NURSING STUDENTS: Which nursing school do you go to and why did you choose it?

College Majors Nursing Major
1

Hi, I’m on the search to find a good nursing school. For all you current/past nursing students, which school did you end up selecting and why?

How do you like the nursing program at your college? Was it hard to get into? How are the classes?
Do you dorm with other nursing students? How big is the nursing program at your school? Were you given scholarships?
Do you like being a nursing student and why?

I would greatly appreciate it if any nursing students would answer! Thank you

-A future nursing student

2

I’m currently enrolled at the SON at UNCW in North Carolina, and I absolutely love it.

It was extremely difficult to get into my program. It’s not a direct admit program, which made it stressful. However, there were some benefits to my school other schools that you have to apply to:

  1. It is solely based on GPA and TEAS score. There is no point system that favors students who’ve been there 4 years, honors students, in-state students, CNA certifications, etc. All students are placed on an even playing field, and whoever gets the best scores gets in. Unfortunately, my cohort’s average science GPA was 3.97, and non science was 3.87? (3.8 something). But the second fact makes up for that
  2. You can apply every semester, not every year like most schools. Instead of a 100+ cohort in which you apply spring sophomore year, and have 5 semesters including one summer semester (from my experience with other NC schools), you have a cohort of 50 students, have the summers to work, and can apply every semester you want. That was, if you don’t get in the first time around and want to try again, you only have to be delayed another semester. A lot of students that were waitlisted or denied got in during the next admission round, since less people applied.
    The classes are stressful to adjust to and a lot of work, but since everyone takes all the same classes with you, you’ve got a TON of people who know exactly what you’re going through.

Since it’s not direct admit, you don’t live with other nursing students. But we do have an option here where you can apply for a residential community and live with other pre-nursing students, and have 3 classes with them all to forge a support system. I wasn’t able to do it because I was in HC, but I met a ton of nursing majors there so it worked out! Plus, everyone will be taking the same pre-reqs, so you’ll find a ton of pre-nursing majors.

Since we have 5 semester program, there’s only a max of 250 students enrolled in nursing classes (some people do drop out after finding it;s not for them, sadly).

I have a love/hate relationship with it. I love everything about nursing school, but I"m still adjusting to no social life! I’ve lost touch with some friends from my freshman year, but I’ve met so many people that are actually a lot nice people than them, so it worked out for the best! It’s just a LOT of stress to deal with, and you have to build up your confidence in your skills, which is hard.

All in all, nursing school is what i expected it to be, but II never really anticipated how it would affect me. Just make sure you found a program you’ll be happy with. I think UNCW’s program is the best option in the state for many reasons, which is why i choose it, and why I love it.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope you find it useful. I don’t know if North Carolina is a state you were thinking of going to, but I hope you take this post to mean that you should look at some programs not at the biggest name schools, because they can be just as great :slight_smile:

3

My daughter is going to U Michigan. Here are some of the factors that made her choose that school

  1. Direct Admit. At non direct admit schools she would need a plan B if she didn’t get in. Amd she’d need almost perfect grades her first year and a half to get in. That was highly unappealing.

  2. Clinicals begin freshman year.

  3. High NCLEX pass rate

  4. Science prerequisites are for nurses only. You aren’t taking organic chem with pre-med students.

  5. The nursing program is NOT the “most elite” program at an otherwise lower key school. Michigan’s nursing program is one of the best in the country. However unlike other top rated nursing programs it is not considered the main “elite” program at the school. At some schools my daughter was told that the nurses work harder than anybody else. At one school we were told that on Sundays the nurses are the only ones having to study all day. At Michigan Sunday is we were told all day study day for everyone. This really we are told makes a difference in ones social life.

