These highly selective colleges don’t admit students who can’t do the work. However students with a weaker high school background must not hesitate to ask for help - office hours, tutoring, writing center, math clinic.
Research shows that for lower income students, all other things being equal, odds of graduation and professional placement are much better if they attend a highly selective college rather than a less selective one, in part because of the resources. Top schools don’t let anyone fail out unless the student refuses both to help themselves and accept help offered.
Highly selective colleges don’t matter if the goal is a nursing degree. As an above poster noted, the best nursing job offers will likely go to one with a degree from an affiliated hospital program. I don’t think the prestigious schools matter at all for nursing, and may work against you as the overall course load is harder. Has he actually talked with a nurse about the career? That would seem an obvious and easy step.
The issue is that local schools are unaffordable. If op’s son can get into a top nursing program with a full ride when the alternative is commuting to the local directional and paying more than his mother can afford, it’s worth it to try for some colleges.
I agree we’d hope op’s son investigated nursing but since it’s a relatively recent development, applying broadlby (both to nursing and non nursing programs).
I agree he’ll need to up his game in reading and writing but top colleges are used to students whose high schools aren’t rigorous, and they offer transition classes. And he’ll be better off from for it because he’ll discover his ability in writing.
Can you name some of these so I have them in my mental data base to pull from? I haven’t seen any that I recall IRL. Kids who go to some of these schools from my high school tell me, in general, all students are expected to have had an AP level background and there aren’t lower/transition classes as there are in community colleges, etc. This causes some to transfer, but yes, in general, kids with vastly lower stats just don’t get accepted.
Most of those from our school who want nursing careers head to the local cc at least to start. There are some who start in 4 year programs though. It’s personal preference for the most part. I don’t recall any going anywhere considered Elite for nursing, but our school doesn’t send many to Elite(ish) schools anyway.
Basically all the top 25 universities and LACs have “transition” classes - they have different names, but basically all of them have a “transition” writing-intensive class designed for kids from less rigorous or lower performing high schools (for instance, Expos Studio10 at Harvard) and often a Precalculus class (Wharton, which assumes calculus for admission, nevertheless offers a Calc 1 class for those who didn’t take it in HS or scored a 3 on the Calc AB, it’s called Math 103). In addition, or alternatively, some of these universities, as well as some public universities (the model being SUNYs HEOP Summer program) offer “bridge” programs which cover intensive academic writing - an example would be FSY at Yale. The students are selected because they’re very smart, so the universities are confident that if the class is offered, they’ll learn fast, master the skill, and catch up.
Note that these are NOT CC-type “remedial” classes, which offer high school classes to college students who didn’t take them or pass them; these “transition” classes are designed for very strong students who aren’t as advanced as most admitted students, through no fault of their own. Expos Studio 10 would be an honors freshman composition class (not remedial, but honors) at many universities.
Generally, these universities only admit students whom they’re confident can catch up quickly and succeed. You don’t get accepted to a university with sub-20% acceptance if adcoms aren’t confident you can do the work (but they know that for some students, it’ll take a semester of transition, and that’s okay).
I was under the impression that nursing is moving to BSN and 4-year degrees, where direct admission to the 4-year degree is vastly preferable to a 2+2 system (not because it’s CC, but because the 2+2 system introduces a big dose of uncertainty. For instance, tOSU has a 2+2 system, and it may well be a flagship, it’s still not considered as well as a 4-year, direct admit to nursing). However, that may be regional. I don’t know what nursing is like in Alabama. I’m certain though, if it’s moving in the 4-year direction, I’d strongly recommend the direct admit over a competitive 2+2 system. It’s far less risky.
Be aware that nursing programs may be competitive admission even after enrolling at the college as a pre nursing student. Or they may have high grade and GPA minimums to continue in the program, even if students are directly admitted.
This is an interesting thread - I am sending good vibes for a great outcome! Regarding “transition” classes - while I have not heard this term, both my kids attend LAC’s (different schools) and both schools, as well as other LAC’s we looked at, require a class first semester freshman year where instruction is geared toward prepping for college writing and research, and getting the students used to the campus resources (writing lab, library). This could be beneficial for your S (I imagine St Olaf/Berea would have this).
