I have a question that I hope someone can give me some guidance on. My daughter has applied and been accepted to multiple nursing programs. Most are non-direct admit a couple are direct admit. As a read these posts and educate myself on the difference between direct admit and non direct admit, would it not be crazy for a nursing student to turn down a direct admit school in favor of a non-direct admit?
I reached out to one of the non-direct admit schools my daughter has been accepted to and asked after the prerequisite courses are taken following the sophomore year, how many open nursing school seats are available and how many applicants are seeking those positions. I was told that there are approximately 64 seats available each year and on average 220-250 students applying to get in. That means roughly 70% of the pre-nursing applicants do not get accepted into the nursing program even after two years of prerequisite courses taken (many with outstanding grades). I assume those that miss out will either have to transfer or receive a degree other than a BSN and apply for an accelerated program after graduation.
Am I missing something??? I know cost is a factor but other than that, why would anyone that knows they want to pursue a BSN pass on the opportunity to be guaranteed a seat in a direct admit nursing program and opt to roll the dice and hope to get in two years from now? I am trying to explain this to my daughter and apparently not doing a very good job.
It may not be that they want to attend a secondary admission nursing program, but that they are unable to get admitted to a direct admit nursing program or cannot afford they ones that they can get admitted to.
Also, some direct admit nursing programs have aggressive weed-out college GPA policies, so be careful.
Another pathway to BSN is to start at an ADN program, usually at a community college, then do an RN-to-BSN program.
The only situation I would see us choosing a non direct BSN is if we lived in a region that the state schools would not offer direct BSN. Financial reasons, sought experiences, academic level maybe would make our state flagship desirable even if it wasn’t direct BSN. That’s a lot of hypotheticals and we never been in that situation. Our state (and neighbor states) mostly offers direct BSN so we were never tempted.
My daughter was accepted into UTK Nursing and she will be attending in the Fall. She was admitted to others, but UTK has been her first choice for quite some time. She loves it!
She would be happy to connect with other UTK Nursing Students.
You’re not missing anything. Direct admit should be at the top of the list unless finances dictate otherwise.
Why would you risk not getting into the program you want? If you don’t get into the nursing program at a competitive admit school you’ll have to pick a different major or be forced to transfer schools to get into another nursing program. Neither choice is appealing.
Also, I would think direct admit schools don’t need or want weed out classes. The weedout took place in the admissions process. Pitt enrolls 180 freshmen into direct admit nursing. Lots of highly qualified students. Why would they want them to fail and try to replace them?
Some direct admit programs also have secondary admission. For example, Arizona State University has both. Direct admit students who do not get a 3.5 college GPA each of first four semesters are weeded out (but can apply for competitive secondary admission later). See page 12 of https://nursingandhealth.asu.edu/sites/default/files/2020-21-bsn-student-handbook.pdf .
Some direct admit programs may not need to replace weeded out students, since they overadmit frosh and expect weeding out and other attrition to result in the desired number of students relative to capacity when they reach junior level.
If a direct admit school has secondary requirements then is it really a direct admit school? My opinion is no.
I suppose if a direct admit school had some strict requirements to stay in the program it should drop down the list. You could make that argument. In Pitt’s case you would have to work to go below a 2.0.
Either way I would put direct admits at the top and work down the list to non direct admit schools.
If a secondary admit program admits by pre-set GPA, then it is basically equivalent to a direct admit program that weeds out with the same GPA, if the grading standards are similar.
Of course, if grading standards differ significantly, then it can be hard to compare GPA thresholds and the like.
FYI: Posting in case this helps anyone. Daughter had her annual physical today and doctor recommended an extra meningitis vaccine (B maybe?) because he is aware she will be attending nursing school and says she’ll likely have to get it (I guess most healthcare workers do). Don’t know much else beyond that but thought it might be useful to pass along.
Recommended Vaccines for Healthcare Workers | CDC recommends meningitis vaccines for health care workers. Both the conjugate (ACWY) and B vaccines are recommended. Note that meningitis conjugate (ACWY) is already generally recommended, according to Immunization Schedules | CDC , so there may be specific emphasis on meningitis B vaccination for health care workers and students who may not have gotten it as a routine-for-the-general-population vaccination.
It’s not to replace them… they are planning on a certain portion of DA students not getting through. Some programs do not have the ability to provide clinicals for as many students as they admit.
As has been discussed here on CC, U of Rhode Island is just an example of such a set-up. Not so much weeding, but the program includes an “out” in the fine print to not let even the direct-admit students with high GPA the opportunity to progress through because of a shortage of clinicals and/or space in upper-level classes. There is a secondary, competitive process to progress through the supposedly DA program at URI.
This turned my D22 off- she loves it and was admitted, but wasn’t willing to chance it and worry about this stress of not progressing EVEN with the necessary GPA.
Then there are plenty of (MOST) DA programs that do not allow transfers at all… no intention to replace those who don’t make it. Most are clear about that.
That type of information is gold. It’s why you have to do your due diligence in this process. Direct admit doesn’t necessarily mean guaranteed. That said, I still would put direct admit at the top and weed out accordingly based on info like you’ve found.
I’m more familiar with Pitt. Their retention rate is in the high 90’s.
Every nursing school has a long list of requirements (vaccines/health/fingerprints etc) a student needs to fulfill before clinical rotations. I remember it was a lot of work to get everything that was needed.
I don’t 100% know because there is an honors program within the University of course, but you can also get your BSN-H through curriculum or through research/thesis. If you want to PM me your email I can send you some information in her portal.
My daughter did not apply to the Honors Program, but because she got the GAP program they did put her in the Honors First Year seminar for Nursing rather than the standard. That’ll all her exposure so far though.
My daughter got into Pitt and Case Western - so far. We will re visit both, but just curious. How did your daughter choose? Seems like a hard decision. What do you see as the cons to Pitt? I already know the Pros.
Thanks
