My junior daughter is interested in pursuing a nursing career and is interesting attending either the University of Portland, Seattle University, or Gonzaga University. In helping her research these schools, I am trying to find out the average admission requirements (SAT/GPA) for admitted students to each of these schools. We have heard many stories of nursing applicants with extraordinary grades and test scores not getting into nursing programs at California schools (UCLA, SDSU, CSUF, APU) and are curious if the northwest schools are as competitive. For background, my daughter currently has 3.95 unweighted GPA and 1200 SAT. Appreciate any information on you can provide on Gonzaga, Portland, and Seattle University in terms of stats and competitiveness.
@HeadingNorth All schools you listed are competitive. I would say SU and UP probably have slightly higher acceptance rates than GU which is probably higher still than the CA public schools you listed. The admission criteria varies from school to school and from your list only SDSU and CSUF are strictly based on stats. The rest you’ll need strong ECs and essays to go along with strong GPA, test scores and rigor. Apply broadly and visit as many campuses as you can. My D was admitted the 3 northwest schools and realized she wanted a larger school.
My D had also heard that it was nearly impossible to gain admission to CA schools but she applied to some anyway. You can’t be admitted if you don’t apply. These threads in this section of the forum are worth checking out for anecdotal accounts of who got admitted where, with what stats and how much merit.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/nursing-major/2039571-class-of-2022-nursing-admissions.html
The strongest applicants will have taken AP Bio, AP Psych, AP Stats, AP Physio or Anatomy. Take the ACT and take the SAT again to improve your D’s chances for admission. Volunteer at a hospital.
You can ask each school about their admitted freshman profile, class size and acceptance rate. Google has some of the info but I don’t know how current or even useful it is.
https://www.nursing.ucla.edu/about-us/fast-facts
https://nursing.sdsu.edu/programs/bs-in-nursing/admissions/direct-admission/
Thank you for the quick response and the links to the additional information, very helpful.
We visited Gonzaga and UP…I liked both and so did she but she REALLY like Portland…Smaller school but bigger nursing program…10 min. commute to clinicals if she stays on campus…Gonzaga in downtown Spokane so not a very long commute to clinicals there…Also, we will take a shot at applying to SDSU and see…She had a friend get in to the honors prog. and that friend had okay grades but nothing off the charts;) said my D…We are in WA state…Others in NW you might want to consider…Linfield, clinicals in Portland right across from hospital but 1st 2 yrs. in McMinnville…PLU in Tacoma/Lakewood south of Seattle…WSU big public has RN portion in Spokane-located just across river from Gonzaga. Good luck!