<p>I'm looking for some input into my daughters college choices. She looked at all the schools on the west coast that have nursing programs and then applied randomly, or so it seems to me. I'm not even sure what she is looking for except distance from a lousy senior year. All the schools are varying in size, cost and location. I want her to make her own choice but she seems to be overwhelmed. Some of you have given me some insight to these schools on the selection board. I would like to help her make her decision in a subtle way. (ha!) Help!
Schools: Northern Arizona U, Cal State Chico, Sonoma State, Eastern Oregon U, Azusa Pacific, and Pacific Lutheran U</p>
<p>Anyone looking at nursing programs should check with the state board of nursing to make sure the college program is consistently graduating students who score above the minimum allowable score on the NCLEX. If a program falls below certain scores 2 or more years in a row, the state board can impose sanctions.</p>
<p>Good point, cmbmom.</p>
<p>I notice her choices are in several different states. Where does she want to live after college, and are there advantages to getting your degree in the same state as where you will practice? Maybe the NCLEX makes that a non-issue, but I'm throwing it out there just in case ...</p>
<p>I'm attending Sonoma next fall. ^_^ I don't know much about their nursing program, but I can do some research if you like. I do know, however, that it's a much smaller school (~8,000 students), and non-researching, so the professors are actually there to teach. It's also in a BEAUTIFUL town, and the people in said town are wonderfully friendly (my parents took me for a visit over winter break).</p>
<p>Azusa has a WONDERFUL nursing program. One of the best in California, easy.</p>
<p>Be careful with CSU Chico...from what I've heard it's considered one of the "Party" CSUs (Can you tell I'm a CA native? XD).</p>
<p>I don't know much about NAU, except they keep sending me stuff. Haha.</p>
<p>Good luck to you and your daughter, and if you decide on Sonoma, or if you have any questions about it, please PM me! I'd love to get in touch with a classmate.</p>
<p>Do you know the website that has that info? I have been informed that regardless of where you go to school you can take the boards in the state you wish to reside. Who knows where she wants to live after college, I can't even figure out where she wants to live during college!!! :-)</p>
<p>Thanks HisGraceFillsMe... I will have her PM you. She read that Sonoma was a commuter school so it is probably close to the bottom of her list. It would be great for her to hear other opinions! We are going to visit the first week of April. I have heard that Chico is a party school but also that Chico is an awesome college town. I have no idea what attracts her to NAU except she thinks she will take up snowboarding. ???</p>
<p>I have a friend who has gone back to school in a special three-year program that's part RN and part master's in public health. I'll ask her and try to get back with you.</p>
<p>I've heard it's a commuter campus as well, but I figure if I'm going to be living in the dorms (which I will, since my hometown is an 8-hour drive and off-campus up there is expensive), you'll be living with other kids who aren't exactly commuters. I've also spoken via MySpace with a young man at Sonoma who shares that opinion.</p>
<p>I'll be up there again in...<em>scampers off to check calendar</em> June for Summer Orientation. I'd like to go back before then, but I don't know if I'll be able to swing it with all the fun senior-year stuff.</p>
<p>It sounds like you need to discuss all this with her...what attracts you to this school, what's important to you...etc. Not being on the same page will definitely cause tension once acceptances start coming in.</p>
<p>I don't know a whole lot about it, but my impression is that Azusa Pacific would not be a comfortable place to attend unless one is a very committed evangelical Christian. And maybe not even then -- a relative of mine who IS a very committed evangelical Christian went there on an athletic scholarship but did not enjoy it, and transferred (to another not-quite-so-hard-core evangelical college) after her first year. I never heard the bill of particulars about her dissatisfaction with APU, however, just that she was much happier after she transferred.</p>
