For ASU I have heard 50% keep their direct admit. My daughter started out with 4 close friends, 3 are going strong, one did not meet the requirement but is hoping to get back in after Jr. year. we will see if that works out for her. Remember the 3.5 includes English, math, stats, not only the hard science classes. However, electives do not count toward the 3.5. If you want to see what classes the students take, go to the website and look for BSN major map. My daughter had a 3.8 weighted in HS and has far above 3.5 each semester at ASU. The collaboration between students and professors is great. You definitely have to put school first but my daughter goes to athletic events plus is in a sorority goes out on weekends, etc…
2 Likes
also of the 50% that don’t continue, they aren’t only from grades. Some decide nursing isn’t for them, transfer, etc…
1 Like
I have an outlier student here as she is not a strong applicant at all (just over 2.5 gpa, 25 ACT but comes from a rigorous prep school in DC metro). She applied to 6 schools, all DA except for one which is kind of a 2+2 but in conjunction with a local nursing college–they do not offer classes on their campus. She got into all 6–varying degrees of nursing acceptance.
Marymount (VA): Accepted, I believe acceptance into the school is acceptance into college of choice, according to her HS counselor, so I believe she’d be able to start nursing there
Stevenson U: Accepted, denied nursing. Was told she’d need to take pre-reqs elsewhere and apply/transfer in if accepted later
Wilkes University: Accepted, no mention of nursing (not interested so we didn’t ask)
York College: Accepted into pre-nursing, which we didn’t even think she had the stats for. Little bit longer program but if you do well, you get into nursing. This was my top pick for her
Hood College: Accepted, will know in March if she’s in nursing. If not, they’ll allow her to begin the classes and transfer in if she does well enough/as spaces open
Virginia Wesleyan: Accepted, this is the one that is more a 2+2/has a shared program with a local nursing college.
She has selected Hood as she feels she has a good chance of being eventually admitted into their program, if not offered it outright. They also have an Art Therapy pre-professional program which is her backup plan and not many of the other schools had that. It’s an hour from home and she fell in love with the campus and surrounding city. We are awaiting FA info for Hood and of course are curious as to whether they’ll offer nursing but I think it’ll be her school regardless.
I want to continue to post her progress because when I came on here looking at possible nursing paths for a student who is very capable but struggled in HS, I didn’t find much to be hopeful about. Lots of paths to nursing, so hoping it works out for her!
3 Likes
Wanted to provide a quick update on my D21’s DA journey. Starting to feel like there is an end in sight here 
Accepted
Marquette (18k)
Loyola Chicago (25k)
Florida Southern (24k)
Jacksonville U (27.5k)
Illinois State (6.5K)
Purdue (no merit offered)
Pending:
Saint Louis (25k) awaiting review by nursing
UTK (15K) awaiting review by nursing
Limbo:
U Minnesota (by 1/31)
U Cinci (2/6)
Case Western (deferred to RD)
2 Likes
Hello! Congratulations to those who got admissions and Good Luck to all.
Could someone help with the below question -
I am a mom of High school junior this year who is planning to apply to direct nursing (BSN) programs for Fall of 2022 admission. She is hoping to remain in the local area (MA, NH, CT, RI, NY).
She has a 4.1 weighted GPA and 1450 SAT at the end of 10th grade. She is taking APs and Honors classes in 11th and 12th grade. She might improve before she applies in the 2021 Fall/winter for 2022 Fall admissions. She has 2-3 ECs but she is very involved with these including leadership positions.
She is thinking of the following Direct Entry Nursing programs from high school. Is the below list achievable for her? Will applying Early decision to Northeastern improve her chances? She plans to apply EA for the rest.
Northeastern
UMASS Amherst
Simmons
UMASS Lowell
UMASS Boston
Also considering the below -
UNH
URI
Fairfield
UConn
SUNY Binghamton
Quinnipiac
How can she improve her chances? Any suggestions.
Northeastern is the only school she might not get in. I would say yes for all the rest. ED is always considered as positive especially for full pay parents.
1 Like
@am9799 - Thank you.
How many colleges should she plan for? Are there other colleges that might be a better fit for her?
I don’t know anything about east coast schools (being from CA) but I see you listed some big guns. My daughter applied to 12 universities…a range of reach and safety. Your daughter looks like she’s on the right track. Junior year can be tough. Have her take science all 4 years… AP sciences if they offer them. Good luck to her!
