Hey everyone. Sorry if you’re seeing this post again. I reformatted this one better. Anyway, I think these 3 colleges are the final ones I’m considering. I like all of them, but I don’t know which one would be the best for nursing. My family can afford all these schools, but I don’t want to make my parents waste money on me. I also have a younger brother who will be going to college in 3 years. Here are all the pros and cons…
Seton Hall in South Orange, NJ
was offered pre-nursing instead of nursing - i would have to maintain a +3.0 GPA and get no less than a C+ in my freshman year classes. This kinda scares me because one of the freshman year classes is Anatomy & Physiology, which I’ve heard is sometimes a weed-out class in nursing programs. If I got kicked out of pre-nursing, I’d probably switch to Seton Hall’s 5 year occupational therapy program, but nursing is still my #1. Idk if it’s worth the risk though…
most expensive - got some state grant $ but no scholarship. I want to dorm the first year but I might have to commute after that since housing is about $10,000 each year & meal plans are expensive too
can’t have a car until senior year - would have to carpool to clinicals
is in kind of a bad place (one side of town is great & the other is crap)
NCLEX pass rate is in 70% range - pretty disappointing for such a high rated school
closest to home
nice dorms & dining halls
25 to 30 minutes away
Adelphi in Garden City, NY
accepted into nursing with an okay scholarship
can have a car all years
new nursing building is expected to be finished this fall, perfect for me starting college!!
in a very safe rich neighborhood
82% NCLEX pass rate
crappy freshman dorms but thats typical, right? hahah
crappy food, but its minutes away from the Roosevelt Field Mall, which has tons of food options
1 hour away
Widener in Chester, PA
accepted into nursing with a $92,000 scholarship!!! this school would definitely be the cheapest
was actually offered the opportunity to apply to their honors college, but they were requiring a lot of volunteer hours to stay in the college, idk if i can handle that + nursing school
can have a car all years
in chester, PA which is rated #1 more dangerous in PA - how much time will i really be spending off campus though…? philly is only 10 miles away and with my car, living in a bad area might not be so bad… then again, there are gun shots, robberies, etc.
NCLEX pass rate is 80%
okay dorms
pretty good food - they have Moes and Subway
2 hours away
What do you think?? Does anyone know anything about these 3 schools?? Any info would be helpful!!
I would add in the access to NYC; it’s about a 35 minute train ride from the GC train station to Penn Station. And if you do have that car, it’s about 20 or so minutes from the South Shore beaches (google Jones Beach.)
I just checked; it’s associated with Winthrop Hospital, North Shore, and St. Francis hospitals. The first two are Level One Trauma Centers; the third has an incredible reputation for anything related to Cardiology. So, while my knowledge of nursing is limited to the amazing work the doctors and nurses at Winthrop and North Shore did the times I was hospitalized, and the wonderful help my father in law and uncle got from the doctors and nurses at St. Francis, I have to believe that you would get exposure to a wonderful education.
Well I can tell you as a Mom, I would encourage you to attend Adelphi.
Seton Hall: To me it doesn’t seem worth the risk (or expense) to be stressed out your Freshman year wondering if you will get into the nursing program your sophomore year. That’s a lot of pressure, and you have already been accepted to other direct entry programs. As an aside, my daughter was accepted to UNH, but not into their nursing program. At first she also wasn’t sure what to do - but we discussed it and both decided a direct entry program was the only way to go. (she’ll be attending U.Maine in the fall).
Widener: My daughter originally was thinking of applying here, until I read the crime reports for the area. That quickly made her decision not to apply. I would certainly not want my daughter in that area whether she stayed on campus or not.
For a non-direct entry nursing program, you need to ask specific questions. Is that GPA the MINIMUM to apply, or does it provide a guarantee that you will be accepted into nursing? It is possible that it is a competitive process, and you might need a much higher GPA to actually be able to be a nursing major. Please ask for details, such as the AVERAGE GPA of students accepted into the nursing major.
