<p>Son is a UA sophomore engineering major, and his youngest sister is a sophomore in HS. She has fallen in love with UA, and is working hard to obtain the stats required for the OOS scholarship.</p>
<p>She is very interested in a nursing career, and I am unfamiliar with the College of Nursing at UA. Is this a direct-admit program? Our state flagship is not, so I am curious if anyone knows how best my D could position herself to be admitted into nursing at UA…whether direct admit or not.</p>
<p>Thanks, and Roll Tide!</p>
<p>Promotion to upper division is highly competitive and is based solely on gpa earned in the required lower division courses. Science courses count twice, so it is especially important to guard the gpa. 96 students are promoted to begin upper division courses in summer and fall with summer being the most competitive. The average gpa is usually around 3.97 or 3.98. Upper division is 5 semesters and lower division is 4 semesters. The presidential scholarship only covers 8 semesters, so one semester is on you.</p>
<p>Does your state have a lowish NMF cutoff? If so, then that scholarship covers 10 semesters.</p>
<p>^Thats right. Also have her apply for any alumni, private, and departmental scholarships. There are a few sources of $ for students with high stats or need.</p>
<p>Definitely competitive, as I expected! I doubt that my D will have stats for NMF next year, but one can dream of course!</p>
<p>I did notice the 9 semester curriculum when I searched the nursing program on UA’s website, so thank you bamagirls, for the explanation.</p>
<p>My D has her work cut out for her, but she is a determined one to be sure! Many thanks for the info!!</p>
<p>Bamagirls…</p>
<p>Doesn’t the College of Nursing also have scholarships? If so, are there many? Are they given to students to help with the 7th semester?</p>
<p>Denthyg,</p>
<p>I’m sure your daughter will do well with that attitude and determination! </p>
<p>Mom2ck, There are a few scholarships, but not specifically for the 9th semester costs. Requirements vary depending upon the source.</p>
<p>Every $ counts, so be sure to look into those I mentioned above. Even small amounts add up. It helps to minimize costs from the beginning to prepare for the additional semester of tuition, books, and housing. Off campus housing is something to consider if she earns summer promotion.</p>
<p>Clinicals are held in various locations including Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and Northport. Many students carpool for convenience, to save on gas, and because parking is often restricted for students at hospitals.</p>
<p>If you are OOS, it is much cheaper to be promoted during summer. That way she will be taking 10 hours during her summer term versus 15-17 and summer tuition is much higher than the regular school year. DD is waiting to hear now about promotion to Upper Division for this summer. She is confident in her grades (4.0+), but really wants that letter in her hands! </p>
<p>Missread is correct about summer promotion requiring less hours. Congrats to your daughter, Missread. I recall how long that wait was for the official letter. Perhaps I misunderstood your question, m2ck. I thought you were asking if there were scholarships specifically to pay for the additional semester. I am not aware of any like that. These scholarships do, however, lower the overall cost to a student. Many of the scholarships have specific criteria for eligibility set by the benefactor (i.e. transfer, hometown, returning student, etc. while others are awarded based upon merit, involvement, or need). Students shouldn’t be discouraged by the additional cost, but they do need to be aware so they are not caught off guard. Good luck to your daughter, denthyg!</p>
<p>does nursing have a bunch of gen. ed. like other majors? she could take the basics at local CC to get one of the 9 semesters taken care of (without OOS tuition).</p>
<p>Here are the BSN Program of Study guidelines</p>
<p><a href=“http://nursing.ua.edu/downloads/program_of_studies.pdf”>http://nursing.ua.edu/downloads/program_of_studies.pdf</a></p>
<p>Part of the formula for promotion provides for preference points. “Students who complete at least one-half of the required lower division coursework in residence at UA will be given preference.” Science courses count twice in the formula for promotion which makes those grades really important. Only required courses are counted in the formula for promotion. Five of the semesters are upper division. Four semesters are lower division. Bringing in AP, CLEP, or dual enrollment credits helps lighten the load in lower division though.</p>
<p>one semester worth of CC or AP/DUAL credit (things like english, history, psychology), three semesters at UA (lower division), five semesters upper division.</p>
<p>Wow, that certainly sounds simple enough. Perhaps someone could figure out how to get around the science prereqs, course offerings, application periods and guidelines, and other logistical issues. I’m not going to belabor the point, but even with a generous amount of AP credit we would not have been able to make this work. We were aware the additional semester of OOS tuition would be our responsibility going in, so I’m not whining about it, but wanted to make sure the OP was aware of it also. Of course, we were thankful for all scholarship $'s which have helped to defray out of pocket costs along the way.</p>