<p>That is good info, JHS! I think she is applying to Azusa because it's in LA and her brother is applying to UCLA and USC Law schools and she wants to be close to him. While she is a Christian, I would say not a very committed one and even she mentioned it looked a little conservative for her.</p>
<p>^I'd agree with JHS then...Azusa's probably not the best option.</p>
<p>BIOLA is a little less hardcore, if she's set on LA.</p>
<p>I'm gonna have to strongly disagree about the contrast between Asuza and Biola:</p>
<p>Biiola is definitely the more evangelical institution of the two. I am surprised by some of the anecdotes I am hearing about Azusa as typically people transfer away because it is too liberal and they wanted a serious Christian education - not because it is more Christian than other universities. Azusa's reputation is akin to a Catholic University where religion is part of the university, but it is compartmentalized from much of the learning. </p>
<p>At any rate, Biola's reputation for nursing is head and shoulders above the other programs mentioned in this thread. Here are the NCLEX pass rates for the Ca schools mentioned. Pacific Lutheran has no data. </p>
<p>2002/2003</p>
<p>Biola: 100%
Azusa: 89.3%
Sonoma: 77.42%<br>
Chico: 85.71% </p>
<p>2003/2004</p>
<p>Biola: 95.65%
Azusa: 85.19%
Sonoma: 92.11%
Chico: 86.21%</p>
<p>2004/2005 (There is a generally HUGE drop in pass rates across nearly every school this year: I suspect something change with the test) </p>
<p>Biola: 78.57%
Azusa: 80.65%
Sonoma : 81.82%
Chico: 85.45%</p>
<p>2005/2006</p>
<p>Biola: 88.89%
Azusa: 87.30%
Sonoma: 79.07%
Chico: 80.00%</p>
<p>2006/2007</p>
<p>Biola: 95.24%
Azusa: 88.61%
Sonoma: 95.65%
Chico: 95.31%</p>
<p>5 year average pass rate: </p>
<p>Biola: 91.67 %
Chico: 86.536 %
Azusa: 86.21 %
Sonoma: 85.214 %</p>
<p>A BIG word of caution re public nursing programs in Calif.[ i.e.Chico]. I recently saw a program that talked about a teaching crisis in public nursing programs in Calif. It basically said can take many years [over 7 average] to complete a nursing degree at one of the Cal state colleges because of a severe shortage of qualified teachers[who are of course nurses]. Nursing programs in Calif pay half the salary a qualified nurse can receive at almost any hospital in Calif. As a result, they leaving public teaching programs ,and there is now a severe lack of teachers for Nursing programs because it just doesn't pay to teach at Calif.public colleges.</p>
<p>Great info! Thanks! I can't find that information about nay schools outside of California...do you know where I would look? I certainly don't want her to go to a Ca. school if it could possibly take 7 years! I wonder if they are up front about that when you go to visit? Certainly more to contemplate! Thansk again</p>
<p>Just remember that the shortage is for STATE schools not private schools like Azusa or Biola.</p>
<p>^^^ exactly!</p>
<p>While I don't know anything specific about NAU's nursing program, it's a school with much to offer. I know several kids who are quite happy there. Outdoorsy, laid back, friendly. Their website even has an estimator to plug in your stats and see what kind of scholarship you are likely to qualify for!
The snowboarding is iffy - some years there isn't enough snow.</p>
<p>Eastern Oregon is in a small, isolated town, so that might be a factor for her. Lots of snow though and a nice ski area nearby. If she likes the out of doors, wheat fields and cows, she'll feel right at home. There will be a high proportion of local kids as Eastern doesn't draw too much from other parts of the state like UO and OSU do.</p>
<p>I have never been to NAU, but Flagstaff is an outdoor mecca these days, with big write-ups in Outside magazine, etc. in recent years.</p>
<p>A hidden gem for nursing programs in the San Diego area is Point Loma Nazarene. A friend's D decided she wanted to be a nurse instead of a doctor, turned down UCSD for PLNU, had a great education and is now working as a NICU nurse.</p>
<p>I don't know anything about the nursing program, but Sonoma State is much less of a commuter school than many of the CSUs. My friends 2 daughters go there and love it.</p>