Also, one more thing to consider if/when applying to LAC’s is showing demonstrated interest. This could be important admission criteria (found in the Common Data Set). In our situations, demonstrated interest was shown by visiting the schools or by a phone conversation/interview with the admission officer.
Best of luck to you!
It is common around here for people to go to a community college to get an associates in nursing, but many of them don’t go beyond that, my sil is an LPN and apparently had no interest in going further. I think many that intend to get a bachelors go straight to a 4 year college, or some like my cousin that had a degree in biology and decided to become a nurse through an accelerated master’s course.
To become a nurse anesthetist, you need a bachelor’s in nursing with RN certification, then a graduate degree, most programs want you to have at least 1 year working in an acute care setting before entering the nurse anesthetist program. If he continues with this plan then it will require a few years, and probably loans for the graduate program. As far as going to school where you want to work, he could always come back to Alabama for grad school if he did undergrad out of state. I believe UAB and Samford are the only schools in Alabama that have a nurse anesthetist program.
@HeartofDixie , I wish I had something to add to the discussion, but I don’t. Just wanted to let you know that I am pulling for you and your son. Best of luck and keep us posted!!
@MYOS1634 Then we are just using the same term with different meanings. Calc 1 would never be considered a transition class in my (school) world. We use that term for Pre-Calc or any other college class that starts with a 0 instead of a 1 - the 0 meaning no actual college credit given, but knowledge from that class is a pre req for other classes.
Around here nursing from the cc still has a high placement rate for jobs. Once in a job some students opt to continue on and sometimes even get that paid for by their employer if they agree to stay for x number of years afterward. There are some who go directly into 4 year nursing, but for those where cost is of high concern, it’s not common.
I’ll add some other info points on nursing.
First, in our state a lot of nurses still come from community colleges; however, it’s very difficult for a student right out of high school to get immediately into a nursing program b/c of high student demand. Nursing applicants have to accumulate ‘points’ for admission entry, and they get points based on things like test scores (not sure what test), work or volunteer experience in a health care setting, and things like CNA certification. This means it’s not really a two year degree – can take up to 3 years or longer. (It’s not uncommon for adults with a BA or BS to be going back to a community college for a nursing degree, btw.)
Once you get an RN, it’s not difficult to find RN-to-BSN programs. You can be a RN and work while pursing a BSN at the same time through non-profit online programs like Western Governors or through state universities that combine in person and/or online courses. (Avoid Univ. of Phoenix or other for-profits!!!)
I don’t know much about the path for advanced nursing specialties that come after BSN, but I think through public state universities is going to be most affordable and expensive privates don’t offer much advantage.
My main point is it’s def. possible to stack your nursing credentials, but you have to be dedicated and motivated and it can take time. The good news is once you get the RN, you’ve got a good basic salary to support yourself as you advance in your credentials.
So if this is what your son really wants, I’d explore his quickest option to an RN degree (he should go talk to an admissions or adviser at a nearby community college and ask how long it will be for him to get the RN given their admissions protocol and his profile) and compare that to what he’d need to pay to start in a BSN program and see what the difference is. Also take into account how motivated he’ll be to keep stacking his degrees – time can be the enemy b/c life happens and many young people lose motivation to continue their studies, esp. once they have a decent salary.
Hope this helps!
I thought I would update, though things are still uncertain. He has several acceptances, but none of the financial letters that we have received have been affordable. We still don’t know about Berea, which I think would be a good option if he gets accepted. He decided not to apply early admission to St. Olaf, though I am hoping he will go ahead and submit his application for regular decision. The NPC results were not what I was hoping for, very generous by most standards but $3-4,000 is huge for us, especially since they use loans and work study as part of the award so that doesn’t really leave anywhere to come up with that money. He said that he was going to apply to some of the meet-need schools like Vanderbilt, even though it would definitely be a hail Mary, but hasn’t submitted any yet.
He has been admitted to the following schools, but UNA is the only one that looks realistic right now. UAB, UAH, UNA, University of Montevallo, SpringHill College, University of Memphis, Valdosta State, Jacksonville State, Mississippi State.
