<p>Congratulations to all of you accepted into the UD Nursing Program.</p>
<p>My D graduated from UD last summer with her BSN. We are OOS from NJ. If anyone has any questions regarding the Nursing Program at UD I would be happy to try and answer them. My D elected to attend UD after considering a number of other Nursing Programs (Villanova, Rutgers-NB, TCNJ, and Catholic U.). She opted for UD for a wide variety of reasons, not the least of which was the high quality of Nursing Education facilities available at UD. UD has a state-of the-art Nursing lab and even utilizes theatre arts majors as mock patients. She is now very happy that she made this decision as she feels the quality of the education she received at UD was excellent. At UD she also was involved with a sorority (yes it can be done even by nursing majors if you budget your time well) where she lived her sophomore year. Jr. and Sr. years she lived in an off-campus apartment right on Main Street near Paneras. She also was involved in several paid Nursing Externship positions at local hospitals where she gained a lot of experience to supplement her formal educational program at UD (the extra money was nice too).
How does the UD Nursing Program Rate compare to other high quality Nursing Programs? Judging by my Ds experiences I would say pretty well. Following graduation my D passed the NCLEX exam on her first try (over 90% of UD grads pass the first time with a 100% subsequent passing rate) with the minimal number of questions (75) required. She then landed a highly competitive (nearly a thousand applicants for only about 10 positions) entry level RN position in NYC at New York Presbyterian/Cornell Medical Center on Cornells Neurological ICU. Other RNs hired along with her included a second UD grad and graduates from Penn, BC, NYU, UConn, UVA and TCNJ not bad company to be selected with. A BSN degree from UD is apparently thought of very highly by at least one very prestigious (Ivy League) Academic Medical Center. Based upon all the above It is my perspective that BSN Degree from UD can be a ticket to the beginning of a highly successful Nursing career. Next is graduate school.</p>
<p>Once again if anyone has any questions regarding the BSN Program at UD please feel free to ask and I will attempt to answer them to the best of my ability.</p>
<p>mwallenmd, thanks for your kind offer. son is choosing between ud and case western for nursing. case ranks at #14 for overall nursing programs and #4 for private school programs compare to ud who ranks at 64 overall. case western’s big advantage is they start their clinicals in the 3rd week of first semester of freshman year. that means they graduate with 2x - 3x the clinical hours compared to most nursing undergraduates. they also work in world renowned hospitals like the cleveland clinic. in my heart of hearts, i think he would be happier at ud. i think it provides a better overall experience – from sports to community to whatever. do you feel ud received “respect” on her resume? did she ever feel like a candidate from a more prestigious school had an advantage over her? for the record, i went to a ****ty state school and have done quite well. i’m happy in every aspect of my life. all i went is for him to be happy and to make a good living. </p>
<p>thanks again for your insight. :)</p>
<p>Thanks @Mwallenmd! I have been reading your posts about UD, and thank you so much for being so supportive.</p>
<p>My daughter is also accepted (Congratulations @run2345!) to UDel Nursing Honor with generous scholarship. She has admissions from other schools (UCLA - Nursing, Biological Science or Cell Biology from other colleges). Another school she applied for nursing is Boston College, its admission has not be released.</p>
<p>It would be not easy to decide which school she wants to attend.</p>
<p>run2345 and 2015parent:</p>
<p>Following her graduation from UD my D interviewed with Nurse Recruiters at Penn, NYU, and NY Pres/Cornell. She was told (informally) that they initially screen applicants by their college GPA and those with GPA’s below 3.5 are rarely considered further. They then look at the college the applicant attended (they did not say how they specifically rated/ranked college nursing programs but did tell her that only applicants from highly regarded programs would be considered further - obviously UD was felt to be in this category). My D felt that her extensive nursing externship involvement (she ended up with at least double the clinical hours provided in the formal program) coupled with the Nursing Honors courses she took in her 3rd and 4th years looked very good on her resume and were additional factors in her being selected. She choose to go to NY Pres/Cornell because it has one of the most highly rated Neuology programs in the nation/world (A Crown Prince from Saudi Arabia was treated on her unit). When speaking with the Nurse Recruiters she never felt any of them gave her the impression that coming from UD was disadvantageous to her chances of being hired as compared to other more highly rated/ranked programs. </p>
