I agree that this student can accomplish her goals by attending one of her state schools. If that state school is SUNY Binghamton (direct admit), competitive applicants will have AP classes.
There are lots of colleges where one can get a BSN. Some have many applicants taking AP classes, and others do not. It depends on where she wants to go.
I’m fairly certain Pitt’s nursing acceptance is not 64% or anywhere near that. Maybe Pitt’s overall acceptance is 64%.
Duke’s overall acceptance rate is under 10%. Probably closer to 5%. Same for Penn. No way nursing rate is higher.
Maybe grad school nursing acceptance is higher but not undergrad.
There are not any pre-professional type programs offered at her high school, although there are private CNA options she could pursue on her own. (Unfortunately, because of her late summer birthday, she will have to wait awhile before she is old enough to apply). She attends a test-in high school that emphasizes AP classes rather than professional or vocational training. I understand this is somewhat limiting, but it is the system we are working in. The good news is that her school appears to place multiple students every year in direct admit BSN programs (this year about 20 total – with Iowa, Michigan and Loyola having the highest number of admits).
While we are definitely not at the college list stage of things yet, my D has expressed an interest in a traditional, school-spirit-type campus. Our state flagship does not have a direct admit BSN program. Looking at the direct-admit list on another thread here, I could imagine her wish list might include colleges such as Miami, Pitt, Michigan, Tennessee, Iowa, Purdue, Clemson, TCU, etc. These are schools I think she might have a shot at generally, but possibly not as a BSN direct admit major.
I would try for direct entry, otherwise she will have to attend an accelerated BSN after graduation.
As a side note, it sure would be helpful to have a break down of acceptance rates for BSN programs (separate and apart from the general admissions percentage). I just googled University of Iowa out of curiosity. The general acceptance rate is 86% but, according to a post on this page from November 2022, the direct admit BSN acceptance rate is 18% ?!?
I would suspect any top, direct admit nursing program would be 20% or lower. It wouldn’t surprise me if it was 10% or less.
I know the caliber of some recent Pitt nursing students from our HS. Impressive.
Other paths:
Also, with direct admit BSN programs, check the weed-out GPA requirements. Some have GPA requirements as high as 3.5 to stay in the program.
Old thread and current link to USF with stats and acceptance rates.
Here’s a link to USF.
NYU released the acceptance rates for some of their individual schools for the Class of 2026. The nursing school — Rory Meyers College of Nursing — was at 3%, the lowest acceptance rate of any of NYU’s undergraduate schools. (Stern and CAS were next at 7% each).
Oops. I meant to say try for direct entry programs. If you attend a school where you apply after 2 years, you may not get in. Attending an ABSN program adds a lot to the cost.
I know people who applied to reach schools (reach for them, not talking about a school like Duke), got accepted to the general school OOS and did not make nursing after two years. These people ended up in ABSN programs for an additional $100,000+. That was unnecessary, as these students were accepted to direct entry programs at lower ranked schools and turned them down in order to attend their reach school, knowing acceptance to nursing may not happen.
I would choose direct admit schools, and I would include safety schools that are direct admit. Beginning at a CC is an option, but some CC’s are very competitive for entry and some students want a traditional experience. But yes, it is a very good option for some.
It was reported above that nursing is not competitive. Many students attend schools where they have to apply after two years and do not gain acceptance, so clearly it is competitive for these students. There are also very strong students who get rejected from direct admit programs at very competitive schools.
Lots of direct admit programs in PA.
St Olaf in MN also has a direct admission nursing program.
All are very competitive but the “right” classes may not be exactly the same as the general profile for top programs, just like aiming for Harvard in Math and Harvard in Classics would imply different profiles. A high GPA is a must, as is evidence of academic rigor, but that can be demonstrated in various ways.
If she has 4 social science classes with World/European History, US History (often one or both at AP level) + 2 other classes, she’s fine. If these 2 are, say, Economics and Human Geography, it’s okay - AP Psych is just useful once admitted, but for admission purpose 4 History/Social Science classes is what matters.
Calc AB will imply rigor for admission purpose but AP Stats is more useful once admitted, that’s why I was suggesting taking both if she’s able to.
Thanks. This makes sense – the difference between rigorous versus useful classes, and trying to find overlap as much as possible. (As a side note, her social sciences classes will be AP HUG, AP World, APUSH and AP Govt or Civics. So she will hit the ones you mentioned.)
Everyone, thanks again for weighing in. Lots of good information for my D. Most surprising were some of those admissions stats – yikes!
This is my third kid, so I have a pretty good idea where she will end up in terms of GPA and SAT. The learning curve, for me, relates to BSN programs/pathways, so I appreciate the input, links, etc.
Be wary of non-nurses who love to chime in on these threads. Nursing program admissions are typically very competitive at most schools due to the amount of clinical slots allotted per class year. There can be only so many students per clinical instructor in the clinical areas so class numbers (compared to other majors) are usually much lower. The general admission rate for a specific college/university typically is not the same for the direct-entry BSN program.
A good example is UMass-Amherst. General acceptance rate is around 65%; nursing program acceptance rate is about 10-12%.
Same sentiments as expressed all along here–
Examples-- UMaine & UNH both have a ~90% admission rate… but their nursing programs- forget it, ~10% admissions rate…!! SUNY Plattsburgh, the DA BSN program admission rate is ~4%. Just a few examples!! 
