Opinions of Mid-Atlantic Nursing Schools?

College Majors Nursing Major
1

<p>My daughter just started looking at direct entry nursing schools. We live in eastern PA. There are some obvious programs to aspire to, including Pitt, Penn State, Villanova, UVa and U. Delaware.</p>

<p>She should be eligible for some need based financial aid at most private colleges (particularly with a brother in college) and has some savings, so the price difference between a private college versus Penn State and Pitt should not be too much of a limiting factor. </p>

<p>Does anyone have any opinions about those or the following programs?</p>

<p>DeSales University
West Chester University
Bloomsburg University
University of Scranton
College of New Jersey
Alvernia University
Indiana Univ. of PA
Messiah College
Holy Family University
Penn College of Technology
LaSalle University</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>P.S. - I can tell people about the campuses, towns and neighborhoods of various colleges in PA, if anyone is interested.</p>

2

<p>My D is a freshman at Pitt, so I’m biased :). She also applied / was accepted to Penn State, UDel, and Bloomsburg. (Bloomsburg was her safety, both in terms of admittance and cost). Had she not been accepted at Pitt, I would have recommended Penn State or UDel before Bloomsburg – mostly because of the hospital opportunites being better. The downside of Penn State is that at least one year (and possibly two) is spent at Hershey; which kind of defeats the fun/purpose of going to University Park.</p>

<p>D wanted a big school, so Desales, Holy Family, etc were never seriously considered. We thought of LaSalle, but took it off the list early because it was not direct-entry (has that changed?) </p>

<p>You have such a diverse list of schools – what kind of setting does your D want? The BSN is the end goal, but she should enjoy the journey. My D fell in love with the Pitt campus vibe the first time we visited. Your D may have a similar reaction to one of the schools on your list.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your thoughts. Yes, I’d like my daughter to a well rounded college experience. However, I keep reading that many RN students don’t have much free time and get few electives.</p>

<p>Yes, Pittsburgh is a great college town, particularly for anyone in a health care field.</p>

<p>I just looked at Bloomsburg. It is a nice campus right next to an active main street. The Bloomsburg Hospital is directly across the street from the college, and the huge Geissinger Hospital complex is a about 10 minutes away in Danville, which is a nice town.</p>

<p>My sister is a RN in PA and she recommended Penn State. They say you spend either junior or senior year at Hershey Medical Center, which is a huge complex. They are building a new children’s hospital. If you went senior year, it might not be so bad. Junior year would be socially disruptive. Penn State says you can spend the first year at a branch if you don’t get into U. Park, but my guess is that the standards for acceptance to the main campus are probably similar to the quals it takes to get into the nursing program.</p>

<p>I should have also added Temple U. to the above list, which recently became direct entry. Their nursing program operates out of a building next to their medical center complex, which is about 1/2 mile north of the main campus. </p>

<p>Of these colleges, Villanova and U. of Scranton are the most expensive. UVa is also high out of state, but they give the best financial aid.</p>

<p>There are three hospitals within walking distance of the U. of Scranton, as well as the downtown and the Mall at Steamtown.</p>

<p>All of the above programs had respectable recent results on the RN tests. (Yes, I know they should not be relied upon too much, particularly because some schools purposefully kick out so many of their marginal students to increase their test results).</p>

<p>I’d suggest Holy Family as a safety. It is supposed to be a small friendly campus. It is in far northeast Phila.</p>

<p>DeSales has a bigger campus than I expected, with many new buildings. It is about 15 minutes south of Allentown.</p>

<p>Alvernia is at the edge of Reading. They also have a nice campus, and recently built many new dorms and sports facilities.</p>

<p>Some of the programs are not accessible by walking or transit to medical facilities. Many of those say they expect students to have a car available for clinicals, although carpooling is encouraged.</p>

4

<p>I suggest you look at a sample curriculum for each school. Some will give more “free” electives than others, some may require certain humanities courses that will interest your daughter more or less. </p>

<p>For example, UDel only allows 2 free electives, but has another 5 electives that the student chooses from various categories. U Scranton allows 2 free electives, 1 humanities elective and specifies all the other humanities classes. DeSales offers 5 free electives, what appears to be a few humanities electives, and several other specific humanities classes including one on Catholic Theology. DeSales also offers a PA degree. </p>

<p>Some schools may have the possibility of study abroad, others do not. You should also ask if a school will give credit for AP classes or college credit from elsewhere for any required classes. </p>

<p>You are blessed that Pennsylvania has so many direct entry nursing programs! Have fun visiting and choosing and keep sharing the news.</p>

