@carachel2: TCU might not be worth full price for nursing, but they do offer merit aid. OP, you are just shopping now right? You are in the information gathering stage. Why not look into TCU. Find out if you might qualify for one of their merit scholarships. TCU has a ton of money and resources. It is at least worth doing the homework on.
University of San Francisco. Direct admit program, simulation lab, city hospitals for rotation, merit and financial aid offered.
Seems lots of Catholic schools…
I’m not sure how “hidden” or competitive it is but I know a very smart young lady who is in the nursing program at San Diego State. The school has a solid athletics program. The problem, since you need financial aid, is that you would probably need to be a California resident.
Regis in Denver. Creighton in Omaha.
Florida has many crappy for profit nursing schools, thanks to their legislature.
Many of the smaller colleges do not have football teams, but the students do watch other sports.
Tell us a little more about what you are looking for, and people can make suggestions.
Like I said I’m pretty open.
But here are some things I can think of right now:
-as I mentioned, good sports, or a variety of sports
-direct entry program
-relatively close proximity to places for clinicals
-don’t really want to be at a school isolated from everything (Uconn kind of gave me this feel)
-good sim lab
-I’m not super religious so I don’t want to go to a super religious school. I have looked at some schools that are Jesuit, and those seemed totally fine. I just don’t want to go somewhere where religion will be shoved down my throat, if that makes sense.
-I don’t really have a huge preference on size, just not and extremely small school, also schools such as Ohio state seem too big to me, but MSU which is also a very large school doesn’t bother me. So I’m pretty open with size.
-this might sound stupid, but I don’t really want a huge difference in male to female ratio. I have seen some schools where it is 30:70 (male:female) and I would prefer a better balance.
So, I guess I was able to come up with a few things 
@Charliesch
The Catholic colleges certainly greatly vary on the extent that they push Catholic doctrine, rules and courses. Many of the nursing programs are at Catholic colleges.
Most of the direct entry nursing programs that are not highly competitive for entry are in the northeast. Pennsylvania in particularly has many of them.
Proximity to clinicals is very important. Nursing programs in small isolated towns often mean very long drives, and possibly leaving at 4 am. Even if there is a small hospital in the town, they will not be able to accommodate all of the clinical needs. In any case, assume you will need a car once clinicals starts, unless you will be in the middle of a major city with excellent mass transit.
There are some online tools that can narrow down your choices, based upon some of those criteria. For example, you could set the criteria for a college with nursing of 4,000 to 20,000 students. I then would make you own comparison chart based upon factors that the online sites don’t address.
Ohio State Columbus is one of the 10 largest campuses in the US.
Read the fine print on each “direct entry” nursing program. Some only have a few direct entry seats, while the rest of the seats are highly competitive for entry. Some require a two step admission process, which may be simple or may be very hard. Most will let you stay in the program unless you miss some basic criteria, such as a GPA.
Consider the time and cost involved in transportation. You may find a cheap flight in April to visit a campus, but then are amazed how much it will cost to fly home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Consider the state(s) you intend to get licensed in. Consider the costs of your education as well- travel from home and cost of living in the area included. Some nursing programs excel at preparing students for passing those exams along with other good teaching. Of course get a BSN instead of another degree for future job options.
Do not worry about the school’s prestige- you want good nursing education. The overall school rating doesn’t matter. As a physician I valued smart nurses who were clinically good but also thought outside the norm.
I went to Texas Woman’s University nursing school. It is an awesome school !
Consider if the school’s nursing program is direct admission, or if you need to enter as a pre-nursing student and face a “weeding” process via competitive admission to the nursing major.
Consider if there are strict requirements to stay in the nursing major once admitted (either direct admit or through a “weeding” process). (I.e. the “weeding” may not necessarily stop even after admission to the major).
Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma Washington is known for its nursing program.
True, but the OP wants to go to a school which also offers a big sports tradition. TWU will not give the OP that college experience.
University of Pittsburgh has a great nursing school and a big sports program. COA could be an issue.
I totally agree with Regis University(Jesuit) which is located in West Denver. The Loretto School of Nursing has had an excellent reputation for years. For the sports lover, there are team sports, proximity to the mountains for skiing and other activities, and professional teams, especially the Broncos, and other sports. Denver is a great place to live9(and grow up).
Thank you everyone! This is awesome!
Each school you guys mention I immediately go and look into.
More opinions welcomed, all are appreciated!
As stated, is cost an issue?
What are your grades, SAT/ACT scores, and extracurricular activities?
Direct entry nursing programs have dwindled throughout the years; they are now so impacted that the acceptance rates are low. Even at schools that have a high acceptance rate, the nursing programs will not equate.
Actually in recent years, the numbers of direct entry nursing programs in the US appears to be increasing.
My daughter has several friends that are in the nursing program at Arkansas as well as TCU. Both great programs and both schools have good scholarships.
Our area choice for a BSN would be Seattle U, another Catholic college but that’s a pretty loose term around here. It is walking distance to the hospitals. Not sure it qualifies as “hidden.”
One of our daughter’s best friends is at Pacific Lutheran down in Tacoma (not nursing) and loves it there.