Hi, is there a comprehensive list anywhere of 2+ 2 schools? DD20 needs more options than direct admit.
Thank you very much!
another way of looking at the direct admit list, is that, colleges that are not on that list are most likely 2+2
some of the pre-nursing programs offer some kind of guaranteed admission ( for honors students + certain college GPA requirement ) & those students do not have to apply to the upper level Nursing major like all the other applicants have to,
you may want to email / ask any colleges you are interested, to see if they offer this option.
when my Ds applied to colleges a few years back, i started by looking at all my in-state colleges, that would be a good starting point. Look at the direct admit list & look at your state, you’ll be able to filter out quickly which of the colleges in your state/area is / or is not 2+2.
What state are you in? perhaps someone can offer you more insight
Hope this helps
sorry for any typos
Putting this back out there to see if anyone has had good experiences at a NON direct nursing school, still graduating in 4 years with a BSN without direct entry. We are in MA, but anywhere in Northeast or MidAtlantic is an option.
My DD is a good student but struggles with the ACT and she feels that may hinder her acceptance into some nursing programs. Just looking for some other ways to reach her goal.
@TimeFlies2 I am at a “2+2” school and am on track to graduate spring 2021 instead of 2022 like my class would have, which I wouldn’t have been able to do at a direct entry school. Despite what everyone on here says about going to a 2+2 school only if you aren’t sure about nursing, I have been sure since I was a kid and still am “sure.” The direct entry schools that I got into weren’t smart decisions financially and I have come to not worry about getting into the program at this point. I got a 4.0 last semester and pretty much locked getting a 4.0 this semester, so as long as your daughter is willing to apply herself to her studies, I believe that she will be fine.
She ought to consider the Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) to RN path in addition to 2+2 programs. You get an ADN degree at a community college and qualify for the RN test. This makes you employable right then although a BSN is a better degree to have. So you continue on in school for the BSN. RN->BSN programs tend to be easier to get into; out here in CA some say they accept all qualified candidates (look for example at the Fullerton nursing website). And, again if money is a concern, as a RN you can even pick up a few shifts during school and fulltime during breaks to earn money for school.
The ADN path is lower risk than enrolling at a college that is not direct-admit. It comes with some downsides. You don’t get the same 4-year experience you would if you attend a DA school. You need to be pretty sure you want to be a nurse; it is easier to change majors and continue on if you are already enrolled at a 4-year. Upsides are the lower cost at a CC, the better chance to get into a BSN program than you have at a non-DA school, having a marketable degree after 2 years of college (which you won’t after 2 years of pre-nursing curriculum at a 4-year). If you go the ADN route look for schools that have a good NCLEX pass rate.
@socalnurse great response it’s real and it doesn’t fall into this this “trap”! That you must go direct
My daughter is at Catholic University which is considered a 2+2 but I think that is very misleading. Pre-nursing students must maintain at least a C in pre-nursing classes along with a minimum GPA and pass certain HESI exams. All students who meet these requirements are accepted into the nursing school. My daughter just finished her sophomore year and she is not aware of any students who did not progress due to the HESI. She felt she was well prepared.
There were other schools she considered that required students to pass the HESI exam to stay in their nursing programs or to take the NCLEX. These schools were direct entry but really didn’t offer any advantage over the program my daughter is in. Truthfully, if a student cannot pass the HESI then they will likely not pass the NCLEX.
@TimeFlies2 Depending on your daughter’s gpa and test scores, she may not have as tough of a time as you think. There are several direct entry schools in the Mid-Atlantic area that are not as competitive as one would think especially after seeing the stats on this board. My daughter was a high stats kid but she has friends who were not and still found a program.
Thanks for more comments on this thread!
Here is DD’s situation at this point. She doesn’t like me posting actual numbers so I will be general.
She definitely wants nursing, 100%. But she also definitely wants a full university experience so is unwilling (right now) to look at smaller schools or schools where the nursing program is distinctly superior to the university as a whole.