5

<p>I would agree with mrsref that a lot would depend on the type of college setting your D is interested in. I am a little biased towards UDel as my daughter graduated from there this past summer (she did very well and was able to land an entry level RN position at New York Presbyterian/Cornell Medical Center in NYC on Cornell’s Neurological ICU - there were nearly a thousand applicants for only ten entry level positions). UDel has a 92% NCLEX pass rate on the first try with a subsequent 100% pass rate. If you have not as yet visited UDel I would encourage you to do so. It has one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country, its educational program in Nursing is excellant, its national reputation in educating nurses is also excellant, and the cost for OOS students is almost half of what it would cost to go to Villanova or UVa. It has a state-of-the-art nursing lab. It is located only about 20 minutes south of the PA/DE boder right off of Rt. 95. UDel is a relatively large school (about 16,000 undergrads) but it is laid out so that it has a much smaller college feel. Main street of Newark runs right thru the campus with multiple restaurants, shops, and bookstores. My D was also in a sororiety which expanded her social life opportunities (yes, it can be done by nursing students if you budget your time well). UDel has a unique schedule including a 5 week winter session between both regular semesters. This allows for students to take additional courses (at additional cost) outside their major or to attend Study Abroad (including some nursing elective courses). UD has the oldest and one of the largest Study Abroad Programs in the country. Philly, Baltimore, NYC, and DC are not far away and are relatively easy to get to by car, bus or train (there is a train stop in the lower part of the campus). If you have any further questions about UDel nursing I would be happy to answer them (or send me a PM). Best of luck to your D in her college search.</p>

6

<p>D is at U Scranton. They were generous with merit aid. Really likes the nursing program.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the comments, from everyone. Hopefully, this discussion will be useful for many other people.</p>

<p>The one college my daughter visited so far is U. Delaware, and she really liked it. I’m trying to narrow down the list for future visits to other colleges.</p>

<p>A question was raised about whether LaSalle University in Phila. has a direct entry RN program. According to the following description, you need a 3.0 average in your first 2 years of courses to move on to the junior level nursing courses. However, they do not make it sound like it otherwise is extremely competitive among LaSalle students to get into the upper level nursing program. The program just moved into renovated facilities that used to belong to Germantown Hospital. </p>

<p>[La</a> Salle University : School of Nursing and Health Sciences](<a href=“http://www.lasalle.edu/schools/snhs/content.php?section=todo#bsn_day]La”>http://www.lasalle.edu/schools/snhs/content.php?section=todo#bsn_day)</p>

8

<p>If it’s a direct entry program, it shouldn’t be competitive between the students as to who gets to advance to the junior year. Looking at the link, it seems like they just want to ensure that everyone has done well enough before being allowed to continue. That’s pretty standard even in direct entry programs.</p>

9

<p>Being from the Philly area,and D is a nursing student,freshmen,we looked at many of the schools you mentioned…You might add Duquense,as it is in Pittsburgh,with all the great medical facilities nearby…D was accepted there with good merit,and we get no FA,but she chose not to attend there…Also Drexel is an up and comer,is generous with merit aid also,D would likely have chosen this school,as we love Philly’s great medical institutions…She is happily attending Villanova,and loves it…</p>

10

<p>My son was accepted for Villanova next year and that so far is his favorite. My daughter says she refuses to be at the same college he is at (smile).</p>

<p>Everyone tells me nursing programs are very tough and time consuming, and that they don’t leave a great amount of time for extracurriculars. </p>

<p>My daughter said she’d like to play softball in college, for instance.</p>

<p>Furthermore, I see that a number of programs require more than 15 credit hours a semester. I wonder if it might be better to attend a less competitive college so that the non-nursing courses are not overwhelming. For example, at Bloomsburg or West Chester, it might be easier to handle the nursing workload if the English composition classes, etc. are less competitive and less demanding. </p>

<p>Also, at a college such as Bloomsburg or West Chester, it is easier to get AP credit than at some more selective colleges. For instance, they give credit for a 3 in some cases, vs. more selective colleges want a 4 and sometimes a 5. That AP credit would help make the workload manageable.</p>

11

<p>

</p>

<p>If she wants to play on the varsity team, this adds another “filter” to her school list. DeSales, Alvernia, Scranton, and Messiah are Div 3; West Chester, Bloomsburg, and Holy Family are Div 2; Pitt, Penn State, Villanova are Div 1. What level is realistic for your D in softball?</p>

<p>Knowing what I do about D’s current and future course load for nursing, and the time/travel demands of Div 1 sports, I think it would be very hard (if not impossible) to juggle the two.</p>

