<p>My mistake!</p>
<p>Those rankings from USNWP are based on peer review only. IMHO, the âeyewitness testimonyâ of evidence rather than something more substantive like DNA evidence.</p>
<p>All of us respect the list. Like Aglages said, we research the top schools, determine if they even offer undergrad programs, and if so, we trust that they probably have great ones. We build from there.
Thank you ashamb for taking the time to respond to CharlieSchmâs request for heartfelt thoughts. Thank you also for sharing so much about your experiences seeing family accomplish some pretty great things at all sort of distinguished places.</p>
<p>I have no idea whether I should go to UVA, Boston College, Villanova or Simmons Nursing. I live in Connecticut. I love UVA but the program doesnât seem to have as challenging clinicals at BC or Simmons. HELP!</p>
<p>Certainly one big plus of UVaâs program is having a med school, a huge hospital complex and a set of medical research facilities right across the street. Iâd think that would offer a huge range of clinicals.</p>
<p>Attend the admitted student sessions and ask lots of questions.</p>
<p>My D got in all the Nursing schools she applied for. Have hard time in choosing. Please help. We live in NJ.
- Georgetown
- NYU
- Boston College
(the above did not offer enough $)</p>
<ol>
<li>Rutgers - Our flagship school. </li>
<li>TCNJ - a smaller state college.</li>
<li>U of Miami - My D visited and loved the school.</li>
<li>Villanova</li>
<li>Case Western - My D think it is too cold there</li>
<li>U of Delaware
(the above all offer some Merit scholarship. All been offered in their Honor program)</li>
</ol>
<p>My D loves the weather in Miami. However, I have seen a warning comment on CC posted 2008, saying the nursing program there is bad. They have been caught cheating, was put on probation. </p>
<p>Any input you can give us?</p>
<p>wtuan:</p>
<p>All of the schools your D is considering have excellent Nursing Programs. You can get an excellent Nursing Education at any of them if you apply yourself. In the later grouping I donât believe there is any one school that is so outstanding that it stands out head and shoulders above all the others. Being from NJ I assume RU and TCNJ would be the most economical for your D. Villanova is a little pricey. It is cold in Cleveland during the winter. I do not believe Miami is still on probation for nursing (overall the school is highly rated for Graduate Nursing). </p>
<p>My D also had to choose from a number of the same schools your D has on her list. We are also from NJ. She choose Delaware so I can provide you with some biased imput on UD. It does have an excellent Honors Nursing Program. My D graduated from there in 2010 with her BSN. She then landed a highly competitive position in NYC at New York Presbyterian/Cornell Medical Center on one of Cornellâs Neurological ICU units. She has been accepted (into the Family Health Nurse Practitioner Program) at the top Nursing Graduate Program in the country at the University of Pennsylvania. My point here is to show that the quality of a nursing degree from UD is highly regarded by these types of premier healthcare and educational institutions.</p>
<p>UD is a medium sized school (about 16,000 undergrads) but feels much smaller. The campus is beautiful and Main Street of Newark, De., runs almost thru the middle of campus (with tons of restaurants and shopping). UD has a state-of-the-art Nursing Simulation Lab and has a new (two years old) Nurse Managed Health Center located right on-site at the primary Nurse Education Building (McDowell Hall). Students at UD are very intelligent, friendly, interactive, and are highly motivated and goal oriented (but not snobby). There are tons of activities available. My D even joined a sorority (yes it can be done by a nursing major if you budget your time well). It has just about anything you would expect in a top rated educational institution.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your D in making her decision. Hope this info on UD is helpful. If you have any other more specific questions about UD please feel free to PM me. Most nursing school applicants would be highly envious your Dâs selection dilemma.</p>
<p>Wtuan</p>
<p>If you donât mind, what are your daughterâs school stats? My daughter is a junior and very interested in Georgetown, Villanova, BC and NYU nursing programs. Would love to hear more.</p>
<p>My Dâs stat -
SAT 2250
GPA about top 10%
Good teacherâs recommendations
Great essays
Tennis Varsity, All-state Cellist, school club president
