I am a senior in high school and I want to major in nursing. My GPA is a 3.7, and my SAT score isn’t that great, an 1180, but I’m planning on retaking it again to hopefully get it to at least a 1250. Which colleges have a good direct entry nursing program that isn’t too competitive to get into where I have a good chance of getting accepted? My home state is NY, so I’m looking for colleges that are in NY or around it. Thank you.
Simmons College, if female
Emmanuel College
both in Boston
There are plenty of direct entry nursing programs in eastern PA that are not extremely competitive, including Bloomsburg U., West Chester U., U. of Scranton, Misericordia U., York College of PA, Alvernia U., DeSales U., etc.
Thanks for the reply but I heard that the nursing program at west chester u is really hard to get into.
Yes, West Chester admissions have become increasingly more competitive in recent years, particularly for nursing. Bloomsburg nursing is also competitive; the other PA state schools that offer nursing (IUP, Edinboro, Mansfield, Clarion, East Stroudsburg) are not as competitive. Several of the Penn State branch campuses also offer BSN degrees. Other PA private colleges with nursing programs (to add to those mentioned above) include Moravian, Neumann, La Salle, Carlow, Saint Francis, Messiah, Gannon, Cedar Crest, Drexel, Duquesne, Eastern, Holy Family, Robert Morris, Temple, Wilkes, Widener, Waynesboro, Wilson (new program). Many of these are not that selective; most are direct entry. My son was admitted to IUP nursing for fall 2015 with lower GPA and SAT scores than yours.
Yes, of the ones I listed, West Chester would be the hardest for admission. However, my daughter was admitted there 3 years ago without super-human scores.
Moravian has started construction of a new health care education building. They had cooperated with St. Luke’s School of Nursing to provide a joint BSN, but I don’t know if they will now have their own program.
DeSales built a new health care building a couple years ago. They also have a large Physician’s Assistant program, and are building more on-campus housing.
Luzerne County Community College just started a new BSN program with King’s College. It offers continuation into the BSN if you meet minimum requirements after completing the community college courses.
Messiah is a conservative religious university outside of Harrisburg.
East Stroudsburg is near the NJ - PA border off of I-80.
Last time I checked, Mansfield had their nursing program at an off-site location (I think Sayre).
Penn State Altoona now has a 4 year BSN program. It is about 45 minutes away from Penn State main campus.
Edinboro is in a rather isolated location in the northwest part of the State that is far from NY.
Above is first time pass rates for graduates of programs based in PA. Many people also pass the second time they take the test. Some programs have older students with many years of health care experience, which helps increase their pass rates.
Here’s a list of all of the PA RN programs. Not all are BSN. In any case, PA has many more direct entry nursing programs from most states.
Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University (both in Fairfield, CT) are both building new nursing facilities. Fairfield is also test optional for admissions, including the nursing program.
CUNY Lehman is often listed as one of the best nursing programs for very little money.
http://www.lehman.edu/academics/health-human-services-nursing/nursing/
Wagner college has a nursing program.
The Sage colleges
I looked it up, Moravian College and St. Luke’s Hospital each have their own nursing programs, but they still cooperate closely with each other.
College of Mount Saint Vincent, in Riverdale
@ssxo123 My daughter has similar stats taking only Honors/AP classes. She has already been accepted to several Pennsylvania nursing programs including E. Stroudsburg Honors, IUP, Gynedd Mercy, York, & Robert Morris. Good Luck in your search!
SUNY Plattsburgh has a direct entry nursing program. D’s good friend graduated from it and is now working as a travel nurse. A friend’s D is graduating this year and they anticipate that she will easily land a job.
University of Scanton has a great science department, airport is close, town is walkable, we were very impressed. Simmons in Boston is good if you want all women and don’t mind a small school with the dorms located a few blocks away from the class buildings (this is something my D really disliked about Simmons). Emmanual also an option as someone else said. The best thing about Simmons and Emmanual, which are side by side, is the proximity to the best hospitals in the world.
Ack this is worrying me – my junior had about a 3.5 right now for GPA and she hasn’t officially taken ACT or SAT but if I had to guess based on her PSAT she will probably get in the 1200 range at best. I hope she can get in somewhere!
@toomanyteens With a 3.5 and 1200 SAT, your daughter should have a number of choices at the numerous direct entry nursing programs at both public and private schools in Pennsylvania. My daughter’s friend was recently accepted to East Stroudsburg’s nursing program with an 86 GPA and SAT of 1000.
Oh good!
East Stroudsburg is probably one of the easier PA. state universities for nursing admissions. Pitt, West Chester and Penn State-UP are three of the hardest, and Bloomsburg is also very competitive.
In any case, nursing applicants should be sure to take the ACT. It has more emphasis on science than math than the SAT, and therefore is more appropriate for the typical nursing applicant.
How about St. Elizabeth in Morristown, NJ?
@kidzncatz My daughter got a 24 on the ACT first time and just took it again this weekend. She is leaning toward East Stroudsburg right now.