<p>I'm looking to transfer schools next year (sophomore year) and I'm pretty sure I'm going to major in nursing. I've been looking at some schools...and I was wondering how is Madison's nursing program? Is it better/worse than other big 10 schools? Is it as good/better than the U of M's nursing program? Is it hard to apply to and get into as a transfer? Right now I'm at the U and looking to transfer to UW, but I wanna know about the nursing school! Any thoughts/comments?</p>
<p>Look up the nursing program details in the online UW catalog. UW students are prenursing and have to apply competitively to the nursing school. You need to decide of your college grades will make you competitive to get into nursing at UW. Keep in mind where you want to be after graduation- you will need to take/pass state boards. Look at the requirements and decide if you will have a chance to get into UW’s nursing program, harder to do than the transfer to UW. </p>
<p>As far as the quality of the program- it matters more where you intend to work after graduation. You would pick the school for all of the other factors outside of nursing- consider your reasons for switching schools. All of the major schools will give you a decent education, your first job will give you the job skills (some of the lesser academic schools may do a better job of preparing a nurse for that first job, a bit later that won’t matter and the UW/other major school theory/college experience will be worthwhile to YOU).</p>
<p>UW is top 20 while UM is Top 5. I doubt it matters much for most jobs. The worst thing is the old facilities which they plan to replace in the next few years.</p>
<p>My daughter is a first year Nursing student at UW-Madison. She transferred in this Fall from the local CC, MATC. Nursing is tough to get into everywhere. There was a three year wait at MATC to get into its program and UW-Madison has always said that there are 3-4 qualified applicants for every spot in its program.</p>
<p>My daughter heard about her acceptance into UW-Madison at the beginning of the calendar year but didn’t find out about getting into the Nursing school until much later (May?). The application is simple and I think they focus on 1) grades, 2) nursing related involvement and 3) an essay.</p>
<p>My daughter really likes the program and her fellow students. One thing she has found out is that many UW students apply to the Nursing school for 2, 3 and even 4 years before they get accepted. That would have driven her crazy.</p>
<p>If it is at all a possibility for you, there is a joint program with UW-LaCrosse that enrolls roughly 30-40 annually (I think) nursing students in the UW-Madison Nursing school. It may be less competitive. I think those student are on campus at LaCrosse and use teleconferencing and commute to Madison for some of their program.</p>