<p>D1 has been accepted at 7 schools. She wants a small LAC atmosphere with a traditional 4-year, direct-entry BSN and originally wanted to find that in the south. Her choices are:</p>
<p>Hartwick College, NY
Elmira College, NY
Sacred Heart, CT
Shepherd U, WV - not direct-entry but everyone qualified moves on
Stevenson U, MD - school has two campuses, which D didn't like
Towson U, MD - not direct-entry and a big school. This was her safety
Birmingham-Southern, AL - has no BSN, but has a 3/2 program with Vanderbilt which would give her a BA and a MSN after 5 years (incl. 2 summers)</p>
<p>I think Birmingham-Southern is the best school, but it doesn't have a direct path to nursing. Hartwick had the most impressive nursing program (1200+ clinical hours) but D liked Elmira's campus and school spirit the best. We weren't able to visit Elmira's nursing program properly (yet) so we don't know as much about it. We haven't visited Sacred Heart yet but we know someone who just graduated from there with a BSN, loved it, and is happily employed. D is also interested in other subjects, and would like a more open curriculum (within the obvious BSN limits). Having required religion classes would cut into that.</p>
<p>At this point, D thinks she would like to become a nurse practitioner. Not sure if a MSN is really necessary, though Vandy is a great school and I'm sure D would loooooove Nashville.</p>
<p>“Birmingham-Southern, AL - has no BSN, but has a 3/2 program with Vanderbilt which would give her a BA and a MSN after 5 years (incl. 2 summers)”</p>
<p>Don’t assume your D will get accepted into this program, there is NO guarantee…It would be very unfortunate if it didn’t materialize…Best of luck!!!</p>
<p>I have to agree with qdogpa. There are no guarantees with the Birmingham-Southern program. Keep in mind that your daughter will be also be competing with Vanderbilt’s Pre-Nursing students and God only know who else that might be attempting to transfer into their MSN program. Early on we thought long and hard about Vandy’s nursing program and just could not justify the risk, cost wise or time wise if my daughter wasn’t accepted. </p>
<p>Good luck to you and your daughter wherever you decide to enroll.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. We toured B/S and it was clear that they are very dedicated to getting their students into various med schools and other health professions like the nursing program at Vanderbilt. Still, no guarantee which is why we all like the 4-year BSN direct entry best.</p>
<p>Also, several schools offered generous merit aid which comes with minimum GPA requirements. At one school, it is a 3.3 GPA. Her GPA now is higher than that, but this requirement seems high. For a difficult lab class, I don’t think a B grade is so bad. And I have no idea about how clinicals are graded. What if the student’s supervisor is just more difficult, or they have personality clashes? Does this happen or are clinicals graded pretty objectively?</p>
<p>I would recommend you consider the freshman retention rates and graduation rates. They are a good barometer of how content and successful a school’s students are. One school from your list that stands out in a negative way is Shepherd U. which has pretty dismal stats:</p>