<p>hey, i am a junior right now and am planning to go to nursing school and eventually become a nurse- midwife. at least- that has been the plan since i knew where babies came from. i have these six schools in mind and was wondering which would be the overall best experience/ education/ cheapest and if there are any others that are obviously similar to them:</p>
<p>umass amherst (first choice)
uconn
udel
unewhampshire
pitt
and endicott, even though it's much smaller than i'd prefer</p>
<p>yes, im like 15 minutes away from umass which is why it’s my first choice. but i don’t know if it’s worth spending the extra money to go to somewhere potentially better.</p>
<p>That’s a good question, which your parents be able to afford the oos costs of UConn and Pitt which are about 38,000 a year. I don’t know the specific numbers for umass instate tuition but I would assume it’s significantly less. If you have good grades and sat scores you may end up get scholarship money and grants from those oos publics which would make the cost closer to umass. I’m from NJ but never had an interest in attending my state flagship Rutgers, so I applied also applied to Pitt and UConn. I received grants from both and a half tuition scholarship from UConn which made it cost only 18,000 a year which is even less than instate tuition at UConn and at my flagship. So some oos publics are fairly generous but my first choice was UMaryland college park but I got zero aid so was unable to attend so some big publics are very great with oos student aid. Also since your only 15 mins away from umass are you planning on commuting?</p>
<p>UMass, UConn, UDel, and Pitt all have top notch Nursing Programs and you can, if you apply yourself, obtain an excellant nursing education at any of them. To become a Nurse Mid-Wife it will require at least a Nursing Masters Degree (and in the not too distant future a Doctoral Degree might be required) which will require at least 2 yrs. of full time study post BSN and is very expensive (and there is little, if any, scholarship money available for Master Degrees). You would be best off paying as little as possible for your BSN (as long as you go to a quality program) and save your money for Grad School. You also should be aware that most all Nursing Grad Programs require BSN Grads to work for at least a year before applying. So, if you are interested in finding a job in your current home area following graduation with your BSN, attending a local school would also increase your chances of getting a job post graduation. Establishing contacts with hospitals while in undergraduate training currently appears to be one of the most significant factor in finding a job post graduation (unfortunately the job market for new nursing grads is poor right now - hopefully it will improve by the time you graduate). All of these schools are highly competitive for admission to the Nursing Major so I hope you have done well in HS. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Apply to all of them, plus a couple in-state colleges that serve as both admissions and financial safeties. Remember admission to a nursing program is typically much more difficult than admission to the general population of a college.</p>
<p>People also need to consider the availability of state financial aid, which may be another incentive to go to an in-state college. For example, a typical middle income PA. resident might get a $3,000 grant each of four years to go to a private in-state school vs. nothing from the state to attend a college in New Jersey or Maryland, and $300 to attend a college in Virginia. Other states have similar policies that allow little or no aid for students attending out of state colleges.</p>
<p>im going to be a junior come fall in PITT’s nursing program…this choice was almost a no brainer for me because I am an in-state student, and also the school is located across the state for mem having the distance to get away from home. The program here is absolutely unbelievable so far. The professors here are amazing, always willing to take time out of their lives to help you, seriously. Each class that I have had used TA’s to hold study sessions before groups that the whol enursing class was able to attend. All of our classes are usualyl with the same people, about 120 per lecture, and the schedules are basically set from semester to semester. The first two years here you take A&P 1/2, microbiology, chem for health professions, and some liberal arts to get out of the way. Also you take your first nursing classes freshman year because we start clinicals first semester of soophomore year. Clinical rotations are located throughout pittsburgh, and ive gotten lucky to not have to take a bus to another facility. though some students might need to take the bus, all locations are within id say 10 minutes. My first year of rotations I have seen more than I thought i would ever see, ever haha. The academics are very challenging as all nursing programs are, so be ready to give up some weekend partying on occasion to spend all night studying pharmacology…Were still able to have a social life here, in fact I joined a fraternity on campus as well as half of the other students in the program. Overall the experience has been amazing and I have learned so much already. Come fall I have geri/psych/and another medsurg rotation(s) which comes to three days a week and then peds and OB rotation(s) in the spring. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.</p>
<p>I also decided between pitt and udel, but the reputation that pitt has for their programs (7th in graduate nursing) I couldn’t pass up, also because it was an in-state school. Also PITT has amazing research faculty in which offers to students come around quite a bit. I am doing research on mental health with a professor currently and it’s honestly so much fun haha. Not to forget UPMC is a world renowned medical center with teaching hospitals all on our campus. we have montefiore, presby, magee-womens, the VA hospital, and western-psych hospitals directly on our campus that i pass everyday. any other questions, feel free to ask!</p>
<p>My decision this year came down to between Pitt and UDel…both are fantastic programs, but being out of state for both, UDel was significantly cheaper! (pitt has a higher tuition for the nursing school) Definitely looking forward to the next 4 years! :)</p>
<p>I will be entering Pitt’s school of nursing this fall and I’m so excited. I too am in state, and Pitt was my one and only choice.</p>
<p>My ultimate goal was to go on to to get a master’s degree and become a nurse practitioner. Now however, I’ve been told that as of this year in order to become a nurse practitioner, I will need a DNP (3 year program instead of 2 years). </p>
<p>Are you going on to graduate school at Pitt? Have you been able to work at all while in school?</p>
<p>For invader71
I’m from Texas and interested in UConn’s Kinesiology program since you got a half tuition scholarship from UConn would you mind telling SAT/ACT scores, GPA, and any ECs that you think would help me?</p>
<p>What was your source for the change for NP certification to a Doctorate to get NP certification beginning this year. It was my understanding that they were planning on starting this requirement for any nurses starting Graduate Degree programs after 2015. I have seen no formal announcement from the ANA or ANCC regarding this. Of course if you are just starting nursing school as a freshman then this would be correct. Is this what you mean?</p>
<p>@kef3618: congratulations, youre going to love the program here!! but from me understanding while I have been looking at graduate programs myself, many programs across the country are slowly moving away from the MSN degree and changing it to a DNP program. Pitt currently still has the MSN route, but by 2015 we might not be seeing many MSN programs. With that being said, there are programs outt here that have a direct entry DNP program for student who finished their BSN. Personally, I will be attending graduate school one I graduate in two years, but the location is still unknown. Pitt does offer admission into the DNP program for a certain few areas, so we will see. As for working while in school, freshman year I did not. I tired to sophomore year at a restaurant serving, but it quickly became so crazy with school work I had to stop. I have plenty of friends that work while still taking classes. It all comes down to if you are able to balance the school load with work and other things going on. The first two years of this program and extremely rigorous, so expect a lot of sleepless nights haha. Come this fall though I will be holding a job, hopefully I got the swing of things down…If you have any other questions, let me know! i am more than willing to be of any assistance that I can.</p>
<p>Check out Pitt’s graduate nursing school web page. I believe it says that beginning June 2, 2011, they will no longer accept applications for MSN into the NP program. I believe that anyone who is already in the program is grandfathered in. However, since I won’t be graduating until 2015, I will have to go the DNP route.</p>
<p>pitt does have the direct entry DNP from your BSN for a select few i believe. also a lot of the DNP programs i have looked at so far give you a masters degree once the work is completed…</p>
haha. Come this fall though I will be holding a job, hopefully I got the swing of things down…If you have any other questions, let me know! i am more than willing to be of any assistance that I can.</p>