It will definitely help if he raised his score on this last ACT, should know in a day or two. He was supposed to be applying to honors college and for leadership scholarships at UNA, not sure if he has submitted those yet. There is also a scholarship opportunity for nursing students through Project OPEN, but the application is not available for that yet. I really wish he would get some more applications submitted because by the time we find out about Berea and scholarships at UNA the deadline will have passed for applying to the more selective schools.
On a positive note, it looks like his class rank will probably improve some. He dropped to 7 out of 62 after getting B’s in Spanish II in 10th grade but has had a very solid 1st semester of senior year, which will be complete after his last exam tomorrow. He is doing very well in Physics and Precalculus, which are both weighted classes and should improve his overall average.
“Vanderbilt, Emory, Duke, University of Virginia, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, Notre Dame(just because he loves it).”
My concern is that these are very hard schools to get into and stay in. I live in a suburb of NYC with a very good school system, and we do not see many kids going to these schools. I don’t think this is a realistic list for any kid.
Vanderbilt isn’t realistic (they love high test scores). Don’t let him waste time on an application where he has no shot.
He can apply ED2 somewhere that is affordable as per NPC. Look at LACs in the 40-60 range and run NPCs. I’d go with St Olaf ED2 if they have that (he needs the ED boost), but otherwise apply RD to a lot of them.
There’s an expectation that students will work and save about 3K toward their college costs, working Spring senior year part time and summer full time. I know it can be hard for students to find a job that earns that much money.
Get on his case to get that Honors College and scholarship application done. 
He had a small improvement on his ACT, composite is now 26, 27 superscored though I’m not sure how many schools actually superscore. That is enough to move him from $3,500 to $6,500 on the merit scholarship at UNA, that along with the $6,000 pell grant would cover tuition, fees, and books. It’s not ideal but at least he could commute if necessary so he does have a safety now, though I’m still hoping that he can get some of the other scholarships. I’m anxious to find out if he gets into Berea, I told him to follow up with his teacher because the evaluation is the only thing still needed. He also is waiting to hear from Grinnell, they had contacted him before and asked for permission to use his Questbridge materials to consider him for admission, his portal shows everything complete. He also had his QB app submitted to some other schools, but some of them require supplements which he has not done.
He worked a lot of hours in 2017 and made over $3,000, but didn’t manage to really save anything after paying for his phone bill, gas, and activities/going out with friends.
Excellent for Grinnell!!! That’s a REALLY GOOD school and their financial aid is generous.
When are the supplements due? Jan 1? He still has 2 weeks, right? Each supplement is probably 2 days of work, then 1 more day per rewrite. It means he can do 3-4 supplements if he starts now.
Excellent news for UNA. Now he needs to get that Honors College app finished. (A 16.8% graduation rate means he needs to be in the group with the most support and the most drive).
Second endorsement for Grinnell. They don’t have nursing, but they are a fantastic college. Thanks for keeping us updated.
With a 26 ACT, would trying for this full ride scholarship be worth an application?
https://www.pvamu.edu/faid/types-of-aid/scholarships/university-scholarships/
Unexpected development. His father got a teaching job and is supposed to start at the beginning of January. I have no idea if he will stick with it or manage to not get fired but it makes things a bit more uncertain. He has applications in at some meet full need schools and though they are all a long shot, not sure what will happen if he does get accepted. It wouldn’t affect the first year or two since the income would be for 2019 going forward but I would hate for him to get halfway through a school and then not be able to continue. It also has the potential to affect our household money since the kids draw checks because he is on disability. I think there is a 9 month grace period that he can give working a try before getting kicked off disability but if he ultimately does get off disability then I will have to go back to the court and ask them to order child support(at least for the younger two, Matthew will be 18 by then so not sure if they would order support while he is in college). FAFSA doesn’t require his info so wouldn’t affect his Pell grant, just an issue with schools that require the profile.
He received a letter from UAB offering him admission into the Dean’s Nursing Scholars program, which would be great since it guarantees admission to the nursing program as long as he keeps his grades at the required minimum, but he didn’t raise his ACT score enough to get the scholarships needed to make UAB affordable.
I’m not sure whether to push him to get apps submitted for the other meet full need schools that we had planned on, or just concentrate on UNA at this point.