As a nursing major, you will need to be out and about during early morning and late night hours for clinicals. Therefore, safety will be a concern. You can read actual crime information by googling Clery Report and the name of the college.
I wouldn’t worry too much about not having a car for your freshman year.
@bjkmom Wow, thank you so much for the great info!! I had no idea that 2 of the hospitals were level one trauma centers & that the other one was great for cardiology. This relieves me so much because now I know I’d be getting decent exposure to the hospitals. And yes, I did know that Adelphi was very close to NYC and the beaches. We visited twice just in March and it felt like the students there had the best of both worlds. If I was offered a job in the NYC area, I would have a 45 - 60 minute commute from home, but who knows what’ll happen in the next 4 years :stuckouttongueclosedeyes:
@kjc2014 Thank you!! Yeah, my parents and cousins have been encouraging me to do the same. I just want to make this decision on my own so I haven’t been listening lol. The only reason I held onto Seton Hall for so long is because its 25 - 30 minutes from home and I realllllly liked the campus. Everything just felt right. But I guess it really isn’t worth the risk. I would feel like such an idiot if I didn’t get into the nursing program there since I had other great opportunities that I could has chosen. Congrats to your daughter btw!! I hope everything works out for her
@Charliesch Thank you!! Seton Hall actually is direct entry; they just didn’t offer that to me. I emailed the counselor several times and was told that I would be taking the same classes as the nursing students, just with “closer advisement”. Then once my adviser sees that I’m doing okay in school, he/she will matriculate me to the nursing program. I asked about the risks but she didn’t really tell me anything about that. I’ll email her again today. I believe 3.0 is the minimum GPA though. And I just looked at the Clery report for Adelphi and Widener! Yeah, Widener definitely seems more dangerous I’m going to visit this Friday and see if I want to officially cross it off my list.
I’m leaning towards Adelphi right now, so thank you everyone
I was overnight at Winthrop twice (once for a mastectomy, a year later for a thyroidecetomy-- it was a tough year!) They have a sort of concierge service. I don’t know how common it is, but it was amazing to me. One person was assigned to pretty much be my fairy godmother. Any little thing I wanted, I was free to ask about.
The night after my thyroidecetomy, I had a BAD nightmare that kept me up all night. (long story, but it was tied into 9/11 and having my throat slit, and had me crying for a few days later.) Once the nurses realized that I was physically OK, they were wonderful about chatting with me as I walked the halls, quietly giving me comfort. They were amazing.
My reconstruction surgeries were at North Shore. While those were all outpatient, once again the nursing staff was wonderful. One thing that North Shore does that I've never heard of: they give you an ant-acid before surgery. For those people who struggle with anesthesiology (fortunately, not me :) ) it helps things go better in recovery. Not a huge medical breakthrough, but a small step designed to make things easier for the patient.
As to St. Francis, whenever someone on Long Island has a heart issue, they go to St. Francis. It is very much "The heart hospital." The professionals there were incredibly kind to my uncle and to my father in law when they had severe heart issues.
My point is that the nursing staffs at the 3 hospitals that Adelphi is associated with are remarkable professionals. Every nursing student should aspire to learn the compassion and professionalism that I’ve experienced at Winthrop, North Shore and St. Francis.
I’ve never been in the dorms or tasted the food, but there are TONS of fast food places on Long Island. But as far as safety goes, Adelphi is in a wonderful neighborhood.
While my son wants to go away to school, we’ll be more than happy to consider Adelphi in a few years when my daughters get older.
My daughter did a pre-college nursing program at Adelphi and really liked it. She thought that the instructors were verry good. She was very impressed with what she learned about the new nursing building. It’s going to be state of the art! Plus the hospitals associated with it are great learning environments. And of course the area is safe and lovely. Plus its easy to get into NYC and there is wonderful nearby shopping.
