That’s amazing! Congratulations 
Your stats amazing, you deserve it
Now that all decisions are in, here is an update on my D’s college search.
Stats: 1430 SAT, 4.15 wgpa, 9 APs, rest honors, EMT volunteering 15 hrs/week, hospital internship, lots of leadership and ECs, NJ
Accepted, short list: UVM, Delaware, UConn, UNH and TCNJ
Accepted, eliminated on cost: Pitt, Quinnipiac, Fairfield
Accepted, eliminated on fit: Binghamton, Rutgers, Scranton, Seton Hall, Duquesne, Salve Regina
Rejected: UNC, UVA
Scholarships: High merit at all, except 0 at Pitt
I would be interested in hearing any strong thoughts on her short list! Here are the thoughts so far based on our visits:
UConn: Just accepted yesterday and will visit for first time after we receive letter with merit/honors. Seems to consistently have the best nursing rankings. Larger nursing program. Name recognition. Sporting events. Academically rigorous. A comfortable 3 hours from home. Affiliation with UConn medical provides solid clinical experiences. Large college in rural setting, so visit will be important to evaluate fit.
UD: Seems to be comparable for nursing to UConn in terms of reputation, quality and size, but not as well ranked. Accepted to honors program. Happy students, but a party reputation. Nice downtown area. A comfortable 2 hours from home, and a cousin there who will be a sophomore. Negative that her HS sends about 10 students per year. Large, but is walkable and has a smaller feel. Well-maintained campus.
UVM: Has a private college feeling. Medium-sized. In a beautiful town known for good food and trendy nightlife. Snowy and cold. 5 hours from home, but accessible by plane if needed. Really happy students, who went out of their way to guide us during our visit. Most clinicals at the medical center right in the center of campus. Offer a semester-long study abroad program in Perth, Australia. Nursing program has a solid reputation, but maybe slightly lower than UConn and UDel. Best opportunities immediately after graduation would be at UVM Medical Center (plus or minus depending on love of area).
UNH: Again, 5 hours from home. Felt much more remote than UVM (Durham is not Burlington). Students seemed really happy, normal and social. Honors college. Nursing program seems decent, but facilities not quite as nice as others we have seen. Presenter at nursing presentation couldn’t articulate what set UNH apart from other schools. Food was fantastic. Caliber of students was solid, but other might be slightly higher. Clinical experiences seem to be spread out at many facilities with lots of driving. An hour from Boston with a train station right on campus. Lots of school spirit, especially around hockey team. Not sure D would want to stay in NH immediately after graduation, so contacts made through clinicals would not be utilized for her first job.
TCNJ: Lots of smart kids. On Princeton Review’s list of happiest students. School spirit. Non-existent sports. Suburban environment. Mixed opinions on CC about weekend activities. 90% from NJ, so limited geographic diversity. A smaller nursing program than UConn and UD, which could be a positive or negative. Nursing program has a great reputation. Nursing simulation lab was modern. Small, but well-maintained campus. Likely to run into students from her high school. May be too comfortable for her and not enough of a personal stretch. The cheapest option, but they all are within our budget after aid. Probably would be able to reduce or eliminate Federal loans.
Other thoughts? Any impressions that we may have wrong? Thanks in advance for your input! The decision process is tough!
@/jdcollegedad congrats on your DD’s UConn acceptance!
Unfortunately my DD was not, ironically last school to hear from = first denial, ouchie!
Based on program type (direct preferred) and program rigor, clinicals, distance from home, school spirit and total COA after scholarships the field is set.
DD’s short list is:
MiamiU, Drexel, Scranton, Quinnipiac & Case Western
Based on same criteria, acceptance withdrawn from:
Alabamama, Fairfield, JMU, PSU (regional, UP denied), OSU, UDel, URI, USC
Denied: UConn
Wish all good luck on final choice, happy & fulfilling 4 year college experience and a brilliant & successful career!
@jdcollegedad great summary of the thought process. Yes, selection is tough and it pays to be thorough. We went through this a year ago and didn’t find any consistent rankings for Nursing programs so we fell back to our own criteria. I’m not familiar with any of the programs in the short list so can’t comment on them. But some things that mattered to my D that I didn’t see mentioned - progression requirements to stay in program or maintain honors/merit, 4 year road-map and how APs count toward it, internship and/or study abroad opportunities, dedicated nursing adviser to ensure nursing students have priority registration. And atmosphere for nursing - is it a family where nursing students support each other or are students competing against each other for fewer spots at some point down the line? What was meant by negative for Delaware that her high school sends 10 kids every year?
