A bit more info on Xavier from admissions. Nursing students may take Spanish but there is no longer a Spanish element to the nursing program.
150-170 nursing students per class, of whom just over half are from out of state. That is a lot of clinicals to organize !
90% retention in nursing. Remaining 10% move into another science major.
Could anyone tell me some pros / cons of UMass Amherst’s nursing program? I know their clinicals are mostly out in western Mass and not really close to Boston, but the nursing school has a great reputation.
Daughter (from upstate NY) visited UMASS Amherst nursing, liked it, applied and was accepted. Waiting for a few more schools, but it is on the finalist list. Nice building on a campus that feels relatively compact for its total enrollment (some grumbles about elevators in tower dorms). I think the 2023 nursing class was about 65 total enrolled. 2.5 GPA to stay in nursing which is less that other programs. They have a semester domestic exchange program with other participating universities which sounded interesting. Also, there is an option to live in a dorm with other nursing students.
Simulation lab was on par or nicer than others we have seen. When we pressed the nursing rep and student about the distance to clinicals, no one seemed to mind. They said they commute together and split/share driving even as far as Boston.
Good luck. We would be interested to hear your observations and others too.
The responses from nursing schools are rolling in for my daughter here in New Hampshire. When she gets all of them I will come back and post all her stats and acceptances to help others who are looking for guidance.
Her basics are GPA 4.17/SAT 1260/ACT 28. She has been accepted to: UVM, URI (honor’s program), UNH, Bloomsburg, Scranton, Xavier, Univ of Delaware, Univ of Utah, Florida Atlantic, Seton Hall, Marquette, Duquesne. Also accepted to JMU which is not direct admit.
She was rejected from Penn State Main campus and Univ of Cincinnati. Waiting to hear from Clemson and UVA (reach schools) She applied to 18 schools so I don’t even have all of them!
UNH is $24,000, Utah is $29,000. Most of the others fall between $30,000 to $35,000. Although we have not gotten the final financial aid packages so they could be lower. We have 2 in college so she may get need based aid in addition to the merit already given.
The current favorites are UVM and URI and potentially Utah for no particular reason. I personally love UNH.
Is there a nursing school book or data base that does a comparison of schools? We are trying to wrap our heads around understanding the differences. My husband has a massive spreadsheet with data. If you have anything that would be helpful please share.
Daughter was admitted to “interdisciplinary pre nursing preparation” at The University of Cincinnati. The admissions counselor told her that there were over 2000 applications for the direct entry and only 150 spots. She also said that its even harder to get into nursing as a sophomore. This is from her email…
“I would encourage you to consider INP and think about applying for sophomore admission into nursing. However, this process is just as competitive - so it is possible that this may not happen for you. I want to be transparent so that you are able to make the best decision for you and your future aspirations of being a nurse. If UC is your number 1 choice - nursing isn’t necessarily ruled out just yet, but just know that the application process for nursing as a sophomore admit is just as difficult to get into.”
3.67 unweighted, 25 ACT, taking all her classes at the local community college, 4 year athlete, numerous clubs and volunteer work.
With over 2000 applicants and only 150 spots it seems you have to be the best of the best. We have moved on from UC as the only reason she was wanting to attend was for the direct admit program.
@UNHfall Congrats on all those amazing acceptances! Wowza!
FWIW, I would not even compare URI with UNH or UVM. UNH and UVM are miles better. My son went to URI and came home after one semester. Weirdly, at least 1/2 the people I know who went there, transferred out.
I would be doing UVM all day long. Their program is amazing! We also loved UNH. (My DD got in, but for Alt Major and she is devastated!)
@UNHfall If I remember correctly UVM has most of the clinicals done on campus so compared to the other nursing schools will have less travelling to sites (that could be a benefit or not). UNH will have more clinicals done in the area so that might be beneficent for making connections for jobs later. Overall all those schools will provide similar career prospects so I do not think you will find anywhere to say that one school is “better” than the other. However there are other details that might influence your child. For example it might be easier to go semester abroad or easier to pursue a minor etc. Or location might be easier for part time jobs in the area. Those though will be specific to what your child is looking for.
Wowza was exactly what we felt when she got into UVM and UNH as those were reach schools.
Was your son in the nursing program at URI? If yes, what was his specific experience? I look at the nursing programs differently.
Overall, URI has an 85% freshman retention rate which is higher than the national average. UVM and UNH have an 86% freshman retention rate.
@NHfall I was working on a spreadsheet this weekend. I have not seen any book or data base that recaps all of this info. Someone needs to write it! But really its so hard to evaluate this major. They rank business and engineering but not Nursing. I will share what I have as comparison points on my spreadsheet in case this helps anyone:
GPA required to Keep Nursing Seat (or what’s needed later if not Direct Admit)
Plus / Minus or Whole Letter Grade school grading system
Scholarship GPA Requirement for Renewal (and how often is it reviewed)
Clinical Teaching Ratios
How far do students travel for clinicals?
of total clinical hours
How are clinicals assigned?
