<p>Hello, All!</p>
<p>I posted this in nursing section along with another generic question but thought I’d post here in case anyone could comment. Also, any comments about Catholic U would be welcome! Especially student life, dorms (can you live on campus all 4 years?), area, food, anything!</p>
<p>Here’s my question for my D who applied and is awaiting results…Does anyone have info about Catholic University of America’s nursing program? I tried to find NCLEX pass rates and all I could find is that they were at 60% in 2009 or 2010 but nothing up to date except their grad school ranking from USNews. Not sure if it became better. (I’ll post this on Catholic thread as well.)</p>
<p>Hi cakeisgreat, my son is a Freshman at CUA & loves it! He really enjoys his classes, professors, gotten involved with a few clubs & has made some very nice friends. It is the perfect school for him. Everyone there has been welcoming & very helpful. He is not in the nursing program, so I cannot speak to it, although I understand it is tops. Have you gone to visit yet?</p>
<p>Hi kat! We are going to visit in January for their open house and have an interview. First time available. My Ds best friend loves it so much that we ended up applying as well! The only concern I have is the safety of the surrounding area. I have read that the campus itself is very safe but worried about going off campus. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>They tell the Freshman to only travel in groups. I am in NYC regularly & feel that it is safer than parts DC.</p>
<p>Regarding the surrounding area, it is rapidly changing. They are building very pricy condo’s on the doorstep of CUA so it will have to change. [Hip</a> Luxury Apartments - Monroe Street Market in Washington, DC 20017](<a href=“http://www.monroestreetmarket.com/]Hip”>http://www.monroestreetmarket.com/)</p>
<p>The only crime I have heard of from my son this year is a girl had her cell phone taken from her hands. Not sure where you are from, but we hear about that in NYC regularly. </p>
<p>Look, it is a major city, so as long as she goes out with friends she will be fine. It is such a great school that I would send my daughter if she were interested.</p>
<p>Thank you so much kat2013!!</p>
<p>I am a little late to this but I’d like to comment anyway as a current student. A student is not guaranteed housing for all four years. Juniors and seniors are placed in a lottery and if you have a good enough lottery number, you can have on-campus housing. The lottery is totally random - not based off of GPA or any other factor. Freshmen and sophomores are guaranteed on-campus housing. Off-campus apartments are available for people who aren’t lucky with the lottery. There’s houses available to rent in the area as well but that’s kind of a different situation. CUA does try to help upperclassmen in finding off-campus housing.
In regards to the neighborhood… I feel mixed about it. It’s definitely not the safest area, but it’s also not the worst. Many of the crimes committed (99.99% are off-campus) that involve CUA students are theft, and could be easily prevented by using common sense. Walking alone at 3 AM isn’t the best idea. Dangling your iPhone at the metro station, oblivious to your surroundings, is also pretty stupid. But going to the liquor store right outside campus at 7 or 8 PM and being a victim of armed robbery is definitely a problem. With that said, I definitely see some potential in the neighborhood. Overall, I think part of the stories about the neighborhood comes from scared and snobby white suburban kids who have never been exposed to city life before, or they don’t know how to handle strangers who ask for money (not that I encounter this often in Brookland itself, but definitely in DC in general). Many of the people in the neighborhood are average people; many of the homes reflect a lower-middle class lifestyle. Monroe Street Market is a new area of apartments and shops that are really thrusting the art scene upon the neighborhood, and I definitely see it as a benefit to Brookland. I do think a lot of people are working to try to make the neighborhood better.
The only thing I know about the nursing program is that it is very challenging and competitive at CUA. I have a few friends in the program and it is definitely not easy. It’s normal to study hours and hours for a test to only get a barely-passing grade.
If you happen to see this and you have any questions, I’ll try to answer anything to the best of my ability!</p>