<p>hi! im writing this post as a concerned big sister for my 2 twin sisters, who are currently juniors in high school and interested in nursing. im an undergrad at Penn CAS now and have a lot of friends in the nursing school here, but i am really interested in hearing other people's opinions about different nursing programs (i dont think they would like the penn atmosphere very much)</p>
<p>as a preface: my sisters are really independent and bright, but neither of my parents went to college and, since i did pretty well in the college app process, im trying to help them in anyway that i can! thanks in advance</p>
<p>their stats: both are in the top 10% of their class with 4.25 GPAs at a nj public high school; lots of honors/ap classes; really involved with volunteering at a hospital and at a camp for underprivileged kids (~400 comm. service hours in total); national honor society; great teacher recs. my biggest concern is their SAT scores, they both received scores in the low 1800s on their first exam, but they are re-taking them in may and june, hopefully will get closer to the 2000 range</p>
<p>i saw some of these schools with them and im nervous about the small size of the programs (around 100-150 kids)!</p>
<p>can anyone give me info about the average stats (SAT/GPA/admissions) of 4-year nursing programs (preferably on the east coast) from personal experience/campus visits? additionally, here is the list of schools that we have visited/are most interested in. any suggestions/comments/additions/subtractions to this list? do you think my sisters have a decent shot at any of these schools?</p>
<p>I’m sure you will get a lot of responses to your questions. Let me start out by saying that all of the schools on your list have excellent BSN Nursing Programs (However I do not believe GWU has a 4 year BSN Program - they do have an Accelerated BSN Program; but Georgetown does). IMO with your sisters’ current stats and ECs that they would have a decent chance of getting into most of the schools listed except for NYU and Michigan. If they were to increase their SAT scores by 200-250 pts. I feel that they would then have a decent chance at these two schools (Michigan would probably be the toughest). Your sisiters might want to consider taking the ACT exam-some students do better on this than the SAT exam.</p>
<p>I would suggest adding Rutgers-NB to your list as well as Pitt and Catholic University. UMass in Amherst and BC in Boston might also be of interest. If money is an issue obviously your best bets would be TCNJ and Rutgers-NB, being from in state. I think a lot would also depend on what type of schools your sisters are interested in attending; Large verses small, Large city verses suburban settings, etc. Finally I will end my initial comments by saying that IMO the most important factor in getting an excellent nursing education is how much a student applies themselves once they enter a Program. If you apply youself at any of the schools noted you will obtain an excellent nursing education. Don’t necessarily be overly swayed by “ratings/rankings” alone. If you have any interest in the Nursing Program at Delaware please see some of my other posts in CC or feel free to PM me. Best wishes to your sisters. They have a great big sister (but I bet they know that).</p>
<p>@mwallenmd… Thank you so much! That was really helpful and I will PM you after I finish studying for my midterm tomorrow I will relay the info! It has been really hard for me to convince them to look at mid-tier/less recognized schools because they have “worked so hard”. I have tried to explain to them that it is the program and experience- not the school!- that matters in nursing. I do feel like a bit of a hypocrite, however, since I turned down a few full rides to come to Penn but thank you and I will be in contact!</p>
<p>Anymore helpful advice-givers out there? :)</p>
<p>As noted above, they need to determine the type of school they might like,that would then refine the list…Nursing programs have become very competitive, so low 1800’s might not be enough for some of those schools listed…D1 was accepted to several on your list…can only speak to schools in the Ny,Nj,Pa area, but UDel, Nova, Pitt, are very good schools…Not a fan of Catholic,nor Rutgers…Drexel is interesting with their co-op program, they are also spending lots of money enhancing and expanding their campus…We ruled out PSU because of possible/likley clinicals in Hershey…</p>
I will relay the info! It has been really hard for me to convince them to look at mid-tier/less recognized schools because they have “worked so hard”. I have tried to explain to them that it is the program and experience- not the school!- that matters in nursing. I do feel like a bit of a hypocrite, however, since I turned down a few full rides to come to Penn 
but thank you and I will be in contact!</p>