1 Like
@playinthegame - Thank you for your feedback.
In your opinion, what should the ratio of reach, match and safety schools be?
Are nursing programs more competitive than regular undergrads at the same college?
If a student is a reach/match/safety for the undergrad program, how will this change for the nursing program?
Direct admit nursing is very competitive, even at less competitive schools (for example, Illinois State). My D applied to 11 direct admit schools and a couple 2+2 programs as safeties. We went in with the mindset that none of her direct admit options were actual safeties. We are in the Midwest so not super familiar with the schools on your list but my D has similar stats as yours with a lower test score (4.2W/28 ACT) and has had success with this process so far.
1 Like
@RachelAC - Thank you for sharing your thoughts & experience.
Hey there-- I’m kind of in your neck of the woods (down in NJ) and my Class of 2025 daughter has similar stats (but was only able to take one ACT). My daughter applied to 10 schools total–which her guidance counselor felt was a bit low for direct admit nursing but was willing to see how the EA rounds shook out. She ended up getting into 8 of them and withdrew her application for the ones she was still waiting on. And yes–direct admit nursing has a lower acceptance rate than the school at large. Most schools will provide those stats for you (although goodness knows this year will be strange). Anyway, my advice is that some schools really truly do focus on the holistic aspect of the application (not just the academic stats)–make sure your daughter has as much “experience” with nursing as possible (i.e–would typically be volunteering but right now that isn’t feasible–so get as close as possible. For example, any online certifications/free online courses specific to community healthcare/etc). Also–the supplemental essays (typically something along the line of “why you want this path”–and more specifically–“why nursing as opposed to ALL the healthcare professions out there”) matter. I believe what ultimately made my daughter a strong candidate was her experience volunteering at a local cancer center as well as the charity work she did specific to pediatric cancer. Finally, consider if scholarships matter to you when making your list. And one specific note on your list above–URI is not direct admit…not sure if that matters to you. Best of luck!
1 Like
Congrats!!! Looks like some great options.
1 Like
Congrats to your girl! And yes…agree…many many paths.
1 Like
@WafflesMom - Thanks for the suggestions for sharing your daughter’s experience. It’s good to know that the colleges look at holistic aspect of the application including healthcare related experience, healthcare related online certifications etc. I will share this with my D and also ask her to focus on the supplemental essays.
Good to know about URI. Direct admit does matter…
Good luck. You have done a great job with your daughter! If your daughter did get accepted like mine into Marymount and checked nursing your daughter IS admitted into Nursing program. The one good thing I like about program is only need a 2.5 to stay in the program. It’s a tough major and that GPA minimum helps.
My daughter is sold on York. I wanted her to at least visit Marymount but she doesn’t want to make the trip. York wants a 3.0 GPA to stay in program. The only good thing is she can extend to one extra 9th. semester and that makes the road easier and scholarship money counts. She can start out in 8 semesters and move if she needs to.
Please let us know how your daughter makes out with Hood. I may have mentioned that my daughter only had a 3.0 GPA and was originally admitted to pre-nursing at York. Once she send an SAT score it must have been good enough to bump her up into the program. As of now there are still openings.
I REALLY wish mine would at least go see York. We did the online virtual open house and I was impressed. She feels it will be “too big” (Hood is only 1000 students which to me, is too small!) Marymount is about 20 min down the road from us, and while we’ve only done a virtual open house, I’ve driven past the campus many times. I think for my daughter it’s just too close to home and she wants to be a bit further away, and it being a Catholic school was a bit of a turn off for her as well (we are non-religious). York seems to have a solid program and I like the size a lot. I hope your daughter really enjoys it if that is indeed where she ends up attending! *Edited to add–Hood gave her $18k a year (provided she keeps a minimum GPA) which was a nice little bonus!
Ultimately its their decision unless a big discrepancy in money. We have to trust their instincts. Wishing our kids only the best!
For sure. I just want her to be where she’ll thrive. I think she had a lot of “college visit” fatigue and just wanted to make her choice and have it be over with. That being said, I loved Hood and am very happy with her choice! I’m just one that wants to see all of my options before making a decision. Now we just wait to see if they take her for nursing. We’ll submit her first semester grades which (especially for her) are very good so hopefully that helps.
Wishing you all the best!