@finalthree I hear you. It is frustrating how competitive things are. The daughter of parent who posted the A-/B+ nursing journey had a 3.8 GPA / 28 ACT. Granted she was applying to CA schools so that was likely a low GPA/ACT for CA Direct Admit programs. I referred to this thread because RNMOM2 daughter had a similar GPA. So much pressure for these kids…
Right. At any other school she would have in the high threes. But it also explains why colleges that know her high school’s rigor accepts students with a lower GPA than from our public high school. She will find her path either way, just likely not through direct admit!
Jeez, it took forever to find this forum with the new design!
Are you close to Ohio? My daughter is a sophomore nursing student at the University of Cincinnati and it definitely fits the “big-time sports” bill. It’s also direct admit.
@bearcatfan We are what I consider close enough, being the Chicago area. Thanks for the suggestion. I have not researched the University of Cincinnati much, but it would be an option. Thanks for the suggestion, I will take a deeper dive.
Hi All,
My D20 is also planning on nursing. I am pushing large merit aid so that limits our options. She is a NMSF so a lot of the schools chosen offer aid for that. The other item which is important to her is distance from home. She prefers 3-6 hour drive. Just long enough to stay away but close enough to be an easy drive home.
So far we have toured and are applying to:
University of Alabama
University of Kentucky
University of Florida
Florida State
Toured but not applying
UNC
University of South Carolina
Applying but not toured (reaches due to limited merit aid)
Michigan
UVA
For nursing D20 decided what she mostly cared about was proximity to clinical hospital. UKs hospital was right on campus so it seemed to please her most. We have had terrible luck with campus visits as it seems to have been raining everywhere we go. Oddly enough the ones which have the best weather move to the top of her list.
I am helping my 3rd find her way to college.
We recently entered the world of nursing schools. I had no idea they were so competitive! We have a master spreadsheet and are comparing all kinds of data. We realized that our flagship state school is a reach for the nursing program. Data on here says they have 1400 applicants with 275 accepted to enroll 50 to 60. I’ve seen the GPA cut off to be 3.8 on 4.0 (? if that is accurate).
Can you give me ideas nursing direct admit safety schools for her? We do have a direct admit list. It is just hard to gather the nursing schools stats.
Here are here stats:
weighted GPA 4.17, unweighted 3.7 on a 4.0
SAT 1260
ACT 28 (taking again in Oct, confident she can raise to a 29 or 30, should be received by 11/15 deadlines)
Broad range of extracurriculars (sports, band, language club officer, NHS, has a job) and silver and gold awards for volunteer hours
AP/IB classes, very competitive HS which doesn’t rank but she is likely in the top 15%
Since her discovery of a nursing career is new she does not have volunteer hours in a nursing related position.
We are looking for schools where she could likely get merit aid. The dream being a cost of less than $30,000/yr. It would be good to stay in the Northeast or the East Coast but she is open to other options.
Thank you for your thoughts.
@WasIDremin we recently visited UK nursing and it was quite impressive. I don’t know how many apply, but students apply spring of freshman year. 100 seats for the following fall, and 100 seats for following spring. It used to be based 100% on top GPAs but now there is also an interview and an essay. It sounds wonderful but I asked what happens if you don’t get a seat. Answer was reapply the following spring and take an extra year or change majors. I guess that’s the risk you take if you don’t do a direct admit. Really torn on taking the sure thing (direct admit) or chancing it with a school you can’t apply to until later.
@WasIDremin Have you seen recent posts to lead you to believe there is merit available at UMich or UVa? I thought that was a ‘no’ (besides maybe Stamps at UMich)?
@bigmacbeth No, other than the Uber selective ones I really see very little in the way of merit there. I made it clear to my D20 that that is the case but she decided to apply anyway. She chose the very ends of the spectrum (automatic aid to almost no aid at all)
@Finalthree We revisited UK today(not the nursing program) since it was one of the first she visited. We stopped by the honors college to see what they offered. It appeared to reaffirm that she does like the school. It’s helpful to her that the dorms are so nice there and it is just 3 hrs from home.
As to the other almost no aid giving schools D20 is good enough to be considered for all merit. But if she doesn’t apply she for sure won’t get it.
The UK dorms are incredible as is the hospital / level one trauma right on campus. For my D it will come down to chancing it at UK or taking a direct admit elsewhere.
D20 has sent her 9 apps out, 2 nursing supplements so far. 2 supplements to go, one for nursing and one for an honors college. 8 are direct admit and 1 is pre-nursing in case, well, armageddon. Hope to hear from the first one in a few weeks. 
One thing we are also weighing is costs - we are willing to go a little higher for direct entry knowing she won’t have to take an accelerated post grad degree.
@Finalthree UK offers a program for higher students which is similar to Direct entry. I cannot remember the numbers but basically if you get a certain ACT and maintain a good GPA you are entered in as a freshman.
Here is the information from their flyer
Early Admission
Early provisional admission to the Profes- sional Nursing Curriculum will be granted to graduating high school seniors who meet the criteria of a high school GPA of 3.5 or higher and an ACT composite of 28 or higher (or the equivalent SAT combined score). Students will be required to maintain a 3.25 GPA in each semester in their first year and a 3.25 GPA in science to retain guaranteed admission to the professional level. Students who meet these requirements will be granted full admission in either the fall or spring of the student’s sopho- more year to the Professional Nursing Curricu- lum. Students not meeting those requirements will be grouped with other applicants who are considered for admission after completion of the prerequisites.
I saw that. She has the GPA but not the ACT. Close, but no cigar. I tried to talk her into taking it again but she isn’t concerned.
D20 admitted to Marquette DA with $16K tuition discount, err I mean merit. First nursing program admission, so she’ll have some place to go next fall. She’s excited to be able to breathe, although this one was kind of expected (I will say that now 
).
Her stats are:
GPA: UW3.93/W4.45
SAT: 1440
5 APs
Captain of swim and gymnastics teams
Just recently decided on nursing, so only health-related EC was a volunteer in pre/post-op at a major children’s hospital.
Daughter is a senior and just hit submit on her nursing applications. Son is freshman in college so we’re all finally starting to get the hang of the application process. Amazing how subjective (and competitive) the acceptance process has become.
Daughter applied to the following schools:
Baylor (not direct admit)
Belmont
Creighton
Duquesne
Gonzaga
Loyola Chicago
Marquette
Regis University
Saint Louis University
Seattle U
TCU
University of Portland
University of San Francisco
Xavier U
Fingers crossed!
@bigmacbeth Congratulations on the first acceptance to Marquette!
Thanks @oredad. Good luck to your D20. Mine is super excited about Marquette right now. Hope your daughter hears some good news soon…
D20 just got first admit to Marymount University. 19.5 merit aid. What a relief! She’s been absolutely terrified that her scores are too low and she wouldn’t have any direct admit to attend.
Her stats are
appx. 3.7 GPA (school doesn’t calculate, Quaker prep school)
26 ACT
Capt of swimming and softball teams, proctor in freshman dorm at boarding school, ran this years blood drive, did a summer pre-med camp at Penn, summer swim team and worked full time as camp counselor/life guard past 3 summers.
She’s also applied to:
Univ of Cincinnati
Temple
Pitt
Clemson
Duquesne University
U Delaware
Ohio State University
Michigan State
Jefferson (Philadelphia University)
Univ of Wisconsin Madison
University of Hawaii Manoa (!!)