bsn: what's important? prestige or $

College Majors Nursing Major
1

currently a high school junior narrowing down list of colleges to apply for. if I want to go into nursing/get a bsn (eventually become a CRNA after i get my masters in nurse anesthesiology) how important is it to go to a top college? looking at CWRU, emory, upenn (dream school), umich, uwash, upittsburgh, uillinois. also heard many of those schools don’t give much financial aid which I really need, but is it worth taking out student loans to go to a more reputable school? visited upenn, case western, and emory, the first 2 of which i loved, but my number 1 is currently CWRU bc of its 4 year nursing and higher acceptance rate (the fancy new nursing building doesn’t hurt either but someone told me they don’t give much $$$) so…do I play it safe and apply to schools that will give more aid or do I try for the more selective, less generous colleges?

background info: 35 act, 4.5 weighted (thus far), wanting to go to college/work/live in the NE or NW or just out of the south (exception for emory bc it has a great nursing program and atlanta is pretty diverse), currently in TN so all tuition would be out of state for me

2

also looking at boston college bc i grew up in south boston and love it there

3

If UPenn is your dream school why not apply? Too many people make application decisions filtering first for headline tuition figures. It is a common mistake.

I think you will find the total cost differential between OOS public vs private universities (and often vs in-state public) is a lot less than you may think when you add on all the non-tuition costs. Elite private institutions often have superior scholarship and financial aid packages too, because they have large endowments.

I would apply to schools you want to apply to driven by the factors most important to you excluding headline tuition cost (seems like reputation is important to you, and I don’t disagree) and let the $ chips fall where they may wherever you are accepted. You will have precise $ comparisons including tuition, non-tuition expenses, scholarships, grants, etc… at that point.

4

when looking for a BSN program your first criteria ought to be direct-admit. As for prestige, nursing is more standardized than just about any other major. You need to pass the NCLEX exam to become an RN. So my expectation is prestige plays a much smaller role than it would for the typical humanities major, although (full disclosure) I don’t work in the field so I don’t have first-hand knowledge. You ought to ask this and other questions on the “nursing major” sub-forum where you are more likely to get responses from those in the field.

You should also look at the application procedure at schools you are considering. Some schools require supplemental applications for nursing, including recs from those that know you from a medical setting and they also give preference to those with relevant experience. I assume you have already been volunteering in medicine to get first-hand knowledge this is a fit for you

5

It all depends upon your family’s EFC on paper and how much they can actually afford to or are willing to pay. As far as schools go, sometimes cheaper one becomes more expensive for high EFC families and vice versa. You should look for schools with most generous need based aid and merit scholarships and pick ones where you’ll be a strong candidate to get more favourable outcomes. Improve your SAT score. If you are National Merit then it should be easier to get merit money, not necessarily at your top choices but some others.

6

Sit down with your parents, and run the Net Price Calculators at the websites of each of the places on your list. Then all of you will have a better notion of affordability.

Once you know which (if any) of these fall within your budget range, you can look at NCLEX pass rates and job placement.

7

Hi OP. Great questions. And love to see someone from L street doing so well!

To frame it a little differently and bluntly, which I know you can take with your Southie roots. Lol. ——

This isn’t a decision on what is the best cruise line options. Our your dream vacation. Or best country club to join.

This is about your real world education and your real world future. Of course, everyone wants to be somewhere interesting, fun and with lifelong connections while delivering you a degree worth having in the long run.

And UPenn Boston College and Emory etc might be perfect for you in all categories.

Yes, don’t look at “gross” cost or headline numbers, but zero in on the “net” costs. All of these schools have very comprehensive net price calculators. Use them.

This requires you to have insight to your parents (both married or not) financial picture. It might be that they have the abiiity to afford all with no insight needed. Aka full pay and fully aware. If that’s the case apply away.

Remember these are adult decisions that require a bit of maturity. It’s not always the so called “best school” that is best combination of appeal, economics and long term uitiity for you. As with all important decisions, they require some solid analysis.

Especially when you need to include the costs of an expensive masters program needed to become a crna, np or pa.

Once you have a good feel for this, then start picking schools that appeal to you.

Some you know 100% you will get into and can afford, some where you hope to to and can afford and then the longshot schools

You have a strong base profile it would seem. Don’t worry you will have options for sure.

But whether or not you attend an Ivy League school, an elite private or UT - it will have little bearing on your ability to become a crna. Unless you can’t afford it. Then it becomes 100% unattainable.

8

Two words of advice = Direct Admission.

Only after you’ve targeted those schools who meet that criteria, do cost, NCLEX pass rates, location, student body and then prestige, come into play.

You’re a highly accomplished student who will likely have options.
Be sure that at least one or two of those options are safe schools which offer direct admit, and are affordable.

