<p>Okay so I'm basically down to UDel and Pitt as the final two...(I feel like I'm still watching march madness!)
UDel would be about 20k per year +5k in loans
and I HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT PITT..their whole snail mail system is starting to get irritating</p>
<p>however, I'm expecting them to probably cost the same (?)</p>
<p>if you could give pros/cons of each, that would be very much appreciated.
and I have visited both campuses.</p>
<p>I LOVE the feel of UDel's campus, but I'm afraid the fact that not actually doing clinicals in hospitals until senior year would make finding a job harder...also, the other thing I'm iffy about is that there doesn't seem much to do off campus other than main street</p>
<p>for pitt, I like the fact that the hospitals are all within walking distance, and there seems to be an endless assortment of things to do. However, not so keen on the weather or hills. (I am a good adapter though, so I guess I could get used to it)</p>
<p>ahhh its the final countdown! any advice would be MUCH appreciated!</p>
<p>We live in Western PA, so I vote for Pitt too! I do think that you need to know if you’re getting any financial aid from Pitt though. Are you in-state or out-of-state? If you’re in-state for PA, Pitt may be a little better for PA nursing positions (all else being equal). </p>
<p>My personal choice would probably weigh cost very heavily. I wouldn’t borrow more than $10K to go to one relatively similar school over another for nursing, especially if I thought I might want to go to graduate school someday.</p>
<p>Can you get to admitted students’ days for both schools? I assume you did tours and have seen the facilities of both nursing schools, and that you’ve talked to nursing students in both programs. Have you also compared the class requirements for each school? Which one feels like a better fit to you? </p>
<p>I also liked the Delaware campus and thought it had a very friendly feel. I know one parent whose kid goes there (not for nursing though), and loves it. Pitt does have a more competitive and urban feel. The hospitals next to the campus are a big plus, although you may also end up doing clinicals in other hospitals in the area.</p>
<p>This is true! My daughter found that it was even difficult to get an internship between jr and sr year with just her jr year clinicals - they wanted MORE hospital experience. She thought that maybe clinical experiences varied greatly from program to program - at her school (Penn) she had major patient responsibilities at clinicals and was essentially a CNA but perhaps at other schools clinicals are not as “hands on”? She ended up not finding an internship but got a CNA job instead which proved to be very helpful in finding a real job!</p>
<p>The quality of the nursing schools aren’t even close (Pitt #7, Delaware #127). From an academic/training point of view, Pitt’s a no brainer unless there is a cost issue.</p>
<p>wgmcp101: I know you’re a diehard Pitt fan from your postings (I have a kid in grad school there too), but I’m curious what ranking you’re referencing? I’d like to find a ranking of undergraduate nursing programs that is based on useful criteria. </p>
<p>For undergrad programs I think that location can be very important. For ex., if you’re looking for a job in Philadelphia, I think that the hospitals are much more likely to hire a Penn or Temple graduate than a Pitt graduate since they’re familiar with their schools of nursing and the prospective nurses are likely to have done clinicals there. </p>
<p>I’ll agree that if you’re in a competitive marketplace for nurses, a “better” school that is known to the hospital might be desirable if there aren’t enough jobs to go around. Once you get that job, the Pitt grad is going to be earning the same as the U-DE grad in a unionized hospital. </p>
<p>For any employer or graduate school, including the higher ranked programs, an A student with a great resume could have an edge on graduate programs over a nursing school admissions over a B student from “higher ranked” schools. I don’t know whether nursing is one of those fields where a school’s graduate program may offer a preference to its own graduates. For those who have long-term educational plans, that’s an important question to ask during school visits! If it offers a preference, that could be a big reason to choose School A over School B.</p>
<p>Cost issues can be very significant. Not having a big student loan can be a big quality-of-life issue after graduation, aside from financial restrictions on being able to pursue grad school.</p>
<p>I’m referencing US News ranking of Masters Programs, conducted solely on reputation surveys. That is all the rankings out there are that I know of, unless you count the outdated Gourman’s rankings where Pitt was 5th (Delaware somewhere behind 35). Pitt is ranked #5 in NIH funding (I don’t know where Delaware falls but I know it isn’t remotely close). NCLEX first time pass rates are 95% Pitt, 92% Delaware, so not much of a difference there.</p>
<p>Anyway, undergraduate programs don’t exist in a bubble. The faculty are the same, and at these top schools reputations are essentially equivalent for the entire school. They are known in the medical profession as top places (Penn, where I worked adjacent to the nursing school for a few years, is rightfully considered by many to be the best). These rankings are absolutely not a perfect differentiation, and also not something to be to relied upon alone. But the bottom line is, I can say school X’s reputation is superior to school Y in nursing, but it is a little less of just an anonymous opinion without something else to adding weight to it, which a ranking in a somewhat independent way does. </p>
