<p>I am currently deciding between two colleges (South Carolina and Florida State). Each college's nursing program is set up slightly different. Florida State is a four year program in which you must be admitted into the nursing program your freshman year. South Carolina is also a four year program but consists of two divisions. The first division is prerequisite classes to gain acceptance into the upper division (many sciences, math, one nursing course per semester). After your sophomore year you would apply into the higher division and once accepted all courses are nursing/clinical. </p>
<p>I was wondering if their were any pros/cons to either nursing program? Does it really matter how they are set up? Any information on either types of nursing programs would be beneficial!</p>
<p>If you are sure you want to be a nurse, a direct-entry (four year) program is the way to go. With a 2 + 2 program, you run the risk of not being admitted to the upper level / nursing program…then you have a problem.</p>
<p>I had to make the same choice, different schools…and I ended up choosing a school that was not my first choice even though I had been accepted by my first choice school because I didn’t want to run the risk of not being admitted to the nursing program – it just didn’t seem worth it, and with the school that was lower on my list, I was admitted as a freshman when they admitted me to the school.</p>
<p>D also chose a 0-4 program instead of a 2+2 because she didn’t want to go through the stress of having to apply to an upper division program. Nursing classes are typically pretty small. The nature of the education, such as the requirement for hospital rotations, usually restricts the numbers of students that can be passed through the program. Even at the school my D selected (which is not extremely selective), we were told they received more than 4 applications for each spot in the nursing program. </p>
<p>You should find out if 2+2 schools accept transfer applications into the upper division program. See if they will tell you how many applications they had for those upper division openings, which will give you a sense of the competition. Some of the 2+2 schools will release the profile of their admitted students, so you can see whether the students who move into the next level actually needed a 3.0 or a 4.0 to move on. </p>
<p>You can also ask if there are any guarantees that their own lower division students will be accepted if they get a certain GPA, or if freshmen are ever offered other guaranteed acceptances. </p>
<p>I don’t know whether it’s worth comparing prereqs, and whether it’s possible to try to change nursing programs by applying to your first choice school from the safety of a 0-4 program. Someone else may know whether that’s an impossiblity.</p>
<p>I understand… so ultimately I am better off going to a school where I was admitted as a freshman into their program rather then a 2+2 school where I run the risk of not being admitted.</p>
<p>Another question: with a program where you are admitted freshman year, are you better off? Do you start clinicals earlier? do you take more ‘nursing-related’ courses earlier?</p>
<p>As noted above, see if you can get info on what it takes to get into the 3rd nursing program. It may be extremely competitive, with only 25% getting admitted, or it might be easy as long as you have a 3.0 or higher in prerequisites. It varies from college to college.</p>
<p>(PS - I’ve seen a few direct entry nursing schools start to announce that they will no longer take anyone who did not enter the program as a freshman.)</p>
<p>In many programs where you are accepted freshman year, they have a nursing class or two, and in the majority of them (at least as far as I’ve seen), you start clinicals sophomore year vs. starting clinicals junior year.</p>
<p>I can’t comment on all direct-entry programs. My D at Pitt has had one nursing class each of her first two semesters, and starts clinicals in the Fall (first semester sophomore year).</p>
south carolina was my first choice so now I’m stuck in a tough situation.</p>