NCLEX Pass Rate
I’m sure there are a lots of things to consider. These are just a few that I am keeping track of specifically relating to Nursing (and one financial piece).
Hope this helps!
Another update! 
You can find my stats on this thread if that might be helpful.
I got in to UNH! I kind of forget how much merit was offered, but I believe it was the Dean’s Scholarship for around $8,000/yr (oos). Since I got in to UMass Amherst (instate), I will most likely not end up here.
I also got into Northeastern today! Was super happy about this one and they offered $20,000/yr merit. Still expensive though so we’ll see.
I’m still waiting on Villanova (I was deferred EA) , UPenn, UConn and BC
@futurenurse1224 Congrats!
For those who might find this info useful, here are my daughter’s stats/responses so far:
GPA: 4.22
ACT: 32 (superscore 33)
Did not take SAT
Quite a bit of leadership and community service including volunteering at hospital and nursing home.
Accepted to nursing:
Case Western
Miami University (Ohio)(also admitted to honors
University of Tennessee (Knoxville)
Illinois Wesleyan
Samford
University of Cincinnati (and honors)
Waiting:
University of Iowa nursing (has been admitted to the university and to the honors program- nursing comes out 2/1).
Would love to know if anyone has heard if Iowa comes out exactly on 2/1 or if it might be earlier. I believe the website language implies it might not be exactly 2/1.
@TNMom24 The language on the Iowa Nursing site is very unclear. We are waiting for same. They have had so much time for an ‘early admission’ decision that I would hope it is ON that date. I assume your D applied to Iowa Nursing ‘ED’? I assume the class will fill with the ED applicants.
Hi there,
Would you say to interview with the private schools? (non SDSU type) to help with acceptance? Or which ones did you visit with? Which did your daughter get into? My daughter has similar GPA so curious what those are. Thanks.
@elainecoronado Welcome! The forums take a little getting used to. It doesn’t automatically indicate which post you replied to even though you hit the reply button on their post. Tag their name by typing @ then their user name. Similar names will start to pop up. Just select the correct one by clicking on it. The question you posted above doesn’t indicate which user you asked the question to so you might not get a reply. You ll get the hang of things quickly!
Has anyone here been admitted or have a child admitted to University of Cincinnati Nursing? If so, can you share stats? I was surpised my daughter’s acceptance to the University of Cincinnati said Biological Sciences and not Nursing? She was not asked to do an interview. She was admitted at every other school she applied with scholarships. She has a 4.3 weighted (3.8 unweighted); 1360 SAT; National Honor Society; Student Counsel; 4 year varsity athlete, several honors, AP, ACP and dual credit classes and Project Lead the Way.
Nursing is getting more and more competitive. See post #211 of this thread for an example of this year’s stats accepted at UC.
@GaryAnn My daughter did not get admitted to UC Direct Nursing. It is confusing because her admittance letter said “Interdisciplinary Nursing Preparation”. Seems like Nursing but we had to go back to look at the order of the selection that UC said to apply to the program. And that was the second choice (“Nursing” being the first choice)
She did get an offer to do the MMI interview but the timing didn’t work out. We are 10 hours away and tried to get a spot the weekend we were in Cincy to tour Xavier but the interview slots were already full. She chose not to fly back 2 weekends later due to finals and because when we drove the UC campus while in Cincy, she wasn’t sure about it. Didn’t feel right to her. I would think that the MMIs would have helped her chances but even then it sounds like things were very competitive this year.
It appears UC is more holistic than some of the other programs that are only focused on stats. My daughter’s stats are slightly lower than your daughter’s. So no idea exactly what they were looking at. The only thing I could think of is that my daughter has a lot of hospital volunteer and Nursing certifications thru a program that she is in at her high school. Not certain if that helped with the MMI interview offer. Those activities/certifications have not seemed to help at another college that is holistic and specifically said Nursing preparation is what they were looking for.
College admissions are a mystery at times for sure. It sounds like you have several other options, so hopefully there’s something on her admit list that she feels comfortable with. Good luck!
@arkymommy Thank you so much for the info! I guess I didn’t know how competitive it was. My daughter did get a direct admit to her first choice Purdue University Nursing so she is very excited! I guess this is why I have heard so many people say direct admit is the way to go!
@GaryAnn I think someone mentioned it up thread, but keep in mind that clinicals starting junior year are in and around Indianapolis. They have one local VA, but I think that’s it, so she may need to bring a car.