We spent 8 hours in the Pediatric ER at Winthop on Wednesday night when my 15 year old daughter had an appendicitis scare. (Turns out to have been something else not quite so scary.)
If you can learn the professionalism and caring of the people in that ER, you will have been very well educated indeed. They were fabulous.
@bjkmom@kjc2014@charliesch@jara123 Thank you all so much for your help!! Your advice played a big role in making a decision and I’m happy to say that I’ll be attending Adelphi University!! Going to a college that has a brand new nursing building and one that is associated with so many wonderful hospitals sounds perfect.
I would also like to point out one thing about Seton Hall’s nursing program in case you come across someone who is interested in going there. A few days ago, I received a letter from the school saying that the nursing program has been placed on “conditional accreditation” based on 3 consecutive years of pass rates below 75% on the NCLEX. The college of nursing is going to submit an 18 month action plan to the NJ Board of Nursing and they have that much time to get their pass rates up. They can also get an extension if they need more time. The letter says that because they updated the curriculum, hired an Assistant Dean for Student Success, and added more NCLEX preparatory classes, their 4th quarter pass rate was 80%. Surprisingly, anyone who goes there CAN still take the exam and get their nursing degree. I, however, didn’t want to take the risk.
@bjkmom I hope your daughter is okay!! I’m really glad you and your family were treated nicely at Winthrop hospital. The fact that you have so many positive things to say about the hospital reassures me that I made the right decision. If she decides to attend Adelphi in the future, maybe we’ll be friends
Hi everyone! I just wanted to update on here since I’m more than half way done with my freshman year at Adelphi!
Honestly, I love it!! Most of my classes and professors are great and I actually do like the dorms. I thought they were all “crappy” because the one I saw on a tour was quite small, but that was a converted triple, so it was supposed to be small. The room I’m living in now is actually quite big (larger than rooms I saw at other colleges) and it’s more than enough space for my friends to come over. My roommate and I actually have people over almost every day and it’s still super comfortable! Adelphi has 2 other suite styled/hotel styled dorms which have rooms that are even larger, so it’s pretty nice!!!
I also noticed that I described the food as “crappy”. I thought this because of reviews I saw on niche.com. However, it’s not THAT bad. It’s not my mom’s cooking, but I’m still living, so I don’t mind it too much. I wish there were more vegetarian options and that some places were open for longer, but they’re working on that. The food places on campus actually started this new initiative where we can text a number to offer suggestions/recommendations/complaints and it’s been very helpful. A ton of people text them every day with ideas and they actually do care + respond. There’s going to be a new grab & go food place in the new Nursing & Public Health building, and I heard a rumor that there’s going to be more options in the Science Building (which is the center of campus) too. I think I judged the food too harshly before actually trying it lol.
Everything else I said about Adelphi still applies. It is in a great neighborhood and there’s literally never a time where I feel unsafe. Public safety is always around and they’re also so nice! The nursing program is one of the best, if not the best, program at this university, so I’m really happy about that. I can’t wait until the new building is finished in the Spring!!!
If anyone has any other questions or is considering attending, feel free to reach out to me! I’d love to help out and give you my two cents lol.
@kchamp No problem!! Just thought I should update since I misjudged some aspects of the college before actually attending. I would hate myself if prospective students made their final decision based on incorrect information I gave lol.
@mjmansuria15 Just a quick note to give you a big Thank You! I’ve been following your journey selecting a Nursing program for quite awhile now. My daughter is a rising HS senior about to begin her Nursing applications. Your research & candid posts about admissions have been so helpful to us. Hope your Freshman year was awesome!
@laseewe Aw thank you so much!! I’m so glad my posts have been helpful to you and your daughter. Narrowing down colleges that I liked + would accept me as a nursing major was definitely a challenge, but it was worth it. I definitely wouldn’t have been successful if I didn’t receive advice from parents and students on this website though, so let me know if you have any questions! Good luck to your daughter with college applications
I’m going to visit this Friday and see if I want to officially cross it off my list.