@GmanCC Sorry to hear about UConn, but your D has so many great options. We took my son on a visit to MiamiU a few years ago, and the campus had a nice feeling with happy students. Oxford is a cute town with nice restaurants and bars. The town is in the middle of corn country and a trek from NJ, but would be ok for an independent student. Any idea where they do clinicals?
@banker1 Thanks for the other criteria. College is a good time for a student to stretch and not fall back on past relationships or perceived limitations. In her opinion, seeing kids from her HS a lot would be a negative.
The treatment of APs seemed uniform in that she could use them in place of Freshman writing and psychology, and perhaps use history for a distribution requirement. This could provide room for a minor.
All of the colleges offered some sort of study abroad over summer or winter break. UVM was the only one that offered a semester abroad with clinicals.
Because of accreditation requirements, there was little variation in the programs and limited spots for electives. The only differences seemed to be how early clinical hours started.
The competitiveness factor is interesting. UVM accepts 130, wants 96 for clinicals and graduates about 85. Their explanation of the narrowing is that students mostly either decide nursing isn’t for them or aren’t prepared for the rigorous coursework. The numbers were similar at the other schools. Does anyone have feedback on this attribute for our shortlist?
The requirements for maintaining merit and honors are definitely a factor we need to weigh more.
Thanks for the suggestions!
@jdcollegedad I think your D has a great list. I have a D20, and the information in this thread has been helpful.
I feel the competitiveness is less of a factor in a direct admit…depending on those pesky progression requirements.
I have a D17, and think some of the things one takes into account will be looked back on like: Why did we even take that into consideration for? Don’t sweat the small stuff.
I would add something to the list that you alluded to: What are the total clinical hours that will be complete by the end of the program, and what is the number and variety of clinical partners? What is that mix?
The quality and size of the Sim Lab has been rising in my D’s list of priorities. Not sure if this is a valid concern or not, but we have seen quite a difference in just the few schools we have toured.
Good luck to everybody!
@bigmacbeth Thanks for the ideas. The quality/quantity of the sim labs is important. UNH has a large fully equipped room, a smaller room and a bigger room with 4 stations. Our guide indicated that the number of sim spots limits additional growth and that the lab is busy 8am to 8 pm. They tried weekend hours, but there were no takers. I could see that being a limitation.
The number of clinical hours is interesting. UVM indicated 717 hours, while UNH stated 512 hours plus simulations (presenter didn’t know the total). Will have to look at UConn and UD.
The other differentiator about UVM was that they strongly stressed summer experiences after sophomore and junior years. They indicated that they have lots of connections that help students find them locally.
Update on my daughters acceptances
ACT: 28
GPA: 3.9
State Residency: CA
Ethnicity: White
Admitted
ASU Direct - $14,500 Merit
Florida Atlantic University - Direct
Seattle University- Direct with 21K/yr Merit
Univ of Portland - Direct with 21K/yr Merit
Gonzaga - Wailist
Cal State Long Beach - biology - Waitlisted
Boise State - Pre nursing (safety school)
Applied and waiting
UC Irvine - Direct
SDSU - biology
Cal Poly - biology
Good luck to everyone still waiting and deciding. We only have CA colleges left to hear from. Hopefully in the next week or 2.
Agreed. California schools seem so late comparatively to the others but we are in the home stretch! Good Luck all!
@jdcollegedad and @GmanCC Congratulations on each of your daughter’s choices, acceptances and merit. The future is bright for them both but with different short lists. Please let us know what each chooses ultimately and why. It is so interesting to see how students make their decisions
My son decided that he wants to be a nurse anesthetist, his previous preference was engineering so several schools that he had applied to are out now.
SAT: 1200
ACT: 26
GPA: 3.95
Rank: 5/60
State Residency: Alabama
Ethnicity: white
Gender: male
A pretty good list of EC’s, though it is somewhat limited since we are in a rural area. Also no honors or AP classes at our school.
Berea College: accepted, tuition, fees, room, and board covered, may have to pay for books. It looks like as long as you meet the course and grade requirements that you proceed into the nursing program. Plan to visit soon, biggest drawback is that it is almost 6 hours from home.
UNA: accepted into honors college, still waiting to hear about leadership and housing scholarships, if he gets enough to cover COA it will be a serious contender. Only an hour away from home, good school but possibly not as good as Berea, also requires application to the nursing school after 2 years.
UAB: accepted and offered admission into the dean’s nursing scholars program which offers admission into the nursing program as long as you meet course and grade requirements. Excellent school about 2 hours from home, he did not receive enough financial aid to cover COA.
