Found this fun discussion in Parent’s Forum: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1883008-colleges-your-child-crossed-off-the-list-after-visiting-schools-that-moved-up-on-the-list-why-p14.html and thought it would be great to start for future Nursing Majors …
I love this idea - do you think there would be an easy way to manage it in one spot. Other people’s feedback on the schools would be helpful - especially when one poor tour guide or interviewer, etc., might throw off an otherwise great option. Seeing other information on it might encourage a 2nd visit…and the list could help you discover schools not previously considered! I love the tidbits of information on schools you could pick up.
Moved Up:
Florida Southern College - Loved beautiful campus; new dorms overlooking lake; tour guide great but overall student population too small; can have car as a freshmen; isolated with nothing immediate to walk to off campus.
University of Miami - Loved campus; new nursing bldg; school spirit; rivalry freshmen dorms; fitness center for students; outdoor pool; admission presentation a bit long; campus in residential neighborhood - plenty to do in South Beach or Coconut Grove!
UNC-Wilmington - Loved beautiful campus near Wrightsville Beach; new nursing bldg; fitness center; laid back feel; off of main commercial road so plenty to do nearby ; buildings spread out so encouraged to have bike, skateboard etc. Not Direct Entry.
Case Western Reserve University - Urban open campus but felt safe; University Hospital (Rainbow Babies) right on campus; new health facility set to open 2019 but not on main campus, across busy main avenue; current simulation lab facilities are older - D heard 2 other girls on tour put down; start clinical hours as a freshmen & Cleveland Clinic only 10 min away; Uptown with restaurants, Barnes & Noble book store etc within walking distance of campus & access to public transportation a plus; Newer upper classmen dorms; new student Center with parking garage. 1 of the only schools where you can go in undecided/different major and change major to Nursing.
University of Scranton - Brand new construction; excellent food & dining facilities; newer sophomore & upper classmen dorms; 2 hospitals within walking distance plus mall; D did not like prerequisites of Jesuit university however. Depressed city though modern mall & chain restaurants 10 minutes away in Dickson City.
University of Vermont - Loved campus and downtown Burlington; good medium size student population ( 9,8000); older nursing facilities with underground tunnel connecting to hospital nearby; not a lot of diversity that we could see; eco friendly new bldg never made it inside during Open House but looked awesome; student center impressive & newer; lots of clubs, et.c to be involved in. Open House started very early meeting in nearby hotel conference center then transported via shuttle to main campus.
James Madison University Loved beautifully landscaped campus; uniform newer construction "sandstone" like buildings; new rec center; not Direct Entry. Turned off by hearing freshmen at end of year to change major because of no chance of getting in as sophomore. Lots of school spirit & club involvement.
Moved Down:
University of Delaware - Great school spirit - greeted at parking lot early am for open house; did not like campus layout - health facilities separate from main campus; downtown great with lots of restaurants, shops etc.
Catholic University - Not a fan of DC; surrounding area unsafe though in suburban part of DC; dated facilities("yellow brick"); did not like cafeteria food; did not like overnight sport recruit visit; did not like student /campus vibe. Sport facilities long walk from dorm & although sidewalk would not want to be walking alone at night. Built up camps town across from campus with shops, etc. so have something nearby to walk to without using Metro on campus to go into DC. Religion there if you want to pursue but emphasized large non Catholic student population. Admission presentation very well done. Big selling point is proximity to DC & hospitals. Open house included nursing majors sharing their experiences/placements. You are considered as pre-nursing but have spot as long as maintain GPA when formally accepted into at end of sophomore year.
Stevenson University - Split campus with classes still being held on older campus 15 min away; new health building a plus; newer dorms; all with a/c; not enough to do/within walking distance on main campus; uses JCC nearby for some sports .
UNC-Charlotte - Did not tour but liked large campus feel; need car or shuttle for off campus options; large commuter population; newer construction. Not Direct Entry.
Fairleigh Dickinson University (Madison) - Prior Vanderbilt property. Did not tour but campus way too small & on hill in suburban neighborhood. Need car or shuttle to get to anything off campus. First year nursing offered at this campus vs the metro campus in Teaneck, NJ.
Seton Hall University - Did not like surrounding area or dated facilities ("yellow brick"); tour guide was great though; great athletic facilities for non athletes. Lots of opportunities for scholarship money.
Adelphi University - definitely felt like a commuter school though good amount live on campus. Facilities & dorms older though new healthcare Nexxus building very modern & impressive.
LeMoyne College - 2 + 2 program with St. Joseph Community college 3 miles away. Did not visit. Too small.