My D got in all the schools she applied. I believe her essays are the main factors.</p>
<p>Mwallenmd, </p>
<p>Thank you for your information. My D was invited to compete for the UDelâs distinguished scholarship. But we gave it up due to the schedule conflict with the Villanovaâs scholarship interview process. Now, it is hard for us to choose UDel of knowing what we might have missed. And, it is indeed cheaper for us to attend Rutgers or TCNJ.</p>
<p>My D just falls in love with every single school she has visited. We just came back from TCNJâs admitted student day. She loves it (I do too). I am not sure shall I bring her to visit NYU/BC/Georgetown while I know it could cost us financially.</p>
<p>Well, the check is not in the mail (weâll be doing that after the admitted student day on Saturday), but D will be attending the University of New Hampshire for nursing in the fall. She got in to all of her schools (school and nursing program), and was vacillating between UNH and UMass Amherst. She really liked the large campus feel of both. In the end, the deciding factor between the two was financial. D got a great package (combination of FA, merit aid, and a tuition voucher) from UNH. She will easily graduate without debt and will likely be able to use some of her own saved money towards a car. This is good, since UNH requires nursing students to have a car starting second semester of sophomore year.</p>
<p>What a crazy ride this has been! How is everyone else doing? Any decisions?</p>
<p>My D decides to go to TCNJ - a small liberal arts state college in NJ. My D chose TCNJ over Georgetown/BC/NYU/Villanova/U Miami/Case/Rutgers, because of Cost and Distance from home. The quality of education at TCNJ is as good as the other schools. We will save the education fund for her master degree later on.
Regarding Rutgers, my D thinks it is too big, and taking bus to get around campus simply wasting too much time.</p>
<p>Congrats to your D and you for the decision being made! I canât help but think that having money available for grad school will be great for her future. Congratulations!</p>
<p>Congrats, but ,lol, TCNJ is not an equal of those school you mentionedâŠa fine school in its own right,butâŠOk, maybe on par with Rutgers. ;)</p>
<p>Everyone says that every nursing program is very time-intensive. There is something to be said about going to college is a less stressful environment, such as the suburban location of CNJ, than in the middle of distraction-filled DC or Manhattan.</p>
<p>^^^Ever the diplomat^^. ;)</p>
<p>I think clinicals in DC,NYC,Boston or Philly might provide better opportunitys then that of the TCNJ area, just my opinionâŠ</p>
<p>wtuan: Congratulations. Whether kids go to one of the other schools or TCNJ, they are likely to be working for the same union wage. I agree with FiveTeens that not having a lot of debt is a great reason for weighting a school more heavily, especially if your child is eying grad school down the road. Grad school tuitions are signficantly higher than undergrad (my kids have been paying $30,000+ per semesterâŠouch). </p>
<p>It also makes sense not to send your kid off to another state if you want them to work closer to home, since clinicals can lead to important references and job offers. And that all-important deciding factor is that your kid likes the school! My D chose another nursing school over Pitt because she felt it was friendlier and more supportive. Sheâs near the top of her class, and happy. Pitt wasnât a good match for her. Enjoy the summer with your kid, and let her wear that TCNJ t-shirt with pride & happiness!</p>
<p>Agreed, attend the best school you can affordâŠand i am not criticizing the choice, just disagreeing that TCNJ is the equivalent of the other schools mentionedâŠi am certain the student will be successful</p>
<p>Iâd also worry about any college that requires flying. While it may appear today that an affordable flight is available to that college, the airline industry is in a great state of flux and prices vary greatly from month to month. Airlines sometimes stop servicing a particular airport, causing prices to skyrocket when there is no competition. </p>
<p>Iâd hate to be in a situation where you find that it is unaffordable to bring your kid home for a break, when they want to come home. It is great that my son is at a college near Amtrak service - the prices are very predictable, and it saves me lots of driving.</p>
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<p>^^Great advice^^ Not sure all families take this into consideration when deciding on a schoolâŠ</p>
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