We live close to OSU and my daughter had her nursing schools narrowed down to OSU and a direct admit program. I’m so thankful every day she went with the direct admit school! She’s almost done with her junior year and her friends that attempted to get in at OSU in nursing have all been rejected at least twice. We are talking 4.0 college students who have paid three years of college tuition and are no closer to a degree than they were a year ago. OSU is very upfront that they want non-traditional students in their program, and a lot of times that means older transfer students. My daughter didn’t have a plan B if she couldn’t be a nurse, so went direct admit. Can’t imagine the stress of living with the unknown like that. I should note that I went back to OSU for my degree to become an OT at the age of 25. No way could I have handled the stress of getting into the program (50 spots for 750 applicants back in 1991) while being a typical 18 year old college student.
Pitt is the same tier of school as OSU. It would be nuts to turn down direct admit to a Pitt major to go pre-major at OSU, assuming that you can afford Pitt, that is.
Part of the confusion for us is that Ohio State is listed among direct entry nursing programs. The list includes a stipulation that acceptance into Honors is required for direct entry. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/nursing-major/1994851-list-of-direct-entry-from-high-school-bsn-nursing-programs.html But apparently it isn’t at all. Maybe.
About four years ago, it was technically direct admit for anyone who had a 30 or higher on the ACT. Since Ohio State main campus has gotten so competitive with general admission, they dropped that stipulation for direct entry into the nursing program. My daughter attended an open house at the nursing school in 2014, and unfortunately they had just phased out that rule.
I emailed them about that issue with direct entry the 1st week of Jan. Asked about honors and seeing if it was to late to get my daughter into direct entry that way. 6 weeks later I got a email back just saying there is no direct entry for nursing. That was it. No real explanation or anything. I think @Momto3smartkids is correct. No direct entry anymore.
I tried calling but never heard back as well.
Perhaps the no real explanation is because they don’t even know? I spoke with a mom of a D who toured mid-west nursing schools recently. At OSU she was told the school used to have direct entry and now they don’t. Everyone has to separately apply but that some incoming freshmen will have an easier track to program admission. She didn’t know the details - just that she didn’t want to take the chance.
Basically, if you’re set on nursing, don’t take a chance at tOSU… ;(
D just got excepted to UCONN nursing.
Now she has PITT and UCONN to choose from for direct entry.
Officially eliminates OSU pre nursing:( Good luck to everyone still waiting. Long process but every one will find the right fit.
A direct admit program does not mean you will be able to stay in the program. Many colleges use it as a weed out. If you don’t make the grades, you won’t remain in program. Programs like Ohio State you have to apply to get in and might not, as it is competitive, but usually once your are in the chances are good you will stay in.
Always have a back up plan. Since everyone is coming from different high school backgrounds it is comparing apples to oranges when doing direct admit. Getting admitted to a pre program, then applying and getting accepted to program after a year is a better indication that you fit the program IMO.
I speak from experience of having to apply to a professional program at Ohio State and getting accepted and graduated in that program (not nursing, but a program more competitive). But i also had a back up plan if i did not get accepted. It is nerve racking, but it made me work hard and not party!
@Sorisky thanks for the Ohio State perspective for pre-major. Nice to see someone actually advocate for pre-major especially from some one with experience. Direct admits of course require you to maintain a GPA each year but so does Ohio State and others once you are actually in the programs. There’s no guarantees to stay in if you don’t maintain the grades. Pre- majors accept a ton of kids knowing the majority will never pan out.
I’m of the majority that if you get a direct admit at a good school accept it all day long no matter the major.
There seems to be way more success stories than not. Congrats to you though as it seems you
are in a good position at a great school. I mean no disrespect to Ohio State. It’s a great school.
This thread has been very interesting to follow. We live in Wisconsin and the U of Wisconsin also dropped direct entry a couple of years ago for pre-nursing only. The horror stories from high achieving kids we know not getting into nursing school are similar to what it sounds like now at OSU. My daughter did get accepted at Wisconsin for pre-nursing but is going direct entry to the University of Minnesota (reciprocity is great) and is very happy about it thankfully. I totally agree with the comments that the risk is not worth it with pre-nursing.
Good discussion. Fortunately when my D began her journey to find the right BSN program our friends had gone through much research already for their now freshman D nursing student. They informed us about the direct entry approach and that’s where we’re headed. We agree that progression requirements for direct programs must be considered. D just received a pamphlet from OSU describing how difficult it is to be admitted to Nursing program. It reports that the typical student completes the pre-requisites with a 3.7 GPA.
However, the direct entry approach for other majors isn’t always preferred. Our older D is enjoying her first year at an engineering program that doesn’t directly admit anyone. The first year students experience all disciplines their first year before deciding on and transitioning to major. Roughly 90% of students with a 2.7 GPA successfully transition to major which is very doable.