<p>My D has always placed a prioritized focus on her studies but also is a very social person (hence her involvement with a sorority at UD). Social/athletic activities at UD are too numerous to list. There really is something for everyone. In addition she sensed a feeling of elan (not snobbery) that tended to permeate the student body/campus at UD that she did not sense at most of the other colleges she considered. She basically felt that UD was the best “fit” for her. I might add that over my many years of experience in the Healthcare Field (being an Alum of a Major State University and Penn Med) that I have developed the perspective that program ratings/rankings are not as significant to success as one might think (I did not say irrelevant). I think what is more important is to get into a quality educational program, apply yourself to the best of your abilities, and much more often than not you will succeed. </p>
<p>Obviously Case Western, UCLA, and BC all have top rated/ranked Nursing Programs. It is my biased opinion that the Nursing Program at UD is a high quality program and, if you apply yourself, that the Nursing Education you can receive at UD is on par with any program in the country. With that being said obviously students need to shop around and try to develop a sense of where they best “fit in”. Hope this info and comments are helpful. Best of luck to your children in their decisions.</p>
<p>My daughter is graduating this year, has been told that there are no jobs. Please give me advice on what she should be doing now…how do you get a job now with the economy the way it is. She is hearing that they are not hiring new grads, don’t want to pay for the training. Unfortunately my daughter did not have any externships, in fact I was unaware that they were given the opportunity to get an externship. The only one that I knew about was at Christiana where they all had to wait for the email to come and then send reply that they were interested and the first xx amount of students got the job. It was to fullfill the 160 hours that they had to do. Any help in what we should be doing now or can do would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>thanks for sharing your perspective. very helpful. we are visiting ud next monday and case on apr 1. should have a decision by april 2!</p>
<p>@Mwallenmd
Thanks for the posting. Do you know how possible to have double majors (one is nursing) in UDel?</p>
<p>run2345:
Have a great time during your visit to UD next monday. If I might suggest, if you have not thought of it or done it already, that you stop at McDowell Hall and ask if you could possibly visit the Nursing Simulation Lab. You really feel like you are in a hospital unit. Their computerized patient manikin is really something to behold. It can simulate multiple types of medical problems for the students to assess and treat. A visit here was one of the things that sold my D on coming to UD. Best of luck to your son in his decision. Hopkins is only about an 1 1/2 hour drive from UD down Rt. 95.</p>
<p>ohmygosh:
This is really a tough question to respond to. I wish I had some good advice for you but the job market for new RN’s remains poor. The best I could suggest is to have your D put her resume together in a very professional mannner and begin to inquire now at hospitals about future openings. Most places now want you to apply on-line. My D attended some nursing job fairs in Philly and NYC in her Sr. yr. and was able to leave her resume at some of the booths. Actually this is how she got one of her interviews at NYU. Also check nursing recruitment sites on the internet. I also would check directly with Christiana Hospital and Nemours/E.I. Dupont Childrens Hospital to see if they have any pre-license programs that your D might be able to get into. If I am not mistaken last year when my D graduated several of her peers were going to start such programs (I don’t know the details about such programs). I am hopeful the outlook will improve in the near future. Best of luck to your D.</p>
<p>2015parent:
I believe that a few of my D’s peers also completed a minor. I am not aware of anyone doing a double major (with Nursing being one of them). Because the Nursing Cirriculum is pretty rigid with little free elective time and a crazy schedule during the Sr. year due to clinical rotations I suspect that you would probably have to add a fifth year or attend all winter and summer sessions if you wanted to do it in 4 years. This is just my guess. I would check with the Nursing Dept. about this.</p>
<p>thanks for the tip mwallendmd!</p>
<p>Thanks mwallendmd. I have a relative outofstate that works in a hospital…we are from NJ and they are from upstate NY. I have suggested that if relative can get her something there that she do that for a year just to get the experience. She insists she does not want to get a job out of state for a year, but she might have to.</p>
<p>son chose ud over case! so excited for him. thanks mwallenmd for all your great insight!</p>
<p>run2345-You are welcome. I’m sure you son will get an excellant nursing education while at UD and , in addition, he will enjoy himself there. Best wishes to both of you. If you have any more questions about UD Nursing please feel free to ask.</p>
<p>I’m completely torn between Northeastern and Delaware as a nursing major.
