DD20 intends to apply for nursing. Her stats are good but not outstanding and she wants to have maximum options.
When you applied for nursing major, did you list a second choice? Some schools have outright said that if you list nursing and aren’t accepted, they won’t accept you to the university UNLESS you list a second choice major. If you do list a second choice major, are you less likely to be taken seriously as a nursing applicant?
She really wants to be a nurse, but also wants a full university experience rather than some of the small colleges that offer nursing but not a full range of majors. She would consider an alternative major and apply later to nursing if she can’t get into a direct entry program.
If she is willing to consider accepting a spot in her second choice major, that may indicate that she really doesn’t have her heart set on nursing.
If she isn’t certain, it may be better for her to go to a school with non-direct admit nursing, as that will give her the chance to try things out before committing to a program. There are a lot of schools like VCU or University of South Carolina that may be a good fit for that situation.
My daughter only wants nursing, and therefore didn’t list a second choice. It’s nursing or she’s not going.
What size school is your D looking for? What other criteria are you considering. The list below is what we used but your list will probably be different. My D did not enter any alternate majors for any schools that I recall.
We went through the selection process for top direct entry BSN programs a year ago. We found that the ranking process is difficult. BSN rankings are scattered across different ranking sites. Try bringing up the same program across various rankings sites (such as college choice, niche or college factual) and you might see the discrepancies. We quickly turned to other factors to help with our selection. While numbered to help with formatting to make easier to read they are not in any order.
direct entry status - varies from program to program what it actually means. minimum progression requirements?, dedicated nursing adviser to ensure students get required classes?
proximity to hospitals for clinicals - how far are these to campus?, how many hospitals participate with clinicals?
size of school and surrounding city - what’s the best fit for you? how many students per cohort, start times?
quality of nursing lab - ?
NCLEX pass rate - a stat that can be manipulated as discussed in this forum, but a check the box data point
Merit award criteria / cost of attendance - can you afford it especially if you are out of state? criteria to renew merit?
road map / 4 year plan - % of students graduate in 4 years? if program takes longer is that covered by merit? AP/DE counts toward what courses?
opportunities such as study abroad, externship/internship resources, masters program - to name a few. lots to consider
I remember there was a second choice option on one nursing application (University of Cincinnati, where she now goes as a nursing student).
She put nursing as her first and second choice. I can’t remember any other schools on her list that had that option. I guess she would have been placed in pre-nursing if she didn’t get direct admit, and in that case she would have gone elsewhere.