9

Direct admission for sure. It can save a lot of aggravation. Starting out with a BSN/RN will give you a leg up on other job candidates with a RN, and will likely command a higher salary and opportunity for advancement. Prestige and reputation are relatively unimportant. The actual school doesn’t matter so much in nursing, except for decent pass rates.

10

Boston College, Emory & Penn give plenty of financial aid and promise to meet full need as they define it. They don’t do merit aid, however. As an example, the average undergrad grant at BC is $40k. Reach out to the privates, and inquire if the nursing school students receive the same financial aid grants as to the Arts & Sciences school. (I bet that they do.)

The privates don’t care about instate or OOS. The publics certainly do.

Run each college’s NPC to get an idea of what aid you might receive.

11

Have you considered PA(physician assistant)? That is another road to travel. There are some direct admission schools for PA.

12

UVa’s BSN program is extremely competitive for admission, esp. out of state, but once you are admitted there is excellent financial aid for all US students. Most other public universities provide little need based aid for out of state students, but some offer merit aid for top out of state students…
,
An example of a direct entry physician’s assistant program is Desales University, which is about 1.3 hours north of Phila.

13

In summary:

  • if you are certain you want to do nursing, only choose schools that have direct-admit programming, meaning you are IN to the nursing program, have your spot and don't need to reapply later.
  • if you are NOT certain you want to be a nurse, choose a non-direct school where your stats put you in the top third (may be more likely for you to be accepted to start your junior year when you apply later)
  • Apply where ever and compare final net costs. The most expensive school may be the cheapest if they give you merit and need aid.
  • Some nursing schools rely on stats and will love yours. Others are more holistic and may turn you down in favor of someone with lower stats that they find more interesting. Nursing is one of the most difficult majors to be accepted to, so cast a wide and diverse net.
  • Look at where the school does clinicals. A well-known school based in a rural area may not be as good as a less prestigious school in a more populated area.
  • For nursing, most professionals will tell you that it doesn't matter which school you went to. They are mainly concerned with you passing your NCLEX and having some hands-on experience. So, it's not necessary to pay a lot for this particular degree. My niece went to a small community college and had three job offers upon graduation.

My daughter was accepted to CWRU but turned it down because even though they gave her some merit aid, it was still coming in at about $50k more for a BSN from there, and it just wasn’t worth it.

14

Prestige is a personal matter. The patients you treat as a nurse will not care if your nursing degree is from Penn or Salem State.

15

Two things:

  1. Most CRNA programs are (already or will be shortly) DNP programs, not MSN programs. So, a little longer than the MSN. Also, many have a requirement that you work as an ICU nurse for 2 years, even if you submatriculate into the DNP from the BSN.
  2. I need to disagree with @TomSrOfBoston a bit on prestige. If you know you want to become a CRNA, the rigor and frankly the ranking of your BSN program will matter. These are competitive grad programs. I don't want to pick a fight or even start a disagreement, but I doubt we would say the same thing ("the patients you treat won't care") to a student applying to med school.
16

Since you know where you want to work as a nurse, look nearby-ish. Licensing is by state, and having a chance to do clinicals at places where future employers recruit is always a good idea.

When you go back for grad school, they will look at your GPA and your related experience. If you know what schools you might want to do grad school at, have a quick look at their admission requirements and keep those in mind.

Afaik, most RNA programs require full time enrollment and they are intense. Save up for it starting now; maximize scholarship opportunities at the undergrad.

17

@Itisatruth My daughter is looking at possibly CRNA and while I get what you are saying about undergrad mattering - the fact of the matter is money is a factor toon - maybe even a do or die factor; if the whole nut and then some is used for BSN how is the student supposed to pony up for the rest of the tuition for the CRNA? Grad programs of any type are costly and there isn’t much if any aid to be had.

18

Many (most?) graduate students in nursing work their way through, probably part time, and take out loans. The school where my D is earning her MSN puts that right in their literature! CRNA candidates generally need a couple of years of critical care experience before an application is competitive for admission, and during that time, the new nurse should save as much as possible. Fortunately she should be fairly well paid during those years. But yeah, if the student has plans to pursue advanced degrees, cheaper school, less loans is a very good idea.

19

Agree with the poster who suggested you look at schools close to where you want to work and live. When I talk to nursing friends, I’m always struck by how local the recruiting seems to be. This may be because our public flagship has a really great nursing program. I always thought nursing was a wonderfully portable profession, but around here, folks who attended UMass Amherst seem to have a big leg up.

20

Make sure you pick a few safety schools that are direct admit, too. Getting accepted into a direct admit program is so competitive. Chances are they receive more apps with 4.0 GPAs and above than they can accept. At Penn State, the College of Nursing has the highest average GPA of freshmen compared to all other colleges, even higher than engineering and business. When my daughter applied, they received over 1800 applicants for 160 spots. Take whatever direct admit spot you can offer and just make sure you don’t overshoot. Have a safety in your back pocket.