She has an A- GPA. Good EC’s and plenty of people who can give her recommendations, once we figure out how that part works. (Most schools say GC + 1 teacher, but people send more…? )
Her ACT score is horrible. She will try again, and may do somewhat better, but this is going to be her single biggest flag on her application.
So. She is going to apply to some direct entry programs at larger schools but will indicate a second choice major. If she doesn’t get into nursing, she is prepared to do pre-nursing and apply for an accelerated BSN later. We realize it’s more expensive. And maybe after a year or two of undergrad she can change course and transfer into nursing where she is or somewhere else. Since the direct entry nursing schools don’t seem to take many transfers, we are back to looking at schools where one applies to nursing after freshman year.
Please keep the ideas coming. They are appreciated.
Has your daughter tried the SAT? My daughter did significantly better on the SAT than she did on the ACT. My son was the opposite. Is your daughter taking any AP courses? There are some schools that are test-optional or test-flexible for admissions, though many of them do require some type of standardized test scores for prospective nursing/pre-nursing students. Drexel is test-flexible and may be an option if AP test scores are good. Nursing schools often have multiple standardized tests (HESI and others) that students need to take in preparation for the all-important NCLEX. All of these tests favor good standardized test takers. I’ve been doing some research for my younger daughter, who also doesn’t do well on standardized tests. I’m not sure that it is possible for a poorer test taker to be too fussy about type of school if he/she really wants to become an RN. Also be aware that the ABSN programs at larger schools also tend to be very competitive for admissions.
@TimeFlies2 At least a few of the direct-entry programs my daughter was accepted to had an ACT requirement of 21. Not all direct-entry programs require a high ACT (although it always helps).
I’ll put it out there … my daughter’s ACT was a 25 and she got into all the programs she applied to. She took it several times, and just couldn’t raise it. So not everyone is scoring in the 30s.
I guess it depends on what @TimeFlies2 means by a “horrible” ACT score… For some on CC, it may mean below 30. For me, having a son who originally scored a 13, it has a different meaning. Yes, there are plenty of schools that will consider a 21; some will consider a 20, a 19, or even an 18. However, these tend to be smaller, less well-known schools, of the type that the OP’s daughter has so far ruled out.
@bearcatfan Can you throw out some names of schools? It would give my DD hope. Your D is at Cincinnati, right? It is on my D’s list.
On the one hand, we are trying hard to get her to broaden her list to other schools. We are in MA, and she won’t consider some of the lower ranked schools in the state system, yet. On the other hand, we figure that if she takes her time and completes pre-req’s more slowly at a college she otherwise likes, she will be maturing all that time and much less picky about where she would apply for an accelerated BSN later. Another advantage is that 4 years later she might know better where she wants to be geographically, and look for schools in that area.
Having to take more standardized tests later does worry us, since ACT is so hard for her (SAT was just as bad or worse). Our hope is that she will improve with time and experience. If she doesn’t, then nursing may not work for her but we’re not up to that point yet.
@TimeFlies2 The schools my daughter applied to are in Ohio, and I’d be glad to share our experiences if you want to PM.
Having gone through this, I will say that one can’t be super picky about direct admit nursing programs because they are very competitive. I’ve even told parents whose kids got into Cincinnati as pre-nursing to take a direct admit elsewhere and run. Some schools are stats-driven, and others are holistic. My daughter didn’t have the highest ACT score in the world, and I’ve heard anecdotally that UC denied a couple kids who scored in the 30s. It’s a bit of a crapshoot sometimes.
My daughter applied to 7 direct admit schools and got into all of them. A mix of state schools and smaller private schools. From memory, at least one had a minimum ACT score of 21. Some she was fine with, others she applied just because they were direct admit and pretty much disliked everything else about them. She would have been fine, though, and focused on the direct admit above other things.
I have noticed that her tests, at least in nursing courses, are based on the format of the NCLEX. She has a bad habit of going back and changing answers, and I have pretty much made her memorize “the first answer is always the best answer” before she takes a test. That has helped, and she is a lot better at them now.
I’ll just throw this out there, too - do you think your daughter would qualify for any accommodations for the test, such as extra time?