MCPHS was the winner! Deposit made last week!
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Congratulations! MCPHS is a great choice. Boston is really a good place to be for health care majors like nursing!
Wish your S the very best for his future
Thank you so much, he is my only, wishing all these kids dreams come true.
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It’s hard when kids leave for college but you will both adjust. A few extra trips to Boston & back in the first year would help 
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Posting a final update to help next year’s applicants.
We started looking for information on direct admit nursing programs one year back in the college confidential. I found a very long list of direct-admit BSN programs in not only our state but all our neighboring states as well. This was very important as we came up with DD’s college list. CC was helpful throughout DDs journey to find “the final college she would attend”
I took my daughter to visit most of the colleges on our list and eliminated colleges that she didn’t like. Since BSN is competitive, I felt she should be equally happy to attend any of her colleges from her list. I didn’t want her to apply to colleges that she was not comfortable attending. I didn’t want her to be disappointed if she ended up not getting into her favorite college!
Our college list changed a bit. Some of the criteria we considered were –
- Proximity to home (very important)
- Cost of the program (very important)
- Diversity (very important)
- Co-ed college (moderately important)
- Large state university (moderately important)
- College reputation and the nursing program (moderately important)
- Instate vs. out of state (moderately important)
- City or rural (slightly important)
We vacillated between in-state vs. out-of-state programs. DD didn’t want to apply early decision. So, we fine-tuned her college list based on colleges that offered Early action. DD was a little skeptical about religious-based or gender-specific colleges. Diversity was pretty important for her. Being close to home and cost were also important factors.
Just like everyone else applying to BSN direct admit programs, my DD was looking for that sweet spot where cost, location, college type, and college reputation were within her comfort zone. Glad to report that UConn hit the sweet spot for DD.
Stats:
4.3w, 1520 SAT, 4 AP/14 honors, good LOR, Good essay
Strong healthcare-related ECs, service-oriented leadership, 300+ hrs of volunteering
Accepted:
UConn DA with Academic excellence scholarship (Committed and will join)
Simmons, Trustee Scholarship
Binghamton, DA - Presidential scholarship
UMass Lowell - DA - Honors, Dean’s scholarship, Abigail Adam’s scholarship
UMass Boston - DA - Honors, Chancellor’s scholarship, Abigail Adam’s scholarship
UVM, Presidential scholarship
Adelphi, DA - Presidential scholarship
Fairfield University, Bellarmine Scholarship
Molloy College - Dean’s Scholarship
UPitt – no merit
Ohio State -not DA, pre-nurs (easy)
Penn State – no merit
UMass Dartmouth – no merit
Northeastern DA – deferred EA, denied later
UMass Amherst DA – waitlisted for Fall 2022, Spring 2023
We wish the students in the class of 2026 as well as other future batches of students the very best for their future!!! The one suggestion I would give to future students is to keep an open mind about colleges. As the selection criteria evolve over years/months, and as you start receiving those acceptances and merit scholarships, you will start developing favorites totally different from the ones you started with!
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And to those of you here just starting your journey, it is worth it. My daughter passed the NCLEX last week, and will start her dream job in July. Good luck to all of your students. There will be a few hard moments but they can do it!
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@bearcatfan Congratulations! I remember you daughter was applying.
I am hoping to add one or two safety schools on the growing list. My daughter’s stats: UW3.6-3.7, w4.2, ACT29, healthcare experience x2yr, AP scholar. Looking for a safety direct entry school. Any recommendations? Any locations, better close to larger city, good passing rate, diverse student body. Thanks!
Can you let me know how I can find out if the university’s curriculum allows students to sit for nclex in which state?
If I am understanding your question correctly, the NCLEX is the same no matter what state you take it in. At my daughter’s university, you had to get a “ticket to test” after graduation that you presented to the state board of nursing in order to register for the NCLEX. I know someone who went to school in Kentucky who took the test in Colorado a month later. I would imagine it’s very similar at other schools - successfully complete the program, and be qualified to take the test through a state board of nursing.
Thank you so much for the information!
Take a look at Register | NCLEX
NCLEX is the all important test - without it you are not qualified to be a full nurse! That is why it is so very important to look at colleges that have a close to 100% pass rate the FIRST time! Many “couch” their pass rate as 98%(or whatever) but then small print says after 2-3 tries! Also if a school has under a 90% pass rate that is a red flag that they are not doing what is necessary to teach the students - or they are admitting the “right” people.
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I’ve read and thought about this a lot. There is often varying levels of manipulation with the NCLEX info and data.
Nursing programs must give each RN graduate a sort of “Ticket to the Test” (names may vary).
The program must basically endorse a candidate for NCLEX, and the program CAN effectively delay, or make impossible, someone’s ability to sit for the test if this student cannot demonstrate proficiency and a likelihood of passing. (This could be done by weeding this person out of the program… but that doesn’t always happen…)
So- in simple terms- it’s not fair to assume that the 100% passing rate is the holy grail - that data suggests school only “let” those likely to pass actually sit for the test.
*THAT is a red flag!!
I’m actually LESS suspicious of a program with a passing rate that reflects the national average of like 85% ish. That seems much more realistic and transparent.
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Of course, aggressive weeding out of the program can also allow the program to raise its NCLEX pass rates.
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There is no ticket to test - if you are a grad you sit for the test. As ucbalumnus stated there are numerous courses that are weed out courses, the same for engineering or cs or any difficult major. You do not pass, you do not go on in the major. Pass rates are a gold standard. If a school has low pass rates they are not educating enough of the grads to the standards to become a nurse. Very transparent and easy to see. Have seen it personally and with family and children who have gotten their degrees and have taken the test.
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Weed-out standards could be significantly higher than passing (C grade) all courses. For example, a program may require a 3.5 GPA to stay in the program, in addition to passing all courses.
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Interesting!
It’s called “Authorization to Test.”
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A grad can not sit for the test before their nursing school certifies to the board of nursing that the student is eligible. Some schools (not all) run simulation NCLEX tests (like HESI) and do not allow students that have low predicting scores to take the NCLEX although those students have graduated. Students have to retake HESI (or ATI) until they hit a high predicting score before they are released. There are some other variations that HESI is tied to a class and if the score is low you get an incomplete so you can not actually graduate. There are variaty of approaches schools take to increase their pass rate.
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What is also lost in the NCLEX numbers is the student’s willingness to study beyond what they learned in school. My daughter took a couple review sessions, studied on her own for a month, and passed the first time. Her extra effort was after graduation - she didn’t just walk into a testing site. It is folly to presume a school prepares the student completely to pass. Much of that is on the student, and I know some who did not take it seriously and took a couple times to pass.
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