D17 is applying now and wanted to get your opinion on her approach. We are in No. CA in a competitive public high school. Her GPA is 3.82 with a 26 ACT. She is re-taking her ACT again this month. She has many AP/Honors classes, ECs, varsity sport, cheerleader, 150 volunteer hours in a hospital, additional 150 hours volunteering teaching kids to cheer. She is currently in ROP which means her first 2 classes throughout her Sr. Year are split between medical educational courses and time working in a medical facility. At the conclusion of the program she will be a CNA. She would prefer to stay in CA/west coast for school but knows the direct admits here are nearly impossible to get in to for someone with her GPA so you can see FL thrown in here too. Her plan is to apply to:
Direct Entry Programs
UCI – knowing nursing is a stretch, having a secondary major of bio
ASU
Florida Atlantic
Gonzaga
UCs and CSUs for biology - knowing she will have to get her ABSN when complete
UCSB
SDSU
Cal Poly
Pre Nursing – knowing she will have a hard time getting into nursing and may have to switch to Bio then ABSN
CSU Long Beach
Boise State (Wue school for us)
Her dad and I have good jobs and a small 529 fund so cost of these are all in our range, we wont qualify for aid. We haven’t traveled extensively in the US nor have family in other areas so going to NJ, Ohio, etc… just isn’t in her comfort zone but if there was a really great option with good school spirit, great program, not too expensive or very brutal winters, she may apply and if accepted we would go visit. Any other schools come to mind with her stats and goals? She really wants the 4 year experience so isn’t interested in CC avenue. Thank you!
3 other direct admit programs to consider are Azusa Pacific University, University of San Francisco and Dominican University.
Other than Boise State, I see no other true safety schools. Are you local for CSULB? If not local, pre-nursing may be a stretch there. Cal Poly SLO, UCSB and SDSU will be tough admits for Biology based on her stats currently.
I would add at least 1-2 CSU’s for safeties. Since all the CSU’s are impacted for Pre-Nursing/Nursing, she might want to look at Channel Islands, Dominguez Hills and San Marcos for either Biology or Pre-Nursing.
More UC admission information:
Freshman admit rates for UC GPA of 3.80-4.19 capped weighted and not major specific:
UCB: 12.6%
UCLA: 11.7%
UCSD: 38.7%
UCSB: 53.6%
UCD: 56.5%
UCI: 52.1%
UCSC: 75.7%
UCR: 90.1%
UCM: 96.1%
2018 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCB: 4.23
UCLA: 4.23
UCSD: 4.16
UCSB: 4.13
UCI: 4.13
UCD: 4.11
UCSC: 3.96
UCR: 3.81
UCM: 3.71
25th - 75th percentiles for ACT:
UCB: 30-35
UCLA: 31-35
UCSD: 28-34
UCSB: 28-34
UCD: 26-33
UCI: 26-33
UCSC: 26-32
UCR: 22-30
UCM: 19-26
SDSU Nursing Stats: https://nursing.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Freshman-Admission-Statistics.pdf
UCI Nursing Stats:
Fall 2018 freshman applicants: 2,887
Fall 2018 freshman admissions: 72 (2.5% admitted)
Average UC GPA: 4.24 GPA
Average total SAT score (new version): 1332
SLO Freshman Profile:
College of Science and Mathematics: (Biology acceptance rate around 12%)
Average SLO GPA: 4.18 Average ACT: 31 Average SAT: 1420
thank you @Gumbymom for the input. Is there another major at the non nursing schools that wouldn’t be as hard to get into as bio that would still be on track for eventual ABSN? She really likes SDSU but knows nursing is not an option there. We are not local for CSULB.
We ruled out AP due to religious reqmts and USF and Dominican due to being too close to home. Will have her add a few other state schools. Maybe OOS is her best option.
SDSU is possible with her eligibility index for Biology, however Biology is the most applied major at SDSU so she will have tough competition.
CSU Fullerton would be a good option if she applied for Biology. Here EI is not high enough for their direct admit Nursing program, but as a Biology major she can take the Nursing pre-req’s and apply for an internal transfer at the end of her Sophomore year similar to CSULB’s Nursing program.
Any of the other Cal States are good options if she wants the 4 year Biology degree and attend a post-Bacc nursing program afterwards or do the Pre-Nursing program 2+2. Other than the top Cal States: SLO, SDSU, CSULB she has good decent chance at a Biology major and even Pre-Nursing at the other Cal States.
San Jose State’s Pre-Nursing EI last year was 4050 and your D’s is around 4326. Have her apply widely to the Cal States and I am sure she will have several options.
Have you looked at this thread for some suggestions: http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/nursing-major/1968104-direct-nursing-admit-journey-for-a-california-a-b-student.html
I second the recommendation of Gumbymom to read that thread. It was very helpful for us when we went through this process last year. There are excellent direct entry schools including out of state for CA students that provide great merit. We applied to many of the same schools listed including U of Portland and Gonzaga.
What about Seattle University? They were fairly generous with scholarship money for my DD last year. The cost to attend Seattle University as a nursing major was within 1K of UCR, Biology (living in dorm). My daughter decided to attend a direct-entry PA program instead, but was considering nursing as a back up option. We’re in SoCal, and it was so stressful to know that our daughter might not be accepted to any local direct-entry nursing programs after working so hard in school.
Thank you all for the input. I have read the thread suggested, sever al times :-). D17 has now applied to Seattle and Portland and has added CSU Chico and Sonoma State to her pre nursing choices. I really hope she has some direct entry choices, it just seems to make so much more sense than the 5+year plans the others offer. Plus, I read up on what classes a bio major takes + the fact that they are filled with pre-med students and it doesn’t sound great. Any other thoughts welcome, I do appreciate them. @JennsBaby Sky, what were your daughters stats if you don’t mind. Thanks!
I’m trying to remember her stats, I think SAT was 1360, her weighted GPA at graduation was 4.38 and unweighted 3.85 (not positive what it was at application time). She took quite a few community college courses concurrent enrollment and a couple honors classes each year. I think she differentiated herself with activities - she did an oncology internship at a prestigious university with 5 other high school students that was life changing. It really sealed her desire for working with patients. She was the president of her school’s chapter of science national honor society and volunteered at a local pediatric office and hospital. She was a member of a couple other clubs and played sports early in high school. She worked hard during the application process, but is really happy with how everything worked out.
Has she looked at USF? A higher ACT result would put her in a better range for acceptance.
What about CSUF. Your daughter can apply for there too for nursing. It’s very competitive.