<p>I was recently accepted into both University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne nursing programs. Being from a rural town in Maryland, I am a bit skeptical of going to an unfamiliar city. However, I know University of Pitt has an outstanding nursing program. I was also offered a nice scholarship at Duquesne. </p>
<p>When I visited Pitt, it seemed like the nursing school might be a little detached from the rest of the school... </p>
<p>Does anyone know someone who has been through either of these programs? I would love some insight. </p>
<p>I also applied to University of Delaware, Villanova, and UMD College Park. Even though College Park is not direct admit, I am willing to do the 2+2 nursing program. Any insight into any of these programs would be appreciated! Thank you!</p>
<p>Congrats.</p>
<p>Before I would consider going to a 2 + 2 program, I would want some really detailed answers to questions about how difficult it is to be admitted to the nursing program. You will sleep better at night being in a direct entry program.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Every school I applied to with the exception of UMD is direct admit because I really do not want to wait two years to begin nursing courses. However, I know that Maryland guarantees acceptance into the nursing school in Baltimore if you can maintain either a 3.25 or 3.5 GPA (I can’t remember at the moment). I’m just thinking that if I do not get into one of my closer schools I will seriously have to consider whether I want to be 5 hours from home…</p>
<p>Congrats as well on your acceptances. All of the schools you mentioned have excellent Nursing Programs and you can obtain a quality Nursing education at any of them if you apply yourself to the best of your ability. Students attending all of these Nursing Programs are very bright, highly competitive, and are also very highly motivated and dedicated. Obviously UMD-CP would be the cheapest if you are OK with the 2+2 nature of the program and certainly would be at least a good backup school if not a primary consideration.</p>
<p>Comparing the direct entry schools you identified can be very complicated as there are so many varied factors to consider based upon your possible interests. Villanova is the most expensive school with tuition of around 43K. Pitts Nursing tuition is around 33K and Delawares is around 30K. It is my understanding that Villanova and Pitt do not generally provide a great deal of merit aid. Delaware (UD) is a flagship state university but does provides a decent amount of merit aid to OOS students as 2/3rds of the students attending UD are from OOS (this is unique among all flagship state universities in the country). Of course Pitt and Duquesne are located in the metropolis of Pittsburgh (city life has its plusses and minuses depending on your interests). Villanova and UD are located in suburban towns but are very close to major cities. As far as school size is concerned Duquesne and Villanova have around 10K students with Pitt being a huge school of around 30K students. UD is in between with a student body of around 18K (but the way it is laid out it feels much smaller) but as a result offers the scope of activities very much similar to a large school but you dont get lost in the crowd.</p>
<p>I certainly would recommend you visit all the schools if you have not done so already. Perhaps by doing so you might be able to develop a sense of where you might best fit in. Our D graduated from the nursing program at Delaware so if you have any specific questions about nursing at UD please feel free to ask or PM me. Good luck. You really cant go wrong attending any of the Nursing Programs you identified.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! This really helps compare all of the options. Right now, Delaware is definitely in my top three and being about 30 min. from my house it is very possible I will end up there! I will definitely contact you if I have questions about UD’s program. </p>
<p>Thanks again!!</p>
<p>As an out of state student, you are likely to find that U. Del. has the most difficult admissions. Nursing is one of the two hardest majors for admission at that U.</p>
<p>Also, you are likely to find that Villanova has the highest net cost, after any aid. Also ask questions - in recent years, most Villanova freshmen were living in triples, unless they accepted admission very early.</p>