Ohio resident. S accepted into 5 worthwhile nursing programs for Fall 2015. Here’s the rundown, price shown is net to us after scholarships.
OSU, free tuition, $12k/yr for room & board. 1+3 program. In this case, he probably needs a 3.7+ gpa his freshman year to be accepted into the nursing program at the start of sophomore year. His uw HS gpa was a 3.7, with many honors, but few AP classes. Price wise, this is a no-brainer but it's the one program where nursing acceptance is not a certainty. Statistically, OSU accepts 1 of 2 (50%) for sophomore year entry, and everyone is pretty solid in this group. So, it really is a 50/50 proposition, and if he's not selected, he needs to find a new major. Maybe not the worst thing in the world @ OSU, since they offer almost every academic field, but to miss on nursing would be a blow. Sons loves the campus, everything is new or renovated. 2014 Nclex pass rate 95%. Top 25 program (grad level), per US News. Not a huge fan of this ranking source, but what else is there?
Cincinnati, $19k/yr for tuition, room, & board. Top 50 nursing program, figure undergrad must be solid. Direct Admit, which is huge. So, he's in nursing, no worries. Campus does not excite S like OSU. 2014 Nclex pass rate 82%.
Xavier, $25k/yr for tuition room & board. Top 100 nursing program. Private school, nicer campus environment than UC. Direct Admit. Jesuit environment is safe, but may seem restrictive to S. Low Nclex pass rate, only 74% in 2014.
Case Western, $36k for tuition room and board. My preference of the direct admits. Top 20 program, clinicals connected to top hospitals in the state and country (Cleveland Clinic). Saw the campus in the winter, and S was not overly impressed. It does look a tad rundown despite the high price tag. Freshman dorms don't look too hot either. However, the access to world renown hospitals is appealing. Not sure $36k is worth it for the seemingly superior academic and hospital access. 2014 Nclex pass rate is not incredible, also 82%. Kind of surprising given my previous comments.
Michigan, $53k for tuition room and board. Naturally, S favorite pick. Direct Admit. S loves the campus. The campus is definitely nice, but the honor is in the acceptance. I just can't see paying full freight for an OOS nursing degree. Top 5 program. Many strong factors to the UM brand, but $53k, ugh. I think the Nclex is in the 92-95% range, but need to confirm.
We can probably cover $26k annually from income. Plus, our 2nd and last child, will start college in 2017. Given all this, is the sure thing and higher price of direct admit, worth it? OSU is such a great school, especially with free tuition, it’s just a killer that nursing boils down to a 50/50 crap shoot. Son is convinced that nursing is his passion, but he’s 18. I’m 80% certain it could be a great choice for him, but not 100%. Given all this, opinions are definitely welcome. Thank you.
I’m wondering how he received full tuition at OSU but it looks like he didn’t get much from Cincinnati? OSU is higher ranked, maybe you could go to Cincinnati and see what they could do.
Most people recommend direct admit. Unless you have the cash, I would take Michigan off the table. Way too much.
I would ask Xavier and CWRU to look at their awards and see if they can offer him a little more, if they are what he wants. Ohio State is a great school and the price is right. Just have him make sure that he needs to buckle down and do well that first year. Congrats, he has great choices.
If you contribute $26,000 per year, the price limit is around $31,000 per year with student loan or work, or around $36,000 with student loan and work (at the very edge of affordability, probably not a great idea when there are other options). Will you be able to afford double that when the second kid goes to college in two years? If not, re-evaluate what the limit of your contribution is (perhaps think of it in terms of a four year total, then divide by four, but also use the net price calculators for “what if?” scenarios when the second kid is in college). You don’t want to overspend for the first kid and then have to tell the second kid that his/her budget is much lower – a recipe for unwanted family drama.
Based on the above, Michigan is too expensive. CWRU is at the very edge, probably not a good idea. Xavier may be ok, unless your budget is significantly lower after evaluating the finances of the second kid’s college. That leaves Cincinnati and tOSU. How sure is he of wanting to do nursing, and what other options is he interested in if he switches out (at Cincinnati) or is not admitted to the major (tOSU)? Note also that Cincinnati is a co-op-focused school, if that matters.
When my son was deciding between colleges I said to him - if you go to University A, you will only need to work during the summer, but if you go to University B, you will need to work during the school year. That helped him make a decision. In your case, it may be a matter that for some colleges, your son would not need to work during the summer. That can open up opportunities to take summer classes, which can be helpful to lighten the class load during the worst semesters as a nursing student.
I’d pick a direct admit school. Even if you had the money, I wouldn’t spend the U Michigan sticker price for a nursing degree.