Mount St. Mary's College (Newburgh, NY) - Loved beautiful campus overlooking water; however too small campus & student pop. and on hill; commuter school; strong Catholic feel with chapel on bottom floor of upper classmen residence hall ; tour guide was great and conveyed a lot of school spirit.; can meal swipe at local & chain restaurants; nursing facilities in hallway of classroom building.
Xavier University - Beautiful uniform campus with brand new construction and facilities; isolated with nearby "bad" neighborhood on 1 end of campus; at the other end has built own campus town to walk to . Need to carpool for hospital clinicals which can be up to 40 min away. Nursing facilities new & modern. Nursing staff seems to take personal interest in students well being. Lots of school spirit especially for basketball.
Crossed Off:
Queens University of Charlotte(too small); Wingate University (not Direct Entry); Pace University (Pleasantville, NY); Drexel University (did not like disjointed campus w/ health bldg away from main campus area; not a fan of co-ops); La Salle University (bad surrounding area, campus seemed run down); University of Rhode Island (older Nursing bldg not part of tour; did not like campus - some newer construction but a lot of old; no built up area to walk to with shops etc.)
Moved Up -
Fairfield University, beautiful campus, seems like a fairly close knit community, tour guide was a junior nursing student who stated that advisers really get to know students, D thought it was great when she mentioned her adviser texts her to check in - liked that personal feel. Not a huge school, all freshman dorms together but no grouping by major, specific opportunities for study abroad for nursing students. Breaking ground for expansion of nursing and sim labs,should include a replica of a hospital wing when done, Clinicals start spring of Sophomore year. School test optional including nursing program. Good tour guide did good job selling school and opportunities for clinicals and school bus trips into NYC for baseball and broadway shows.
Endicott - although went into it thinking too small, loved the campus (on the ocean, with 3 beaches), students seemed down to earth…nursing building at furthest end of campus…a bit removed. Will tour again when can see nursing building and question impact of being removed…went on initial tour during April vacation so it was crowded…stated reconfiguring nursing program to add study abroad options. Good information presentation, access to clinicals in Boston area although a bit of a commute. Possible safety school based on stats presented - if there is even such a thing as safety for nursing.
Moved Down -
UMAss Lowell - will do an official tour but drive through the campus was not great first impression, Multiple campus locations with questionable areas in between. D is thinking she may not be a city girl and liked the contained type campuses of schools mentioned above.
Can’t wait to visit Quinnipiac - did a quick walk through and gorgeous campus. Not sure about the multiple campus locations but will get more info on how it works on the tour.
Crossed off:
Temple University: I actually got a great first impression of the school from the diversity (saw people of all types of races and religions), the size/spirit (I’ve always wanted the stereotypical huge school with lots of school spirit), and the area (I’m a huge fan of cities, since I’ve been a suburb girl my whole life). However, the nursing building is WAY off campus, and I’ve heard too many stories about gang related activity near the building. My tour guides had no idea what there were doing; we asked 3 different guides where the nursing building was and we were lead to the craziest places. It took someone who WASN"T a guide to finally lead us to the building. Parking was crazy; although i don’t plan on driving in college, my parents should not have to stress that much about parking when they want to come visit me. I also was rejected for their nursing program, and instead put in public health. Higher rated nursing programs took me in, or at least waitlisted me which is very strange.
Drexel- Never ended up applying. Decided the high price and the poor financial aid reviews was enough to save me the application money. I loved the size/spirit, and the city. It’s actually in the same city as Temple( Philadelphia).
UMaine- The extreme lack of diversity and just how unfamiliar the area would be to me (I live in the nj/nyc area) was enough to make me decide not to apply. I’ve heard mixed reviews about their nursing program as well.
Alvernia- Perhaps not as well known, but their nursing program seems respected enough. Great merit/financial aid, but decided I would be bored/misreable on campus since the area didn’t seem exciting. Small size (2k students) didn’t help either.
Moved Down-
UMAss Lowell- They gave me decent money, but i just couldn’t ignore the horrible reviews about the local area/safety. I did admire their efforts to eliminate their suitcase school reputation. I loved the size and the spirit. But safety comes first. Also, the nursing building isn’t the easiest to get to, I heard.
Quinnipiac- Seems like a great school; although it’s not a huge school(9k students i believe), they have spirit and it seems like they know how to have fun. HIGHLY respected nursing program. However, the population is very homogenous in several ways, and I just didn’t see myself fitting in. Gave horrible financial aid, even after I sent proof that my father is terminally ill. Still, it was an honor to be accepted into this program.
Moved Up-
York College of PA- It’s a small school(4-6k students), and this was a turn off for awhile, but their job placement and nursing program overall is just so great. I heard course load is very manageable. The local area seems enjoyable enough, and their tuition was the lowest out of all my schools. MAYBE would have committed here, but they unfairly told emailed me one day that in 2 hours, their 4 year nursing program would be closing and that if i wanted to secure a spot, I would need to put down an enrollment deposit within those 2 hours. I hadn’t even received my financial aid from them yet, all I had was the merit aid! I was annoyed, and decided to let it go.
