You may need to start at home and attend community college.
Check the requirements for Berea College no tuition). They have nursing.
Often what you can afford and what a school says are different. As UVA meets need, can you run their net price calculator to see what they say you can afford. No, you won’t get in. Just want to see how they classify your finances.
UVA NPC is 0. She’ll check out Berea. Thank you.
I agree with others, UVA and the reaches are all going to be a very difficult admits, especially for nursing. Also, Georgetown not only requires testing, but they require all scores to be submitted (so she would have to submit the ACT already taken). I’m not sure if I missed it, but did she take a math class Junior year? Those schools want to see 4 years of the hardest math available, many also like all 4 years of a lang or up to the highest level offered. Has she visited the safety schools? If not, she should go look at all of them and also JMU (which would be more of a match/reach school). Also, look at Schev for lots of info on VA schools, that might help you find more instate options. Higher Ed Info for Virginia
Don’t rule out OOS schools that give good merit too. She seems to have a lot of faith based activities/classes, look for schools that value that in their students (many on the safety list would be ones I would suggest to look at).
Well under $20k with no scores is going to be quite difficult, so suggest she applies very widely to realistic colleges.
Just a bit more info if you didn’t see it.
https://www.berea.edu/admissions/undefined/admissions/admission-requirements
I do not know about merit aid or what the NPC would be for this, but take a look at Messiah in PA.
Berea is a definite great match - it’s got nursing and EFC 0 means you passed the 1st selection (only students with a low EFC can apply) and grades/rigor would be within range (they want top students but are used to rural schools and homeschoolers). Tuition, fees, room&board are free for the 1st year as long as students work (for pay) on campus. Then it’s free tuition&fees, some of the work pays for rrom&board alongside alumni donations making ot a full ride. (Most alumni pay it forward by donating once they’ve made into their career. )
The geographical limits + EFC0 make it harder though - there are lots of direct admission programs in PA and, further away, StOlaf meets need and offers nursing.
Rhodes college also meets need and offers a dual program for nursing.
Eastern and Messiah are Christian colleges with nursing. However they don’t meet need so run the NPC on each.
People have already mentioned PennWest, York College, both in PA, and I’ll add West Chester and Bloomsburg (also in PA)
A recommendation from the DE Psychology professor (or, if push comes to shove, TA) will matter a great deal.
It may be worth prepping and retaking the ACT or comparing to SAT, since a test score may be required for homeschool applicants and she doesn’t have any AP score.
When you say “bombed ACT,” what exactly do you mean? There are many state schools in VA that should be on the list.
| Christopher Newport University | www.cnu.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Mason University | www.gmu.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| James Madison University | www.jmu.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| Longwood University | www.longwood.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| Norfolk State University | www.nsu.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| Old Dominion University | www.odu.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| Radford University | www.radford.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| University of Mary Washington | www.umw.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| University of Virginia | www.virginia.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| University of Virginia’s College at Wise | www.uvawise.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| Virginia Commonwealth University | www.vcu.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| Virginia Military Institute | www.vmi.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| Virginia State University | www.vsu.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| Virginia Tech | www.vt.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
| William & Mary | www.wm.edu | Profile | SACSCOC |
Look up Common Datasets for these schools to learn more about them. Find the ones that fit the bill. Apply TO.
If your budget is <$20K, there might be some other options. UNC-Pembroke and Western Carolina are both NC Promise schools and total COA should be below $20K. Both have nursing programs. Here is the link to UNCP’s: The McKenzie-Elliott School of Nursing | The University of North Carolina at Pembroke
I cannot think of many private schools that will offer big merit with those stats. Maybe others can help.
Your kid has mental health issues and home schooled. My advise is to make sure they are within easy driving distance…at least for a couple of years.
I keep thinking NC Promise is per semester. You are right $5k per year.
So under $20k COA.
I agree with 1dadinNC’s statement:
“Your kid has mental health issues and home schooled. My advise is to make sure they are within easy driving distance…at least for a couple of years.”
My daughter also has some mental health issues and I’m so glad she decided on a school close to home (Messiah - 8 miles from home). If your daughter is accepted to a school you can afford which is close to home, I think it will be the best choice.
OP – Just out of curiosity, has your daughter visited any schools in person? I know that you mentioned that she wants to be in an urban environment, but sometimes a particular college campus can change that. For example, my son swore up and down that he wanted to go to college in a “big city”; but after a visit to Purdue he ended up going to school in West Lafayette, Indiana – not exactly an urban megalopolis – and he loved it there.
Some parents - or kids based on their peer rumors - will consider a 33 or 34 “bombed”. Are you comfortable sharing the scores to round off the picture?
I’m not familiar with home schooling - do any of the courses have “college level” rigor, e.g., considered AP/IB/DE equivalent by some nationally recognized organization?
I think anything above an ACT score of 23 or so would help in this situation
IUP, PennWest Clarion and PennWest Edinboro require only a 1030 SAT or 20 ACT for direct entry to their nursing programs. However these schools are definitely not urban (more like “in the sticks” of Western Pennsylvania) and aren’t close to the OP’s home.
Has she shadowed any nurses? Highly recommend if possible. Most nursing programs are at least somewhat competitive with a structured track. You pretty much need to hit the ground running. You also have to pass boards. If test taking is an issue please consider.
It’s a little farther than you want, but I’m going to recommend Bellarmine University in Louisville. It’s almost never mentioned here, but my son had a wonderful experience. They have a bachelor’s and master’s nursing program. It’s in a nice historical neighborhood of Louisville and downtown isn’t too far away.
They have an acceptance rate around 86% and last I checked they are TO. I think it’s worth a look.
I should add, we got generous merit and need-based aid. And a tip (for any school), if the FA package isn’t quite what you need, always reach out to the FA office and see if there’s any chance for more. We got an extra $10k grant from them for each of the four years just by asking.
These schools could be visited during a weekend trip to the Philadelphia/Trenton area. Although I’m including links to their health professions majors - your daughter could also consider them for a humanities major with an eye of pursuing a career in law.
Index | Health Professions - assuming Trenton is “urban enough” (but given it’s the state capital, there might be internship opportunities on the “law” side of her interests?)
Home | Virtua Health College of Medicine & Life Sciences | Rowan University - not exactly “urban”, but one could go into Philly on weekends.
Nursing Major | Temple University - as a Philly alternative, since UPenn was on her list.
The universities you listed under “reaches”, probably fall more in the category of “highly unlikely” - at least based on the little we know, incl. no 4 years in Math, and that the “straight A’s” 4.0 hasn’t been normalized yet against a population of peers through standardized testing.
It’s too far which is probably not a good idea with your daughter’s anxiety, but I will go ahead and make a pitch (again!) for Hope College in Michigan. Religious, great nursing program, Hope Forward scholarship opportunity for full tuition.
If there is concern with distance, consider community college. Save $$ for later years.
… which also would allow this student to ease back into a traditional “classroom” / lecture-hall environment, with a drastically different student/teacher dynamic, navigating peer relations, and myriad of other possible distractions/triggers to cope with. Then, building on her personal successes there - and a college transcript, have a stronger application into traditional colleges.