12

<p>Good point about sports. Softball would not be a deal killer for her. She could probably make the team for a small Div III school, but wouldn’t make Div 1 in any case. The smaller colleges typically have to spend less time travelling to other colleges for games, and would probably be less demanding upon their player’s time for practices.</p>

13

<p>My d is in her senior year of Nursing and I cant imagine trying to fit sports team participation with clinical schedules - because of the large amount of time required and the block of time on specific days. My daughter’s one complaint about nursing is that she has so much time in class/clinical/lab compared to her friends in other programs - it always seems unfair that she’s in class 4-5 times as much for the same number of credits. I tell her she’s getting so much more value for her tuition!</p>

14

<p>Intramural sports are certainly a viable option.</p>

<p>I just drove through U. of Scranton last night. I was amazed how many very large new buildings they had recently completed or had under construction.</p>

15

<p>Pitt is the best nursing school on your list, with access to the best facilities by far, although you left off the University of Pennsylvania which along with Pitt has one of the best nursing schools in the country. Pitt has a women’s fast pitch club team if the varsity level isn’t doable: ([Club</a> team link](<a href=“https://pitt-community.symplicity.com/index.php?s=student_group&tab=profile&mode=form&id=91d3f94bd677082e701b5b06aa3db08d&au=&ck=]Club”>https://pitt-community.symplicity.com/index.php?s=student_group&tab=profile&mode=form&id=91d3f94bd677082e701b5b06aa3db08d&au=&ck=)). Although it wouldn’t hurt to investigate the varsity program ([recruiting</a> questionaire](<a href=“https://secure.assistantcoach.net/colleges/athlete_webform.asp?oid=101&sid=1606&hsid=&school_name=&city=&state=&whichpage=1]recruiting”>https://secure.assistantcoach.net/colleges/athlete_webform.asp?oid=101&sid=1606&hsid=&school_name=&city=&state=&whichpage=1)) if so interested…as she could always try to walk on (the softball field is only about two-three blocks from the nursing school/medical center complex).</p>

16

<p>I am from NE PA and have been an RN at a large hospital in central PA for 30+ years, and my D is a senior nursing student at Pitt. I would recommend any prospective nursing student to check out the PA dept of state web site where you can find the first time NCLEX results for the past few years. I did not want to send my D to a program that does not consistently score above state average for passing. That said, I would not exclude a program who had a lower than average pass rate if the director was honest with you about their pass rates and had a plan to improve. When we first visited Pitt when D was in HS, their rate was low,app 82%. They were up front with us and told us they had a better program than that, and told me what the plan was to improve scores, and indeed, they have had much better scores since.During our visits to others schools, I found some to fudge or even outright lie to us about what their pass rates were(as if the info was not public knowlege), and some just shrugged it off like it was of no importance.We crossed them off our list at once.High on my priority list was what hospitals and their locations were available for clinical rotations.Spots at hospitals are sometimes hard for schools to obtain, and some schools send their students far away, I did not want to worry about my kid driving early in the AM during the winter to some hospital an hour away.That said, my dream for my D at Pitt to wake up and walk across the street to a hospital did not always materialize. She was frequently sent to hospitals across the city and had to drive to get there. She has had some great clinical experiences at Pitt, but also some not so great. I think you find that anywhere. Truely, most schools will teach the basics and what I have seen makes a really good nurse are the first 1-2 years after graduation- the job you get, the orientation you get, and the preceptors who mold you. I have worked with some really good nurses from some poorly thought of schools and vica versa.Anyone can reach me at <a href="mailto:JnSmom@aol.com">JnSmom@aol.com</a> if they would like any more specific opinions. I would not like to write anything negative about any school in this forum.</p>

17

<p>Any thoughts on the Duquesne nursing program?</p>

18

<p>JnSmom - good point about clinicals. My d is at Penn and very easily could have had all clinicals within walking distance but to my surprise actually picked some that were further away because they offered a more challenging experience (or had favorite clinical instructors). I remember visiting a few nursing programs where they actually told us that nurses needed to have a car on campus for clinicals - not an option for us.</p>

19

<p>We did not look at Dusquene when searching for colleges. However, a friend of mine is an instructor at a associate degree nursing program, and her D is a senior nursing student at Dusquene. I can’t imagine that she would have encouraged her to go there unless she felt it was a good program.</p>

20

<p>My D is a senior this year, so it has been 4 years since we were college searching.At that time, the only one on your list we liked was Bloom(which is excellently priced). We crossed off West Chester, Scranton, and Penn College. I am not familiar with the other nursing programs on your list. Good luck!</p>