I love the community and campus feel of University of Delaware, with the sports teams and suburban setting. But, I’m worried that their nursing program does not start doing clinicals in hospitals till the end of senior year.
University of Delaware would be about $10,000 cheaper, and I know after maybe working a couple years I want to go on to get my Masters; but it worried me that some students don’t have jobs when they graduate and their lack of experience in the hospital. Whereas, Northeastern guarantees almost all nursing students have jobs when they graduate, and the coop program really gives them a foot in the door to feel which specialty of nursing they like.</p>
<p>PLEASE HELP!</p>
<p>Camille 12
Before I respond did you happen to go to the Delaware Decision Day yesterday or are you planning to go on 4/16?</p>
<p>This thread is great Mwallenmd! Thanks so much for all the information.
I’m a rising senior in high school & I’m looking into Nursing (:</p>
<p>lizpham:</p>
<p>You might also find the following perspective useful if you plan on applying to nursing programs (I had posted this on a thread in the Nursing Forum):</p>
<p>“You should also be aware that over the last 5 years (at least) Nursing BSN curriculums have been evolving to be much more academic in nature as the Nursing Field itself has been evolving into a distinct Healthcare Discipline on its own, separate from its historical role as just providing clinical care based on following physician orders. BSN curriculums now place a much greater emphasis on critical thinking; clinical problem solving; differential diagnosis; research; and the development and evaluation of Nursing best practices and standards of care. The development and teaching of these skills requires some degree of didactic training prior to their clinical application. Many students applying to BSN Programs tend to compare programs based on how quickly students become involved in clinical settings and the total number of clinical hours in the program, assuming that the programs that provide early clinical involvement and/or a large number of clinical hours are therefore better as a result of this. This might not be necessarily the case, as students need time to be educated in these new skills in order to be able to fully integrate/apply them as part of their clinical training experiences. The best approach from an educational perspective would be a program that provides progressive involvement in clinical settings as these new skills are taught and learned by students. This approach can minimize the potential for students feeling overwhelmed and inadequate. “On the job” exposure to clinical settings without adequate preparatory training is a prescription for failure. The utilization of nursing simulation labs is an important component in this preparation. When looking for programs to apply to I would recommend those that provide graduated involvement in clinical settings following appropriate preparatory educational components”.</p>
<p>Just FYI the Nursing Program at UD has been specifically designed to address the above. Best of luck to you wherever you end up. I would recommend that if you are looking for a high quality Nursing Program that you look further into UD.</p>
<p>wow. thanks so much. I’m still looking at which schools actually offer Nursing :P</p>
<p>I also would recommend that you apply to what are called “direct entry” nursing BSN programs. For these Programs you apply for acceptance as a nursing major beginning in your freshman year. If accepted you are guaranteed an entry spot in the Nursing Program. On the Nursing Forum of CC you can find an extensive Master List of many “direct entry” nursing programs in university settings. A number of other university nursing programs accept students initially on a “Nursing Interest” basis. In these programs students have to reapply to the Nursing School at the same university (usually in their sophomore year) for final acceptance into the the Nursing Program. Students are actually competing against their peers in the same class for acceptance (based primarily on grades). Unfortunately nearly all schools in this category do not have enough slots to accept all the students who were initially accepted as a “Nursing Interest” major, so some students will end up having to switch into a different non-nursing major or attempt to transfer to another Nursing Program at a different university (and the success rate is extremely, extremely low). Hope this info is helpful. Again, just FYI, UD is a direct entry Nursing Program. Best of luck to you.</p>