Applying for Bachelor of Nursing as a mature age - after some advice!

Hi DaisyD,

I am originally from the UK and started studying nursing at 28. I have no formal qualifications other than a few GCSE's which no one cares about.

I applied to study nursing and sat the STAT exam. After this I received offers from both Latrobe and ACU to study the BN.

One thing to keep in mind is that as a permanent resident you will be eligible for commonwealth supported places but you will not be able to get a HECS loan. This means that although your course will be heavily subsidised you will have to pay all fees up front. If you get citizenship you will be able to get a HECS loan.

Any questions ask away as I have gone through the whole process just last year.

Rach91, had written some stuff here which was apparently incorrect so have removed now so that it doesnt confuse people..

Daisy, being mature age gives you a little bit of an advantage in itself, as long as you do well in the STAT and write a good 'blurb' about yourself in the additional info form you probably wont have too much trouble- id be surprised if you didnt get into RMIT (thats where i went). you could even try offering your time as a volunteer in a local hospital where you are at the moment- and then ask them to write a reference for you. that sort of thing can help too as it shows your interest in the health industry.

jules

smellypaddler, gee thanks for that. it looks like it might have changed since i was last at uni in 2004, so im going to ring tomoro and clarify. looks like i might be paying for my 1st semester units up front then! either way, you have to pay the same amount- sofor me thats still ok. you just dont end up with a huge debt at the end of your course bcos youve paid up front. might however be time for me to get my butt into gear and apply for citizenship then...before 2nd semster! : )
thanks for the info!

hmmm can you really? how did you go about doing that? ive got all the forms etc, but how did you actually find out about putting a rush on it? did you call somewhere? i cant see anywhere that theres an option for an urgent ceremony. i seriously doubt it would happen b4 the 31st march mind you.....

@jules74 - Sorry I didn't see your last message. It used to be mentioned on the website but I'm pretty sure I just asked when I went to sit the test and they gave me an address to send a letter to. I was surprised but the turn around was VERY quick and you may be lucky. It just depends on when they are holding a ceremony and put in the letter that you are willing to travel to one that isn't in your local area.

@DaisyD - You should be able to get the CSP and just pay for each year at the start of the year, before census date.

I don't know if any of you noticed the following....Most of those who got into a Graduate Nurse Program in 2010 and 2011 are those of Gen Y whereas the mature aged students were all struggling to gain entry into a GNP. Maybe its because with family they are not so mobile to select regional positions. However I noticed in my batch - the younger ones gained all the choice positions even within Metropolitan hospitals.

The only explanation or rather more my unsubstantiated opinion is that maybe the government and privates hospitals who run GNPs prefer younger nurses as they would be able to have a longer working career and hence it would be better to invest in them than some old graduate who might retire in 5-10 years.

Don't let me discourage all you mature age students..but its just my observation that I am posting here.

I'm 33 and just beginning my second year. I'm also English although I got citizenship the day before last years census date (phew)

When you say you don't have "any" qualifications do you mean nothing at all or just nothing relivant. I only ask because I had studied art at college in the UK but the points were transferable and it resulted in me having to just sit the STAT test.