Chance me for nursing schools (Especially UT Austin)

College Majors Nursing Major
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Demographics:

Black Female, large Texas public high school

Intended Major(s):

Nursing/Health Science

ACT/SAT/SAT II:

ACT: 34(29M, 36E, 34S, 36R)

UW/W GPA and Rank:

UW: 3.96, W: 4.4

32/825 (Top 6 percent)

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc

8 AP courses: World history, Biology, Lit, Lang, US history, Chemistry, Economics

Awards:

HOSA awards, volunteering awards, lots of track awards, and honor roll and stuff like that

Extracurriculars:

  1. President of my schools HOSA chapter. We have like 200 kids so it’s a pretty big time commitment. I have been doing HOSA all 4 years, VP junior year, Secretary sophomore year.

  2. Track and Field. All 4 years. I am pretty good at it, I broke the record for my district, but I don’t wanna do it in college. I do club track as well. I was co-captain this year and captain this upcoming year. Also a pretty big time commitment.

  3. I volunteer at a hospital weekly. I have been doing this since sophomore year, and I do it year round.

  4. National Science Honor Society, Since junior year, I am treasurer this year and secretary this upcoming year.

  5. Jack and Jill of America- Since 7th and various leadership positions throughout the years.

  6. National Honor Society- No leadership position

I have done 3 summer camps related to healthcare but not gonna list them.(one at UT, demonstrated interest???)

I also did a volunteering group until 10th grade. Do I include this since Ive stopped doing it???

Essays/LORs/Other:

I am a pretty good writer so I expect my essays to be good.

For my LOR’s im gonna get one from my biology teacher, I’ve done well in her class, and my HOSA mentor and we are pretty close. Ones from my counselor for other schools

Cost Constraints / Budget
Can’t be too expensive

Schools (in order of preference)
UT Austin (my absolute dream)
Umami
UGA
UCLA (just applying here for fun lol)
TCU
Baylor
Arizona State

Thank you for reading and please be honest!!!

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UCLA is $65K per year. No scholarships for non-residents means that you will be full pay.

Texas schools, as a Texas resident, sound really good!

2 Likes
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yeah that’s why its not my first choice

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Do you qualify for the Texas auto admit and guarantee into your program?

If so, you’re fine.

If not, you’ll be in at Miami, UCLA a stretch, and in at the others. ASU with Barrett might be interesting and it will be really affordable. UGA has a stellar (hard to get into) Honors program.

Not exactly sure how the UT thing works - but other than UCLA, that’s a fine list - and you have ASU which will be a merit school. You might add U of Az and U of Alabama - for other merit options with solid nursing. Arkansas is a solid program too with good merit.

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Thank you for responding! Yea, I qualify for auto admit at Texas, but im just not guaranteed to get in for my major. Yes I know UCLA is a HUGE reach lol, so I don’t really mind if I don’t get in there. I was about to add Bama but they don’t have good diversity and I dont see the point of applying to a school I know im not gonna attend. Thank you so much for your advice!!

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I think your essay is the most important piece for UT, you need a compelling narrative about your calling to be a nurse. You will have lots to talk about when you write about how you have prepared, good job! I like your chances, but the essay is crucial.

What would you study at UGA? They say they don’t have a nursing program.

Baylor requires you to move to Dallas after your sophomore year.

I think you need a few more direct admit nursing programs on your list. TN at Knoxville?

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I was coming up with “affordable” stuff. UCLA is likely full pay even for out of state - so if you want a reach school, I would find one that either meets need (if you have it) or offers merit aid. When you say can’t be too expensive, you are throwing money away applying to UCLA.

NYU (not great merit aid - do you have need based aid), Villanova, Saint Louis (not a reach), Pitt (not a reach but wonderful in health sciences and they offer the Cathedral of Learning Scholarship to URMs), Case Western, BC and Northeastern might be schools you look at for a “reach” vs. UCLA. I get the applying just to see if you can get it -but if you can’t pay for it, why bother?

Bama is 75% white. UT Austin is more diverse but Bama has a far higher percentage of black students than UT Austin. UGA - more diverse - but also far less black students than Bama.

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For UGA I would apply as a health promotion major. And yeah, I don’t like that about Baylor lol. I will look into more direct entry schools, thank you!

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Yeah I was trying to say that I would prefer UCLA over the schools you said :slight_smile: Thank you, I will look into these schools!!

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I will especially be looking into northeastern I never considered it!

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Why apply to UGA if you want to be a nurse and if you can’t become one? That would be silly - in my opinion. In the end, if you want to be a nurse you can go to any school - the pedigree doesn’t matter. But if you want to be a nurse, why go to where you can’t be? Scratch UGA off- you’ll appreciate it later.

Baylor is religious. Northeastern is great - hard to get into - some get into Ivy get turned down there. If they have a nursing program, you should look into it.

btw - don’t worry about going to the hardest to get in school. My daughter got into 17; she’s going to the 16th of the 17th - but the best fit for her. That’s more important - you will be there four years - day after day after day. You’re going to be a nurse - you can do that from anywhere - so find the right fit and that includes finances. Also, find a school where the hospital is nearby so you don’t have to move or travel, etc. I’ve seen that recommendation a lot on the CC.

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I was applying to UGA as a health promotion major as a backup plan bc I know direct entry schools are very competitive.

Oooooh, I didn’t take that into consideration! Thanks!

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@nursingmajor2 congrats on a great HS career! Just looking at this topic because my D22 doesn’t have a clue on what major and I’m looking for any tidbits I can find, lol. I live in TX but am from CA originally (I’m a mom). I would say don’t bother to apply to UCLA as they get over a million applications a cycle and there’s no merit aid as an OOS. You would be paying $60K+ as someone else mentioned. For real. My friend in Arizona, her D19’s dream school was UC Santa Cruz. I told her don’t let her apply because if she gets in, she’s going to want to go. So the girl gets in, and yes first year was $60K+. Pandemic starts in 2nd semester as freshman and screwed everything. Now she’s looking to transfer to ASU.
Have you looked at U of Arkansas? A friend’s daughter is going there in the fall, also wants to get in the nursing program, and was admitted into some honors program there. She chose that over TA&M.
My D19 attends ASU. She is in Barrett, the Honors College there, and I am in a mom’s FB group. I hear of quite a few students getting into the ASU nursing program “auto admit” that would be preferable, right, so you don’t have to worry about transferring in a few years. Check out ASU, I understand the nursing program is good but don’t know anybody in it. ASU offers auto merit based on stats, there’s a calculator you can search for. I feel like ASU’s in-state tuition is really affordable and they offer a decent discount w/ the auto merit to OOS students. There are a LOT of OOS students, and a lot of Texas ones. It would be a lot easier if my daughter got in to UT but she wasn’t in the top 6% and didn’t get in and didn’t want to do the CAP. Best of luck!

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yes asu is on my list :slight_smile: and good luck to your daughter!