<p>In the end, it the student needs to check out each program and see what fits best for them. Desired geography certainly can play an important role, and that is a big question to ask, but if ending up as a nurse in Philly is a ultimate goal than that should be a consideration and question posed to the respective schools.</p>
<p>FYI, I looked up FY2006 NIH numbers. Pitt had about 25 grants for $13.3 million in sponsored research and training programs in their school of nursing (5th nationally in nursing school funding rank). Delaware, in contrast, had only two small grants totaling $149,226. IMHO opinion, that speaks somewhat to the profile of the faculty and stature of the school among its leading peers, because it is those peers that are reviewing, critiquing and awarding those grants.</p>
<p>This is a very good thread discussion. The rankings are for graduate school. I work as a nurse in a major hospital in Boston. My daughter is deciding between Northeastern and University of Michigan. Clearly Michigan has a better ranking, 5 I think. I see a lot of Northeastern coop students and they get the jobs in the Boston hospitals, if they work hard and have a good coop experience, they get the experience for their resume and the employers see them work. Since my daughter would like to get a good job after college, she may go to Northeastern. The accepted nursing student panel and presentation was better at Northeastern. If she does well there, graduate school will not be a problem. These are all things to think about, not prestige. Northeastern prepares you for the real nursing world as an undergrad better.</p>
<p>Pitt is the better program in my humble opinion…And for the few visits to the City of Pittsburgh when we were looking at Nursing programs,i think it is a very good city for college students…Much better then area around UDEL…</p>
<p>Pitt’s program is definitely excellent (at times I wish D had chosen it). It’s not perfect, though. It’s very heavy in sciences - clearly important, but its program might be too intense for some students. </p>
<p>I’d like to hear pros and cons about their schools from nursing students. Some questions are whether their classes are graded on a curve, and how they handle clinicals/hospital choices. I’d like to hear about whether they are actually guaranteed jobs with UPMC hospitals, or if the large number of nursing schools in Western PA has impacted their employment opportunities as well as the availability of clinical experiences. I’d like to know whether they are granted a preference to the grad school. I’d like to know about the quality of advising, and the friendliness of the teachers. It would be useful to know how integrated the 0-4 nursing students are with the rest of the student body, or if they’re somewhat isolated. These aren’t just Pitt questions, of course. Our students get answers to these questions and more when they talk to students during visits, and there is a nursing forum elsewhere where students offer this information (not permitted to cite it by CC).</p>
<p>Ultimately fit is really important. I think I’d vote for Pitt over U-DE for nursing in large part because of the delay in getting clinical experiences that someone described…but I recognize U-DE has some appealing characteristics. I liked their campus and the school’s friendliness a lot…in fact, I tried unsuccessfully to talk two kids into applying there after two visits. Sigh. If I win the lottery, I’m going back to college. I think I’ll even live in a dorm LOL.</p>
<p>Noenzeus, while visiting Pitt Nursing School with D I asked your question about whether Pitt undergrads are given preference in admission to the grad school. Answer was that, while there is no official preference granted, it certainly helps since they know that the undergrad education was top-notch.</p>
<p>Pitt offers guaranteed graduate school admission to qualified entering freshman. If offered this guarantee, BSN students will automatically be admitted to the graduate program provided they meet the minimum GPA / GRE standards. (I think 3.5 GPA / 750 GRE, but will have to check D2’s letter to confirm.)</p>
<p>Thank you to all of you for your great advice!
I wound up choosing the University of Delaware It was cheaper and would leave me less debt ridden than Pitt would. (Pitt’s nursing program is almost 10k more than the regular tuition)<br>
After sitting through the Decision Day Nursing program at UDel, I knew where I belonged. Plus I liked the opportunities offered at UDel better than Pitt (equestrian team, top ranked model un team…only an hour away from home so people can visit…only an hour away from philly/baltimore etc)
I’m super excited to start next fall as a blue hen!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations to both students on your decisions. You have both made good decisions to attend top notch universities with excellent Nursing Programs. Best of luck to you in the future.</p>
<p>My D just graduated last weekend from Pitt,and I do have to tell you that the only hospitals within walking distance are UPMC, Magee, and maybe Shadyside. The rest have to be bussed or driven to. I do think she had a great nursing education,though. Good luck!</p>
<p>Charlieshm - My kid at Pitt said that there’s an article about Pitt pulling the free bus transportation for Pitt students next year. Not sure if it’s going to go through as part of the budget or not, but it will be a big change for the students if it happens.</p>
It was cheaper and would leave me less debt ridden than Pitt would. (Pitt’s nursing program is almost 10k more than the regular tuition)<br>