<p>I know for a fact that i want to go into nursing and to start i want to become a rn. I know i want to get my BSN but there is several routes i can take. The first one is a traditional 2 + 2 program at a 4 year university where i take 2 years of prereqs and 2 years of nursing courses. The problem with this is you could spend 2 years at a university then not get admitted to their nursing program. The second route is a direct entry bsn program. This means once you get admitted to the university you are admitted as a nursing major in your freshman year. The problem with this is their is not many schools with direct entry nursing programs that i am interested in and the ones that i am are a bit of an academic stretch and i dont know if i can get in to the program. So my question is should i do the 2+2 program or direct entry? which one would you choose or are chosing?</p>
<p>Apply to both and keep your options open.</p>
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Expand the number of direct entry programs that you are interested in attending and find one that you can get into.</p>
<p>If you tell us what state you are from, some people on this message board can recommend direct entry schools that are not very difficult for admissions. I live in PA, and there are many here.</p>
<p>i am from MA but plan on going out of state for college. I will probably end up with a 3.5 GPA at the end of high school if i stay on track. Will that GPA get me in to any direct entry programs?</p>
<p>In eastern PA, there are plenty of direct entry nursing programs that are competitive for admission, but not extremely competitive. It is not that bad a drive from parts of Mass. to NE PA via I-84 - you can avoid the NYC and I-95 corridor congestion. Examples include Misericordia U., Wilkes U., DeSales U., York College of PA., Alvernia U., Drexel U., LaSalle U., Bloomsburg U., U. of Scranton, West Chester U., Newmann U., etc. Some of these are public and some are private. Many of the private colleges also offer some 50% off tuition merit scholarships for students towards the top of their applicant pools. </p>
<p>One of the more competitive choices is Penn State main campus. Penn State is noteworthy because they don’t give any preference to in-state students in admission.</p>
<p>Take both the SAT and the ACT. The ACT is best for students who are better in science that math (which includes many nursing majors). Colleges will base their admissions decision on whichever score is better. Many merit scholarships are automatic based upon test scores, so it is worth taking the tests a total of 3 or 4 times.</p>
<p>You can do a search on this site for comments people have made about other programs. Other people seemed to have some good things to say about Fairfield U.'s program, in Connecticut, for example, and the College of New Jersey’s program, which is near Trenton.</p>
<p>Well since you said you were interested in going out of state, I recommend looking into UCLA and UCI for nursing. They are both direct entry programs, very rare here in CA I think there’s only like 3 of them, and both are very good since they are a part of the prestigious University of California. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m from CA; where’s the presitge in these programs? OOS tuition for UCLA and UCI (two sort of mediocre undergrad programs when you look at the clinical hours, location and semester/quarter at which you start your real work) is over $55K. Enjoy getting out in less than 5 years for $55K OOS, then realizing that there is no matriculation into grad programs (UCLA is ranked 21st); oh and they’ll tell you exactly one of their students from the last 2 years has matriculated directly into their graduate programs. UCLA starves their undergrad program; UCI has virtually nothing but an undergrad program.
Go to #1 Penn, #7 U-Pitt, or #15 Case Western–these schools are much more generous (Need-based, Merit-based(2)) and have FAR better undergrad/grad programs, with assured matriculation, than UCLA and UC-I. Clinical hours are double, they start earlier, and you have better placements.</p>