are very few drawbacks to it (other than out of state tuition).

Go for it - if you don't like it, you can always transfer to a different school in AZ.

You could also ask some students what they think of the school and check out ratemyprofessors.com for the fun reviews. It could help in figuring out how the teachers are and if it would be worth it to go there. Oh, and look at dropout rate. I don't know what kind of person you are in studies, but if you are usually a C student you probably don't want to join a hard program with a high dropout rate.

The Universities in Minnesota have tons of openings*! Come up here!

*not necessarily in nursing.

Wow, thank you so much everyone! I know I've been around the forums for ages, but I'm still always so pleased that everyone has such great advice and is willing to share!

Texas is definitely a possibility now thanks to the great advice and the (shocking!) approval from my parents. They like that my aunt would be close by to help me out if need be.

Oh, and since I forgot to mention this: I'm looking into the University of Texas School of Nursing in Houston. (Sorry, Virus, nothing available in Austin!)

I have a few other options I'm looking at (some local and some not) so I'll probably be back here again sometime soon begging for more input :P

Thank you again guys! :)

(And my apologies for the delay response post: I blame Saints Row 2 because it's amazing and addicting!)