<p>OP - my D wanted a small LAC feel with nursing and it was very hard to find outside of Catholic schools. She eventually applied to Hartwick and Elmira in NY and was accepted to both (they are not very far into upstate NY). They are both generous with merit aid. </p>
<p>U of Scranton and Villanova are both good too and with your D’s stats they should generous with merit aid too. They are both Catholic schools (Scranton is Jesuit) and my D liked both of them.</p>
<p>My D eventually decided to go to Shepherd U in WV. It is a small public with nursing and has very reasonable out of state tuition (and some merit aid too). It is 2 + 2, but was relatively easy for her to continue on in. WVU is a bigger program, and it’s good that it is direct entry but it can be a big party school to many of it’s students. They actually accept a number of students from various other smaller state schools after Freshman or Sophomore year (not from Shepherd though). Good luck with your search!</p>
<p>Thank you, everyone, for all the new information! I will talk with D about these new ideas for schools. </p>
<p>D is currently working on her Common App - oi!</p>
<p>I cannot PM anyone yet (I just tried) because I still have rookie status :)</p>
<p>Window, can you receive private messages?</p>
<p>I can receive them - thank you for asking.</p>
<p>I’ve read about another nursing test that pre-screens for the NCLEX exam. Does anyone know the name of that test?</p>
<p>Also, does anyone have thoughts about Temple University School of Nursing? The school doesn’t seem to be mentioned too often. </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>The exam you are asking about is the Hesi exam. Many Nursing Programs give it to Nursing students in the second semester of their Senior year. It is a pre-NCLEX exam. It provides students with an estimate of the percentage odds that they will pass the NCLEX exam and also identifies areas where a student is weak. At least some Nursing Programs actually require Senior Nursing students to score at a certain level (determined by the school) before they can receive their BSN degree (and you can’t take the NCLEX exam until after you have graduated and have your BSN degree). If a student is not successful in achieving the required Hesi score (the number of attempts allowed varies by school) they are given some other type of bachelors degree but it is not a BSN degree (so they are not eligible to take the NCLEX exam so they cannot become licensed as an RN). Luckily very very few students end up in this situation but it has happened. When applying to Nursing Programs it would be prudent to ask if the Program requires this procedure for graduation to order to obtain the BSN degree. At least you would know what would be required of you.</p>
<p>Thank you very much, Mwallenmd - you are a wealth of information. D is working on her Common App and essays, and is going to apply to UDel, too.</p>
<p>Temple’s nursing school building is right next to the Temple medical center. It is a rougher area of Phila. than the main campus, which is about 20 blocks further south. When I was there a couple years ago, there was a deteriorated building right across the street from the nursing school. Other people have described that health care inside Temple’s medical center is much rougher than in most hospitals - a higher percentage of gunshot victims, persons with advanced AIDs, heroin addicts, etc. At some city hospitals, the staff needs to worry about keeping the members of waring gangs separate from each other outside the emergency room.</p>
<p>Before the war started in Iraq, the US Army found their surgeons were not getting enough experience in treating gunshot victims - so they loaned them to Temple, where they got experience every night.</p>
<p>
I don’t think this is completely correct. Many people take the NCLEX after completing community college or hospital programs that do not issue BSN degrees. I believe each state’s nursing board determines what qualifications must be met in order to take the NCLEX.</p>
<p>Some BSN programs choose not to certify (to the state nursing board) the student that fails (or doesn’t score high enough) on their Hesi exams. Why? After all…isn’t the NCLEX exam suppose to prevent non-qualified applicants from becoming nurses? Some/many people believe these BSN programs are more interested in inflating their NCLEX pass rates (to attract more students) than they are protecting the world from unprepared nurses. </p>
<p>The Hesi can be a useful tool if used to help students identify any areas of weakness but I definitely agree with the following statement:
</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Thank you for the information! That sounds like a tough situation for a student. I appreciate your taking the time to answer my question about Temple.</p>
<p>Just an FYI: Wesley College, in Dover, DE called our home and talked with D about their direct entry nursing program and her stats. D received a letter from the school today, offering her a merit scholarship of $19K per year, as long as her self-reported scores were real. I checked their NCLEX pass rate - 58% for 2012’s class of 45 nurses - only 26 passed. It is a direct entry program, per their website.</p>
<p>The better nursing programs consistently have a FIRST time pass rate of 85% to 95%. If the rate is over 95%, be suspicious, because they might be doing some things that are unfair to students in order to get that high a rate, as described above. </p>
<p>If a program has a low pass rate for a couple years, they can be placed on probation, and if they don’t improve, they lose their accreditation. That is a very very bad thing for students. In PA, two programs improved and successfully came out of probation, while Marywood University recently had their accreditation revoked.</p>
<p>Yes, as soon as we saw that NCLEX pass rate, D stopped looking into it. Not sure of their pass rates before 2012, as I only saw the 2012 pass rate, from the Delaware Board of Nursing.</p>
<p>What are some examples of private colleges that give generous financial aid for nursing school? Financial aid is very important for me. That, and the direct entry for nursing. I don’t want to be stressed by freshman year worrying if i will make it.</p>