interested in nursing- HELP PLEASE!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>hi! im writing this post as a concerned big sister for my 2 twin sisters, who are currently juniors in high school and interested in nursing. im an undergrad at Penn CAS now and have a lot of friends in the nursing school here, but i am really interested in hearing other people's opinions about different nursing programs (i dont think they would like the penn atmosphere very much)</p>

<p>as a preface: my sisters are really independent and bright, but neither of my parents went to college and, since i did pretty well in the college app process, im trying to help them in anyway that i can! thanks in advance :)</p>

<p>their stats: both are in the top 10% of their class with 4.25 GPAs at a nj public high school; lots of honors/ap classes; really involved with volunteering at a hospital and at a camp for underprivileged kids (~400 comm. service hours in total); national honor society; great teacher recs. my biggest concern is their SAT scores, they both received scores in the low 1800s on their first exam, but they are re-taking them in may and june, hopefully will get closer to the 2000 range</p>

<p>i saw some of these schools with them and im nervous about the small size of the programs (around 100-150 kids)!</p>

<p>can anyone give me info about the average stats (SAT/GPA/admissions) of 4-year nursing programs (preferably on the east coast) from personal experience/campus visits? additionally, here is the list of schools that we have visited/are most interested in. any suggestions/comments/additions/subtractions to this list? do you think my sisters have a decent shot at any of these schools?</p>

<ul>
<li>udel</li>
<li>villanova</li>
<li>drexel</li>
<li>miami</li>
<li>nyu</li>
<li>tcnj</li>
<li>northeastern</li>
<li>penn state</li>
<li>miami</li>
<li>GWU</li>
<li>michigan</li>
</ul>

<p>seriously, thanks so much for your help! also if you happen to stumble across this and have any penn questions let me know!</p>

2

<p>There is more discussion on this topic under the “Nursing” section.</p>

<p>There are several tiers of difficulty in nursing admissions. It seems Georgetown, UVa and U. Penn are the toughest, followed by Villanova, U. Pitt, Penn State and U. Delaware, followed by West Chester and probably CNJ, followed by other smaller public and private colleges. A number of the more prestigious programs accept only 15 to 20% of applicants. </p>

<p>Among moderately selective and less elective colleges, the nursing program is often still very selective. Many colleges say their nursing major is the toughest for entry. Therefore, you can not go by middle 50% SAT scores of a particular college.</p>

<p>However, the good news is that there are tons of direct entry nursing programs. Just be sure to apply to a full range, to cover the bases. </p>

<p>There might be something to be said about not going to a very competitive college for nursing. That is because the nursing programs are very time-consuming. If your non-nursing classes are full of pre-meds and other ultra-competitive students, those classes may take away too much time and energy from your nursing work. If your non-nursing classes are full of average students, it is easier to concentrate upon your nursing work and clinicals.</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much! I never used this site before so I listened to your advice and posted there. Do you know of any other options that they should check out? Really appreciate it.</p>

4

<p>Elms College in Chicopee/Springfield, MA has a very well thought of nursing program and works with Baystate Medical Center, an award winning hospital on the national level. Your sisters may qualify for merit there, and the program is very selective.</p>