I’ve been accepted into York College of PA. I’m super happy, because it has a well respected nursing program at a good price. I also got some merit, and I still have the option to apply for financial aid, which I should be getting plenty of with what I am going through. My acceptance package mentioned that spots fill up quickly. I’ve read online that by late December/early January the 4 year track and a lot of the 4.5 year track is filled.
However, I’ve also been accepted into Duquesne (very high on my list, a bit on the expensive side, but I got good merit and my parents visited it and are in LOVE with it) and Umass Lowell( didn’t visit yet, I doubt I’ll be getting much money from them but we’ll see). I’m still waiting for Scranton(very expensive so I don’t know about this one, I find out if I’m in on Monday), Quinnipiac (also very expensive) and Temple, which I was deferred until February/March (my least expensive school AFTER York). I also have not visited York yet. I’ve only visited Temple and Duquesne. I really loved Temple 
My parents will make time to visit York I’m sure since it’s only about 3-4 hours away, but probably not right away(as in, not within these next several weeks)!
anyone know a lot about York, or any of the schools I’ve been accepted to/I’m waiting for? York is definitely my cheapest option right now, and least expensive. I’m wondering if I should just tell my parents to put in the deposit so I can commit to it? I’m worried if I wait too long I won’t have it as a choice…
I think @Charliesch 's daughter is a nursing student there.
As of 3 years ago, the York College deposit was $500, but $300 of that was refundable if you cancelled before May 1. $200 is a relatively low cost to keep your options open. Yes, the incoming nursing classes do fill up - I wouldn’t wait any longer to put in a deposit.
If you have to do a 4.5 year instead of 4 year, you will have a less stressful courseload, but it will cost many thousand of dollars more. With the 4.5 year track, you avoid the need to do the summer mini-mester, which costs about $2500 including housing. My daughter is in the 4 year program, which requires about 128 credits, but she did two online community college classes during summers to reduce the workload during the school year.
York offers automatic merit scholarships based upon test scores. Some colleges will allow you to become eligible for the scholarship even if you improve your test score after the acceptance.
My daughter is happy with York’s nursing and science classes. Some of the other classes were not very hard, which is actually helpful in doing well in your very challenging nursing and science classes and clinicals. At a more competitive college, she could have been overwhelmed with very challenging liberal arts classes. So far, all of her clinicals have been at the two hospitals in the city of York, which is very convenient.
@Charliesch thank you for your awesome reply. I’ve always heard good things about York, which is why i wouldn’t mind committing to it now and dropping everything else, especially with the price. However, my older sister (she’s helping me a lot with the college process. My parents are foreigners who have only attended county college for their degrees) keeps telling me that they’re only saying to deposit right away to “pressure me into committing” and she thinks it’s a horrible idea to put down a deposit now. I’ll tell her about the semi refund!
Can you tell me about diversity at York, or if there’s not much, how minorities would be treated there? I’m African American but I get along really well with different types of people since I was born and raised in probably one of the most diverse suburbs. Can you also tell me about the town(are there things to do?)
And if anyone else has advice about this deposit issue is still love to hear them 
Most York College students are from Md, and south central Pa and New Jersey. When I walk around, the college seems to be mostly white students, but you can find data online. I think you would find a larger minority population at public universities or at private colleges that offer larger amounts of need-based aid. Also, Division III colleges (which includes York) are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships, and many minority students attend college on athletic scholarships.
You would be better off talking to some current students or recent grads to get a true perspective. Just be careful to not let one person’s opinion have too much influence on you on a college, particularly if that opinion is very negative. There will always be some unhappy students at any college.
Correct me if I’m wrong but if you’re accepted into a college and you put your deposit in by May 1 they have to give you your spot. Then after may 1 you are no longer guaranteed the spot. Thus why May 1 (decision day) is such a big deal
You can only deposit at one college at a time, and colleges are not required to refund your deposit if you send it in and then change your mind. Nursing majors seem to be handled differently (unethically, in my opinion) – at a lot of schools you need to deposit to hold your spot in the major, you don’t get until May 1.
You should check and see how much of the deposit is refundable, if any, if you change your mind.
So even though accepted you have to send in a partially non refundable deposit to hold a space. That is unethical.
Thanks guys. It really is all screwed up. No one in my family can grasp the competitiveness of nursing these days(including my own mom who’s a nurse) so putting down a deposit now is just strange to them
This happens in a few colleges. They accept more nursing students than they can accommodate, because they know some students will pick other colleges. Students need to put down a deposit around December at York College if you want to reserve your spot in the nursing program. You can still attend the college as long as you make a decision by May 1, but it would be in a major other than nursing if there are no more nursing spots left. York also doesn’t typically have room for transfers into the nursing program, as I understand it. Nursing is about 15% of the whole college.
(Some other colleges will not accept students to the nursing program if they don’t apply by November.)
teeluuuj:
To understand the increased competitiveness for 4 year BSN Programs you need to understand the historical evolution of the Nursing Discipline. For many, many years in this country the overwhelming majority of licensed RN’s graduated from 2 year Nursing Programs (Diploma Schools, ARN Programs, etc.), obtained their RN Nursing license, and then worked as an RN for the rest of their careers. So there really was little interest/value overall in obtaining a BSN degree. Over the last 20 years there has been increasing pressure by insurance carriers (especially Medicare) for healthcare professionals of all disciplines to obtain higher educational degrees (i.e. Doctoral degrees for Pharmacy/PT, BSN degrees for Nursing). They correlate quality of care with the level of educational degrees. You can argue till your blue in the face whether this is appropriate/accurate or not but it is the reality of the situation. As a result of this in Nursing a number of hospitals/healthcare organizations will now only hire Nurses with BSN’s. So BSN Programs have become increasingly popular, hence the increase in competitiveness. Unfortunately BSN Nursing Programs are expensive to run, faculty pay is low, so it is difficult to just increase the number of slots to meet up with the demand. In fact I understand at least several states are planning to change Nursing licensure requirements that would require the BSN degree to obtain/maintain licensure as an RN (current RN’s without a BSN would be given a time frame [i.e.10years] by which they would need to obtain their BSN in order to renew their Nursing license). This has resulted in the emergence of an increased number of RN to BSN Programs, but the same limitations apply. Many of the past Diploma Programs/ARN Programs have been setting up arrangements/affiliations with these Programs so that they can continue to exist. I realize that this info has little to do with the early deposit issue but I thought this info might be of some interest to you (and maybe your mom). Good luck.
Small correction, but I believe most of the nursing programs 30 to 40 years ago were 3 year programs, not 2 year. (Two of my sisters graduated from 3 year hospital-based RN programs.) The York College program was taken over from York Hospital many years ago.
Even now a ”2 year" program isn’t really just two years. It’s a year of prerequisites followed by two years of nursing classes or two years that include summers (5-6 semesters).
Thanks for providing additional information. However, the length of these past programs (and current similar programs) is a moot point. They are not BSN Programs.
I called York and they told me I should put down a deposit definitely before February and I should be fine, so I’ll work on that. Since the deposit is semi refundable, It puts less pressure on me to committ right away. Thanks all!