All is confirmed. I think we are boarderline. But what are they waiting for? Pitt doesn’t request mid yr report.
I would reach out to the school. We heard pretty quickly with regard to Pitt and it seems others on the board did for nursing as well.
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You asked about UNH and URI…here’s what I can share-
UNH: My daughter LOVED UNH, top choice- but did not get into nursing; she was offered admission to her second choice major and could try to transfer into nursing. Big heartbreak, but she was not willing to chance it. The UNH admissions officer directly told her it was because she did not have a 4.0 HS GPA. She has a 3.8, tons of great ECs, competitive SAT grade, which she reported, demonstrated interest- we toured twice- it really didn’t make a lot of sense. She asked them to reconsider and they said without a 4.0 there’s no chance. Maybe because we are OOS. Go figure!!
URI: My daughter was admitted to nursing. Liked the school a lot. The reason she did not go there is because of the fine print. If you look up the topic here - in Nursing Class of 2026 -you’ll see this discussion. There is FINE PRINT in the URI program description- it’s right there on the website. There is a secondary admission requirement to progress through the program. It is competitive to progress, and there is no guarantee who gets a seat and in what order, even if you have the required grades. Therefore, it is not really a TRUE direct admit program. It was a major concern and turned her off to the school.
Side note- now that the dust has settled for us- I was wondering if anyone shares this feeling: when did NURSING become overtaken but the absolute elite academic applicants!? My family is full of nurses and it was always a great direction for average to above-average students. Not really for the top 10% of a HS class… I am not suggesting the road to becoming an RN is or ever was easy, but this new reality of getting into nursing has become so STRANGE. I know that it’s a GREAT direction to go for ANY student. The lack of nursing educators is a big part of the reason for the dearth of training programs, and hence the intense competition for a spot. I totally get it. But when my own mom, sister in law, & cousins went to nursing school in the 80s and 90s, it was NOTHING like this.
In any event, I cannot say enough great things about UMaine so far!
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I wouldn’t be too worried, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for the timing last year for different applicants. Certainly wouldn’t hurt to call to make sure they have everything that is needed. Good luck!
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I was wondering how much demonstrated interest is really necessary, especially in bigger state schools like UNH and URI. Do you think it’s necessary to do a tour? We were hoping to wait until after acceptances come to visit some schools.
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Good question- I always wondered the same about demonstrated interest.
What I can say though is that for these tours, you have to pre-register and officially check in when you arrive, etc. Then you get a thank you via email and also a personal thank you in the regular main from the tour guide - all implying that it DOES matter.
I think nursing has gotten more competitive because of the compensation and benefits plus the opportunities to move upwards to NP, PA or CRNA. Nurses have to have a lot of knowledge. They’re asked to do more. They can be very rewarding and lucrative careers.
That said, nursing can be rough. I’ve lived it. My wife was a critical care nurse and is now a CRNA.
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Couldn’t agree more! The opportunities for upward mobility in nursing are amazing. BUT unfortunately that very reality is what is edging out many people from having the chance to pursue nursing at all- many who simply want the great compensation and benefits, as you mentioned. Perhaps someday there will be multiple tracks within these programs??
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It’s tough but there has to be a minimum requirement somewhere. LPN and techs fill a need without requiring a degree. There’s many ways to become an RN. Some just take longer. At the end you still have to pass boards. Every year there’s students that can’t pass.
We know several nursing instructors and professors. They talk shop. There’s students that washout of programs as they should. It’s tough. If it was easy everyone would do it.
Same with med school. I graduated with several kids that became doctors. I helped them pass classes. I’m still astounded they’re MD’s. Not sure I would be one of their patients.
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Could not agree more.
Husband is an MD. We get it.
My daughter is just an example of the MANY extremely well-rounded, capable candidates being edged out of some nursing programs as a result of today’s incredibly impressive applicant pool!
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I just wanted to mention around this time last year I was a WRECK worried that my “average excellent” daughter wouldn’t get in anywhere and she was accepted to nearly every program she applied. This site can scare the heck out of ya, but is also a wonderful resource. That said, I agree there are many more students capable of pursuing a BSN, but there simply aren’t enough professors and access to clinicals needed to take them all on.
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My wife went to a small, middling college for nursing. Her first job was at a large trauma/teaching hospital. Fantastic experience.
The great thing about nursing is you don’t have to go to a top school. If you get good clinical experience and pass boards you’re all set. Lots of 2nd tier schools that will get you there.
The profession has lost a lot of people recently. Aging demographic plus Covid. I’d love to see schools reach out to the recently retired to see if they would teach or assist with clinicals part-time. The best nurses I know run towards bad situations, not away. I think some would do it if they were told they were needed.
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It’s hard to believe they ONLY take 4.0 GPA. Even Princeton and Harvard can’t guarantee that. I was told UNH doesn’t look at SAT/ACT until the decision is made if you choose to submit the scores. If it holds true, a higher test score is not helping. I even wonder if they look at EC at all. My daughter has wonderful EC with lots of healthcare experience. I suspect it is helpful at all. They only look at grades.
maybe it’s weighted?
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Weighted makes sense.
I, too, find it hard to believe, and I wish I was exaggerating.
When my daughter reached the UNH AO on the phone after she sent out a heartfelt letter requesting reconsideration for the nursing program, she was told just that: we are sorry, but we are only offering admission to students presenting a 4.0 HS GPA. It was that simple. Sure, they may do their own re-weighting…most schools do??
Is there more to the story? Probably.
My daughter was admitted to UNH, just not the nursing program.
Here is a portion of the initial response she received before calling the AO, getting confirmation on the 4.0 requirement…
We feel that you are a great student and would succeed at UNH, demonstrated in your high school academic performance, resulting in the UNH Presidential merit-based award of $8000 annually. Nursing has historically been our most restricted major for enrollment. We had received 1200 applicants, admitted about 300 students, and expected to enroll 80. Typically most students admitted to UNH’s nursing program have earned a recalculated GPA of 4.0 or better based on English, math, science, and language courses in a college preparatory/honors/AP curriculum. While we were impressed with your qualities and extra-curricular activities, we are unable to admit you to the Nursing program because your recalculated GPA of 3.75 is below the competitive context of our applicant pool for this program.
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Thanks for sharing this. I am so glad your daughter landed in a place where she truly loves! It’s a nerve-racking experience.
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Hello everyone-
Enjoying reading the thread with this info! Just thought I would track my daughter’s applications and results here with stats, in case it helps anyone else:
Senior: 4.9 Weighted GPA, 3.92 Unweighted, 1430 SAT. She has very few extracurriculars (part time job, private music studies. We live in Colorado.
So far she has applied to
DIRECT ADMIT
Arizona State - admitted
Duquesne
Loyola Chicago
Marquette
Miami of Ohio
University of Connecticut
University of Iowa
University of Maine
University of Minnesota
University of New Mexico
University of Rhode Island
University of Vermont
Non Direct Admit
Washington State - admitted
University of Northern Colorado - admitted
Interesting abut Rhode Island, we will have to look further into that if she is admitted. I worry about how to show direct interest? We live in Colorado, and cannot afford to travel to most of these schools, esp prior to being admitted…
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