He was accepted into several regional schools but most did not offer enough financial aid and most don’t have direct admit to nursing. Jacksonville State, University of Memphis, UAH, Valdosta State, Spring Hill College, Alabama. A lot of acceptances to schools that don’t have nursing and awaiting decisions from several questbridge schools, most of which don’t have nursing. He does have an application with Emory so that one is a possibility if by some miracle he was accepted.
My daughter was at the University of Delaware admitted students session yesterday.
In the nursing session, they shared that the admit rate for nursing is only 24%. About 40% take the offer. (yield) Typically the freshman nursing class is about 175 students. About 25 later drop out. The panel stressed how rigorous the curriculum is and the importance of lots of studying, including in study groups.
The freshman nursing students are in the same dorm together in a Nursing Nook Living & Learning Community. Last year they were in George Read in suites of 6 students (two triples with shared bathroom.) May be the same this fall, or could be different.
Delaware is currently her top choice. That will change if Case Western offers her an additional scholarship or if she gets in to UVA after being deferred. UVA would be her top choice if she gets in, as it’s closer to home and will save us about $80k over Delaware.
@vamom4 Thanks for sharing your UDel experiences. Congratulations on your D’s great options. We are planning an admitted students session soon. Did they talk about where most of the clinicals are held?
Also, did they indicate whether the whole nursing class takes the same session of each class? In our trip to UVM, they said that all 130 nursing students (96 by junior year) take the same session of each class, with the clinicals being where the students encounter smaller environments of 6-8 students. UNH was the same, but the overall size of the class is smaller. It seems a bit impersonal for a junior to still be in classes of 150-175 students for most of their non-clinical classes, but maybe that is just how nursing is at a bigger school.
Did you have a chance to visit the new STAR campus where a lot of the nursing classes will be held? On one hand, I have to imagine that the new facilities are amazing. On the other hand, the STAR campus is past the hockey rink and does not seem that walkable, especially when the whether is not so nice. To me, one of the advantages of Delaware is how compact it is for a school of its size, but needing to travel to the STAR campus takes away from that.
Good luck to your son @HeartofDixie. It can be hard to switch gears midstream but you have choices so that is good. Wishing him well with Emory! Please keep us posted
@jdcollegedad I wasn’t there with her this time, but I was on a previous visit. As far as I heard, the nursing classes are held in the nursing building, which is on main campus and very close to where nurses are housed. Not on the STAR campus, which are “primary care, physical therapy, speech therapy, mental health services, care coordination, nutrition counseling, fitness counseling and health coaching.” Though I wouldn’t be surprised if they have some clinicals there, as those services are offered to the public on that campus. There is a bus that can take students there and it isn’t far.
We were told clinicals are in a wide range of places in the populated radius around campus. Pretty typical of most schools. (That’s what I didn’t like about Clemson and Penn State, which are sort of in the middle of nowhere.)
The size of nursing classes was not really discussed, but of course, the labs are small. And in general, the classroom sizes in the nursing building were not large, so I don’t think any class in that building would be able to fit more than maybe 40 students. I’m sure the gen ed classes like psychology are huge and held elsewhere.
However, I am less worried about class sizes in the first two years because of the level of support the students get in the nursing LLC. Upper classmen nurses guide and assist them, help organize events and study groups and such.
We continue to ask friends in the medical field about her school choices and the replies are unanimous: Go to the least expensive but still good program. Because nurses are in demand and she will get a job easily as long as she has passed her boards. No sense in paying more than necessary for this particular degree.
Feeling less certain than I was before on top choice. (And yes, $ matters.)
Very eager to hear last cluster of decisions.
Accepted to following for nursing:
CWRU (very helpful Scholarship)
Northeastern (small merit–not enough to make any real difference)
Drexel (scholarship)
Rutgers (Newark and New Brunswick)
U Minnesota Twin Cities
Florida State
Penn State
Arizona State
Villanova
UConn
Deferred at UMiami (I mistakenly had this in the accepted list earlier)
Waiting on Emory, UCI, UCLA, NYU, UNC
@vamom4 Thanks for sharing your insights about UDel!
@enavance Would you share your stats with us? Nice list of acceptances! Good luck on your cluster
I absolutely agreed with everyone who have expressed the point about pay / salary / getting a job. I have 2 Ds who are working as a RN. Although hourly pay varies greatly from state to state & the pay scale can be very wide for the new grad residency program, hospitals are not concerned with how much debt/loans the student has piled up in order to get the degree. No. Period. Not their concern. They are looking for job candidates that have what they’re looking for.
Student A with no debt gets the same hourly pay compared to Student B who has a lot of debt/loans competing for the exact same position in that hospital. Cost of living & apartment rent can be very high in some metro / large city, lots of living expenses to consider.
So no debt / less debt is less stressful & more preferable for a new nurse starting out on his/her own.
sorry for any typos