If there is still time, I’d try to do a follow-up visit to the remaining colleges. Also, you can do a search for “nursing” and the name of each college to find comments that other persons have made on this website.
All my friends and thie kids say direct admit is the way to go and takes pressure off freshman year, where there will be adjustment. (3.7 is huge number to reach)
Agree w comments to go back to 2 & 3 and ask for more $. Take 4 & 5 off the table.
How high on the list of NCLEX first time pass rates was a consideration in your choice of schools? Direct admit is the only way to go. Michigan is way too expensive.
Direct admit should be most important factor. Non direct is a crazy choice to me if there’s any other option which for you there are. I’d take OSU off the table. Michigan is a great school but I’d only do it if you could full pay. Case western has such a great reputation plus an amazing number of clinicals. Personally I wouldn’t want a Jesuit institution for nursing for my kid ( because of end of life issues ) but that may not figure at all into it for others.
This is a no brainer, pick UC. If you have a shot at direct admit, take it. There is really nothing to do around Xavier, its lower ranked and more expensive.
Since the direct admits 2 and 3 are affordable to you, take one of those. #1 is too risky. #5 is way out of your budget. #4 is going to require loans, and if you can get by without them, don’t.
My oldest finishes her BSN in May. Let me just point out a few things that may help you look at your choices. First, look at the NCLEX pass rate over time. Basically was the year you’re looking at a fluke? Keep in mind the size of the cohort. A couple of students can make a big difference in pass rates in a small cohort. Also consider that the pass rate is the pass rate for first time test takers. Some kids just plan to take the test twice. Throw in a disability or text anxiety, and some kids are bound to fail the first time regardless of prep. You should also be aware that there are programs that give high stakes exit testing and won’t allow a student to graduate and sit for the test until they deem those results satisfactory. Lots of schools do it, but it does make them look better than schools who don’t. So, as long as the NCLEX first time pass rate is comfortably high, there may not be much difference between that 80 and the 95 pass rate
There are “world renowned” hospitals everywhere. Please don’t let that be a deciding factor, especially for undergraduate education. Undergraduates will be learning the basics, like how to put in an IV consistently. Besides, you think people who live in the middle of nowhere don’t get care? There are very highly ranked hospitals all over the country.
USNWR rankings are for the graduate programs. They’re pretty meaningless for choosing an undergrad program.
We just made this decision with our daughter who wants to study nursing. She chose a private school that offered her DA and a great scholarship. She does have to keep a GPA of 3.5 her freshman to keep that DA, but the other school that offered her DA costs quite a bit more. None of the public schools in our state have DA. She’s a high stat student with excellent work habits, so I think the GPA requirement will force her to really take her freshman year seriously. In your son’s case, I also think it’s a no brainer to go with UC. We’ll be paying around $21K per year for our daughter to attend school. She also insists that she won’t change her mind about being a nurse and I’m guessing she won’t. It’s a solid career path with many options within the field. I would never spend the money that Case Western or Michigan require. We simply would not have it unless my daughter took out full loans and we did parent plus loans. We can handle the payment of the school she’ll attend. I love the thought of my daughter leaving college with no debt entering a field where the odds are good that she’ll find employment.
^^ I shouldn’t have said that none of the public schools had DA - the U of MN TC campus has it, but she has no interest in attending a school that large.
Hi,
3.70+ College GPA = just about all As or all A-.
This is not easy to get especially the pre-req. classes / nursing science classes are hard.
if tOSU is your top choice, I would take a very close look at all the required pre-req. & ask your son how he feels about getting an A in those classes.
In some colleges with Pre-Nursing Program, the Anatomy & Physiology 1&2 can be a weed out class, the Chemistry & Biology are equally difficult to get A / A-.
In a Pre-Nursing program, the administration put a lot of weight in the grades of all the pre-req. classes, so those have to be as high as possible.
So, not just the overall college GPA, because overall GPA can be make up of general ed. class,
but the pre-req. science class grade has to be high to be a competitve applicant.
Some nursing programs do not have enough male nursing students… I don’t know if that will mean anything in his application.
Otherwise, direct admit nursing program is the way to go.
NCLEX pass rate: like the poster above said, it just means the 1st time pass rate. If the class is small, all it takes is a few students to fail & drag down the overall %. Most students will pass it the 2nd time.
My D started at a CC and after completing her freshman year, transferred to one of our state univs for the BSN degree. She graduates this May. When she transferred, we were having to bet she’d get in meaning, score high on an entry test and present grades in the 3.75 range and get accepted midway through first semester of sophomore year. It was stressful. I’d go for direct admit if possible. Agree with OrdinaryLives above; having a world renowned hospital doesn’t help that much with undergrad classes and clinicals. It’ll matter more for the MSN degree and above.