Talking as a nursing instructor here. Direct admit programs for BSN are best. I could conclude that any “highly ranked” nursing program likely has less than a 20% admit rate for nursing.
Option 1 with AP Bio is what I would suggest. As someone else said, look into taking CNA certification at a local community college/tech school/or nursing facility nearly. They can do this in high school. Volunteering for healthcare events or for any disadvantaged group is favorably looked at. Your essay about the “why” for nursing school typically matters a bit more than other programs.
Things to look for in a nursing school or questions to ask:
What are their NCLEX pass rates? How have recent grads with the new Next Gen NCLEX which opened in April been doing?
How many students to they accept into a cohort?
How close are clinical sites (as often a car or other transportation may be needed)? I would not find it unusual to have to drive up to an hour to get to a clinical site and sometimes very early in the morning when public transit may not be available.
What GPA needs to be maintained and what is the lowest passing grade in each class?
Things that don’t really matter as much:
National rankings of nursing programs. You will get a job no matter where you go to college.
Your GPA in nursing school alone will not exclude you from getting into NP school if that is your goa.
Also need to know:
While NCLEX is a national standard test, each state has their own nursing education requirements. Thus clinical hours and such may vary. Example, California may have different requirements for licensure than another state (microbiology perhaps) so if you want to go to nursing school in a different state then which you intend to practice, be aware.
Be aware there are “Compact Nursing States.” Compact Nursing States List 2023 | Licensure Map
You do not have to go to college in a Compact licensure state to take the NCLEX there. Many students will take NCLEX in one of the compact states to have more flexibility in job options. But as you can see from the map, if I take my NCLEX in Wisconsin, but then want to work in IL, I will have to pay a fee and await for an Illinois license to be mailed to me. So choose NCLEX state wisely.
While travel nursing can be great, I do not recommend it unless you have 2 years of experience in working in your specialty area. Wages for travel nurses are drying up a bit post pandemic. There seems to be a glorification of travel nursing on social media lately. It can be awesome but sadly still too often travelers are given least wanted shift hours, heavy patient loads, and very little to no orientation. So one must have a thick skin and be confident and strong in their knowledge first.
Please, do not tell your kid they should be an NP “because they are so smart.” RN’s are also smart. And sorry, I made more as a staff nurse than most entry level NP’s in my area and quite frankly, I was more intelligent and competent (with much love to my NP friends and colleagues). Letters after your name does not equal higher IQ, its just a different job. If your kid hates being a nurse, they likely wont love being an NP. Healthcare in America is a mess no matter what your role.
Thank you for all of this! There is a lot of info here for me to unpack.
Regarding experience opportunities during high school, I actually have a nurse-friend who teaches at a nearby CNA certification program in a private hospital. She suggested my D apply in the summer when she is age-eligible (16 years old here) because the time commitment of the 12-week CNA program can be difficult to juggle with school. Unfortunately, because of my D’s late summer birthday, that means waiting until the summer between junior and senior year. But I definitely think she will pursue this! It seems like a great way to get experience and exposure. And she is not currently having any luck finding shadowing or other opportunities in our area.
Regarding licensing, am I understanding correctly that a nurse who is licensed in a “Compact Nursing State” has flexibility to practice in any of the other compact nursing states? If so, that’s good info to tuck away for the future.
And no worries about the NP thing. That’s not on my D’s radar right now. I actually think she is most interested in surgical nursing right now. But she’s so young that it’s impossible to predict where she’ll ultimately land.
Anyway, I’m glad I reached out early because planning is going to be important if she ultimately pursues a direct admit BSN program. Sounds like she would benefit from some nursing-specific activities/experiences. And she will definitely have to cast a wider net than my other two kids.
Thank you
Shadowing post pandemic is very difficult, thus look for opportunities elsewhere. Volunteer at clinics for low income or unhoused persons. Meals for elderly or veterans programs. Best Buddies chapters in the area? Special Olympics volunteers. Just some options.
You are correct about the compact nursing states.
Don’t get me wrong, I also think associates degree/community colleges or non direct entry paths can work just fine as well. But for someone who is certain they want nursing, being accepted into the nursing program from the start works best typically.
My hs class of 2023 kid applied for music programs which is totally different approach so I get it!
I’m respiratory and work with lots of nursing students working as aides at a peds rehab. They come from all types of schools and backgrounds. So I concur that which nursing program your daughter attends matters very little for the big picture. Some schools definitely have better clinical sites and outcomes though. Deep dive into different curriculums within each school. Some might have more requirements outside of basic nursing training. For example one student was able to go to Australia for a semester as part of the program while another student wasn’t able to go abroad at all due to the scheduling of classes. Volunteering as a younger teen can be any type of human facing activity. The VA nursing home in my area allows younger kids to participate in activities, being around the vets is really great experience. Even a hospital volunteer who directs visitors to the patient room number is a good start. More intense health care duties as a EMT or CNA can come when she’s older. There’s a nationwide shortage of nursing educators so all types of programs are getting more and more selective.
Definitely have your daughter take anatomy and physiology at some point in high school. My daughter is a rising junior BSN major at UTampa, and having taken A&P in high school helped her tremendously in college. Good luck to her!