Potential quality of life for young couple? recent RN and police acadmey grads (Honolulu: credit)

[ibanez271]

My fiance and I will soon be graduating...her from an RN program and I from the police academy. I will have about 20 hours left to finish my BS in criminal justice and have been looking in to the Charmade University of Honolulu (wow it's expensive). Until doing some research I had never even heard of it and I'm wondering what kind of reputation it has.
I have seen a lot of different numbers regarding how much she could expect to earn as a RN with little/no experience and was wondering if anyone can give me some clairification.

We plan to rent an apartment or possibly a small home because the plan is to stay for about two years before I join the US DEA and get relocated. The problem is I've spent quite a bit of time vacationing across oahu and although I was not really looking, i have only noticed some pretty run down apartments. I'm sure there are some nicer ones... but where and aprox. how much?
Thanks

[whynot?]

Let's start with the basics, the average 2008 rent for a Honolulu 1BR apartment is about $1,300 (Honolulu HI MSA Average Apartment Rental Rates). That's an average, mind you, and not necessarily for a place you'd want to live in. Obviously, the prices go up from there for more bedrooms and/or single family homes.

Nursing pay (and job quality) depends upon many factors. There are not a lot of hospitals in Hawaii and none of them are great. There are lots of HMO and similar facilities, though, so lots of non-hospital nursing jobs.

Chaminade is a very small, pretty school in a nice-ish part of Honolulu. That said, it's no Harvard. There are no Hawaiian Harvards. Both Chaminade and University of Hawaii-Manoa got "third tier" rankings from US News & World Report's annual ratings. Chaminade's acceptance policies are rated as "less selective." Draw whatever conculsions you will.

If you're really concerned about quality-of-life, you might want to consider your commutes to work and/or school carefully as you make decisions about where to live. The traffic in/around Honolulu is shocking. I definitely recommend visiting before you commit, to see if you can find what you're looking for.

[ibanez271]

Thanks. I'm definitly not looking for a "Hawaiian Harvard", just as long as it is in that top 50%.

As for my fiance, she is specializing in neonatal care so i'm not sure how that will affect the job search. I've read from one site that nursing is all unionized and requires a min $30/hr, one person says the average is $42, someone else says its $28.

[Brav989]

What state are you in? You say police academy...were you hired by an agency, or is it a self sponsored academy? Either way, as far as I'm aware (you should contact them yourself), no police agencies in Hawaii accept lateral transfers period. So it's basically getting hired on and going through their complete academy (which is something like 5-6 months I believe).

http://www.honolulupd.org/hrd/mpr_faq.htm

Does the Department accept lateral transfers from other Police Agencies?

No lateral transfers are allowed at this time.



Is the Honolulu Police Department “P.O.S.T.” certified? Will the HPD accept P.O.S.T. certifications?

The Department is not certified with the Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) program. The Department does not accept the certification from applicants at this time.

[ibanez271]

I had no idea...thanks for the info. Im in Texas and I had planned on attending the academy here and working as a reserve officer until my fiance graduated. That isn't awful news though considering Charmaide offers up to 18 credit hours for attending the HPD academy.

[Prinny]

My son is in the MBA program at Chaminade University. I'm also graduate of the school. It's hardly an open admission school and it's not as third tier as the earlier poster stated. It being accredited it does have its standards and has great programs.


I know admissions for the graduate program were difficult as I went to graduate school there as well. It's much more expensive now. It really is a good school and the Criminal Justice MSCJ? Program is pretty large but I think the MBA is the largest graduate program. My son is also starting in the academy. The academy is located in Waipahu and Chaminade is in Kaimuki so if you're looking for an Apt. I may suggest something nice would be around Pearlridge area, closer to Waipahu side.

As for the apt.s looking run down. Some do look a bit older but that's part of how some of them look but yet I can assure you, it's Honolulu being an older community. Doesn't take away that it's still very costly.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like.

[Prinny]

Oh also Hawaii Pacific University has a nursing program. It another private school. Not sure the location of their program but I would think the location of one of the hospitals they work w/ would be in Honolulu somewhere. The more I think about it, Pearlridge has nice looking apartments that probably would be in your budget.

[ibanez271]

Presently im only focused on getting through my undergrad studies, though I'm not opposed to going longer. From what I've been reading it seems like a really nice school.
As for the apartments, I appreciate the older homes and architecture of the island. I suppose I got the bad impression from a couple of apartment buildings I saw in Waikiki. I’m really more concerned with the area than the apartments themselves.

[Prinny]

Waikiki is pretty expensive to live but close to Chaminade. Parking will also be a premium if you chose to live in Waikiki. There is a very nice condo privately owned by owners right there on the campus. All units are individually owned as soon as you drive on the campus. It is a lovely campus and they have the most beautiful chapel. If your Catholic or not it is just spectacular!

It would be a long commute to the academy though and the traffic would be awful! The architecture of the condos in Waikiki don't really look much different from anywhere else, just my opinion. Sq. footage is all very small in Hawaii from what you'd be used to.

The campus is on a hill so everything goes up or down. It is also shared w/ an all boys school.

[whynot?]

Perhaps I am being misunderstood, but according to US News & World Report's most recent rankings, Chaminade is in their third tier (USNews.com: America's Best Colleges 2008: Chaminade University of Honolulu: At a glance). You have to scroll down a bit, but it clearly states "U.S. News ranking: Universities-Master's (West), third tier."

Just above that line, it says: "Selectivity: Less selective." In fact, other ranking sites report Chaminade's "selection percentage" at 100%. (Chaminade University of Honolulu - Review and Web Ranking) The University of Hawaii at Manoa's is 60%, as a point of reference, which means they accept 60% of their applicants. BYU-Hawaii's acceptance rate is 30%.

The fact that US News places Chaminade in the third tier, however, means they do not place it in ibanez271's preferred "top 50%." I do not know what rankings or criteria he is referring to, but if it's important, I suggest he double-check before he moves for it.

I mean no disrespect to Chaminade, its programs, or its graduates. It is a very good choice for people who are already in Hawaii. Whether it is a school to move to Hawaii to attend depends upon the circumstances and goals of the individual(s) concerned.