Duquesne- This has been within my top 3 schools since my junior year. It’s not a huge school, but it’s not small either; with around 10k students, it’s definitely a medium sized school, which is still nice. The class sizes however, are small which is great for a nursing major. The school spirit has mixed reviews, but seems to be alright, especially for basketball, which is what the school is known for. The population isn’t very diverse, but it’s definitely WAY better than Quinnipiac and UMaine. I’ve intereracted with many students of different races/backgrounds on facebook/twitter. VERY generous with merit and financial aid. Gorgeous campus, and it’s in Pittsburgh, an awesome city. Area has a great safety rating. Nursing program is very respected, and i’ve never heard anything but great things about job placement. The staff and student body seem friendly enough. My dad fell in love with their simulation lab.
I’ll be attending Duquesne this fall 
UMass Lowell has a split campus because it was formed through the merger of Lowell State College and Lowell Technological Institute.
Yes, Temple’s nursing building is not on the main campus, but is at the edge of the Medical Center campus, which is about 1/2 mile away. The area around the main campus has greatly improved, but the area around the Medical Center still scares me.
That is strange that York College would provide a 2 hour deadline. A few years ago, they provided a warning about needing to commit early to be a nursing major, as part of the initial admissions acceptance package, and then provided a warning about a month before the date when they expected to run out of space.
@charlieschm Yeah, it was a huge disappointment. I’m sure they weren’t trying to me malicious, and I’m sure something happened that caused them to have no choice but to set that last minute deadline, but it just wasn’t fair for me or my family 
Marymount, VA- D thought too small 1,200 I think.
York- Liked it and got a great feeling from tour of nursing building.
Salem State - D did not like the disjointed campus. I loved this school- mid size, near beach, near Boston, cute old downtown with a large celebration for Halloweeen, and low tuition!
Temple - my son goes there (Loves it! MIS major). would not be comfortable with my daughter going back and forth to medical building but they do have a shuttle and 24 security escort.
I was between five nursing schools for BSN and this is what I decided:
Stayed the Same:
Univ of Washington, Seattle: Love everything about it but it isn’t direct entry. Gorgeous campus, fun location, beautiful everything and amazing academics
UCLA: The nursing admissions office was cranky when I called to see if I could get a tour, but it might have just been some random person answering the phone, and, as I didn’t get a tour, I can’t judge how it would have been. Great campus for a general college education, a little big, but prestigious almost to the level of Penn. I hear that the community of nursing students is very close knit and the faculty take great care of them so that’s good. All the admitted students are so friendly, enthusiastic, and welcoming.
Moved Down:
Azusa Pacific University: Sweet school but too small for me. I loved the nursing program and the faculty seem great, but I felt I would be bored there with so many people similar to me. Should be a great fit for others though!
University of Pennsylvania: Hard to say no to an Ivy but the price tag was just too much, and living in Northern California would just be way too far for me to go to PA for college. Didn’t like Philly, though the campus was decent. Nursing is AMAZING but I couldn’t justify 70k a year for a BSN. The office is so welcoming and totally pampered me on my visit after I was admitted.
UC Irvine: I love the campus and the atmosphere so much but the nursing school doesn’t have enough funding. It is not a “school of nursing” yet, only a major, as it is so young, so they can’t attract top faculty like Penn or UCLA. Still, a good program.
End decision: I will be attending UCLA’s School of Nursing in the fall!
Congrats on UCLA. That is one of the hardest programs for admission in the US.
Everyone should keep in mind that the extent of merit and need based aid varies greatly from college to college. Penn has an exhorbitant sticker price but has some of the best need based aid in the US. Many upper middle income families receive substantial discounts.
We visited two schools in Michigan.
Grand Valley: moved up. The best facilities we have seen as far as sim labs go. They have two campuses. The Allendale campus is for the general population and then there’s a downtown campus for medical and nursing. Feels like they could spend 2 years at Allendale and then 2 years downtown. Grand Rapids is a really cool city with lots to do.
Aquinas. Moved down. Really old buildings and super small. Not much to do. Also, they do not allow tours of the sim labs so I question how good they might be. Good points about this school is that it is really easy to get into the nursing program and they have a very high placement rate.
Sacred Heart - moved to top of list. Great size school and new health professional building opening Aug 2017. It is supposed to be top notch facility with cutting edge technology. If their new Communications Building is an indicator of how the building will be I believe it. Campus has done a great deal of upgrading in past few years and finishing it out in the next 2-3. Only con was that the new building is about a mile down the road from the main campus but there should be plenty of shuttles.