4

hi @Jara123 U of Michigan sounds really great. It is definitely on my daughter’s list of possible nursing schools for Fall 2016. As we are in the thick of researching schools, could you tell us what the nursing school looks at in admissions? Only by visiting colleges have we received a more complete understanding, and obviously we can’t visit them all, so I’d love to hear your impression on what you think made your daughter be accepted, how many nursing students are accepted every year, anything you think someone without information on Michigan’s nursing school could benefit by hearing? Thank you so much!

5

Sure @netter11 ! I know exactly what you mean in terms of getting more information when you visit. The most important thing we learned from visiting Michigan is that they do not care about your prior experience in healthcare. They Said they don’t take into account whether you Volunteered at a hospital or have a CNA.

They want you to have some understanding of what being a nurse means. My daughter did a summer program at a ADelphi University in pre-nursing. I don’t think it was the fact that she did the program that helped her but doing the program gave her an understanding of what it takes to be a nurse. Therefore in her “why Michigan” essay she was able to write about the ways that Michigan’s program would help her fulfill the skills she needs.

One thing you should know is that Michigan has a brand-new state of the art nursing building opening this year. Even if you don’t get to visit you will want to read about it. Do you know though that Michigan does consider demonstrated interest as an important factor in admissions. Other than that I think my daughter got in because she had good grades, solid ( but not great ) scores and having a ton of extracurricular activities which showed that she was able to both work collaboratively with other people and take the lead when necessary

6

We visited quite a few direct entry nursing programs. I agree with what’s been written above regarding solid grades, test scores, consistent extracurricular activities and showing interest in the school. I also agree that if you are a strong candidate because of those things - you’ll find yourself with many top choices of schools. How can you mess up your chances with excellent grades, test scores, extracurriculars and interest? YOUR ESSAY. Most of the direct entry schools my daughter applied to required a “why nursing” essay. Think long and hard about your answer in regard to the particular school you’re writing if for and use some of their lingo (if they specialize in geriatric - show you know that… if they are top in a master’s program you’re interested in - tell them that). DON’T EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, SAY YOU WANT A BSN TO HELP YOUR MEDICAL SCHOOL APPLICATION. Nursing schools want to produce successful and dedicated nurses. They have a very limited amount of students they can take per year (average 60) and don’t want to allocate those slots to anyone who doesn’t intend to utilize their BSN for a nursing career.

7

Please keep in mind that some public universities will reserve most of their nursing seats for in-state residents. Penn State is the only public university I know of that does not provide any admissions advantage to being in-state.

8

@Charliesch U of iowa told us no advantage for instate for nursing. U pitt which is also a public university is the same.

9

My daughter looked at private schools in Minnesota. She was accepted at all that she applied to. She did apply to one public school with an enrollment of about 15,000 students. She preferred the smaller schools. Her ACT score was high enough that one school offered her direct admit into their nursing program. Another school gives direct admit to their presidential scholars. The other schools did not have direct admit and we knew they turn away many qualified applicants each year. When she was named a presidential scholar at Concordia College and given a nice scholarship, it was very easy for her to decide that she’ll go there. She has to have a GPA of 3.5 at the end of her freshman year to keep her direct admit status. She felt like she could get good experiences in the Fargo/Moorhead hospitals. They have a high NCLEX Pass rate. There will be about 35 nursing students in her class, so she feels like she’ll be well supported by the instructors at the college.

10

Hi! I’m a senior in high school, but I’ll be attending UC Irvine this fall. I chose UCI because they have a direct entry nursing program. It’s a highly competitive program (3.5% acceptance rate this past year) and has only around 50 students. UCI is a research university, so if you’re planning on going to grad school, it would be a great option. Another thing I like about UCI is the location… You just can’t beat southern California! The weather is amazing, and the opportunities for networking are endless. You CAN dorm with other nursing students. but I’m choosing not to. My scholarships all came from local organizations and I also received a small grant from the university. If you want to learn more about the program and classes you’d have to take, their website has it all :slight_smile:

http://www.nursing.uci.edu/programs/bs/freshman/

good luck with everything!