colleges near Jacksonville (Wilmington, New Bern, Mount Olive: apartments, for rent, houses)

[Lisapisa]

My friend and I are considering moving to Jacksonville. Probably not till 2009 when she will be done with nursing school. I have 2 questions.

Any 4 year colleges/ universities near Jacksonville, NC? I would prefer something no further than 1 hour away. I know of UNC Wilmington but that is about it.

And if anyone is a RN, or a nurse? How is the job market for someone right out of college?

Any other info about the area is very much appreciated!

[amc32682]

Well UNCW is about 45 minutes from Jacksonville, give or take. I can't think of any other universities that would be worth the drive. They do have extention courses on Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River for Coastal Carolina Community College, UNCW, Campbell University, and another one I can't think of the name of (starts with a W) on Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River.

Mount Olive College has extention courses in New Bern and Wilimington and *I've heard* on Camp Lejeune (not certain on that one). I think there's some other extention sites, so you should check out their website. If I'm not mistaken though, they sometimes switch up the programs being offered and were. I'm a Criminal Justice major and they were offering a program in Wilimington for their accelerated program. Those with a 2-year degree can get their 4-year in 75-weeks...1 day a week, 4 hours, but you will work your butt off. When I was working at the police department there were several officers doing the Mount Olive thing.

You should probably do some digging because one of the benefits of living in Jacksonville is that you can take advantage of the programs geared toward the military. When I was at the community college, I took most of my classes on base and had, at most, 6 people in each class; I was usually the only female and civilian, but it was all good. Most of my classmates were getting ready to get out of the military, and were just preparing for the world on "the outside." So definitely look into the programs being offered on base. I feel like I'm leaving something out, but if I think of it I'll post again.

I wish I had more information for you on the nursing job market. The only hospitals we have here are Onslow Memorial and Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital. The average rent on a decent apartment is at least $700 (2 bed). If you find something cheaper than that in city limits, it's not worth it. I could certainly name a few places to stay away from. Hmmm, if you look up "apartment ratings" you can get an idea -- just keep in mind that the reviews with a lot of drama in the boards, are usually a sign to stay away. And you have to have a high tolerance of the military. You'll see a lot of young wives who LOVE the drama. **I hope I didn't offend anyone up here, but I've been here most of my life -- my father was a Marine and my ex-husband was in the Navy, so I do have room to talk.** So to be honest, I would try to avoid an apartment's close living environment and look for privately owned houses. You can find a lot of houses for rent cheaper than the apartments -- it's just all about watching the classifieds

I hope this helps, I appologize if this was a bit spacey...it's 6:30am on New Year's and I haven't been to sleep yet, so I'm a bit tired. Any specifics you'd like to know, I'd be more than happy to try and answer them for you.