Another option is the University of Cincinnati. It has sports > UDel. Cincy is bigger than Newark, so the surrounding areas are going to be more urban. But it does have a direct entry nursing program. In addition to the UC Med Center, the top 2-3 Pediatric Hospital is located right next to it (also a VA hospital).
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That’s really helpful, thank you. And I guess that’s what we hope to uncover in the coming months with visits and more research. Must haves, nice to haves etc. Also the how far from home factor. She seems to swing on that often, so we’ll need to really do some soul searching.
We’re fortunate that cost is not a limiting factor if all else is equal.
This is spot-on advice. Having clinical opportunities on-campus is huge. So much easier.
However, in the case of PSU she would go to Hershey Medical Center which isn’t on-campus. I don’t see this case as a negative. Great hospital experience and it’s not hard to get apartments in the area, which is nice BTW. When nursing students hit the clinical stage they’re probably not enjoying the total college experience. They’re very busy at that point and older/more mature.
The worst-case would be going to a college and having to commute an hour each day for clinical experience.
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I can see this being a very good fit, thank you.
PSU is likely to be on the list as we are PA residents. The piece I don’t like is that you only spend one year in Hershey, either Junior or Senior year, not both as far as I understand. Just seems disjointed but we’ll look into it more for sure.
I think Temple and Pitt are too urban for her, but we are absolutely going to visit.
You just described University of Michigan. I know it’s not on your list but has everything you want and need and routinely voted best college campus and best town to live in…
Agree…Ohio University is a nice choice. Athens Ohio is a great college town. Has sports, and a great nursing program located in their gorgeous allied health professions building. (I’m speech pathologist alum…a little biased).
Ohio State would be way bigger but definitely has that huge college town feel.
Sounds like we need a visit to OH with Miami, Cincinnati and OU checking a lot of boxes. My brother is an OU alum as well 
My D set a very firm 4 hour radius from home so that was the first MUST, then we visited a few schools within an hour from home and she had a very strong preference for smaller schools. Your D has a specific program, which by itself is a limiting factor.
I keep saying the experience is temporary but the education is forever. Not to downplay the desire to have football, attendance at games is great, but when you stop and think that most teams have 5 home games per season (and she may not be able to attend all of them due to clinical rotations or other obligations), you are talking about 20 days out of a full 4-year education. Compare that with the number of days needed for clinical rotations and what that means for travel or potential relocation for a period. Just something to think about…
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I saw that; I’ve just seen it so many times over the years, until the FA packages come out and that “full pay” turns out to be $200-250k. Even if families can pay full freight, they often have an amount in mind they won’t pay for certain schools. I was just trying to clarify as a way to help weed out the list.
Good point. Is it full pay no matter what or full pay but only for xyz.
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Really just that cost is not a limiting factor for initial consideration.
I’ll throw one out there you won’t hear much. Rowan.
It is growing very quickly, and the reputation in science and engineering is getting better and better all of the time. Glassboro in the 80’s and 90’s was a dump. I attended a few parties there with friends who were students (of Glassboro State College at the time), and wouldn’t have attended school there for free. That’s no longer the case.
The town is nice, it’s 25 mins to Philly, and the school facilities are very good. Admissions is getting harder and harder, and it would be in the Temple / Duquesne / West Chester discussion (although I’d bet it’s harder to get in than West Chester).
I read the title and immediately thought of UD (my daughter is there for exercise science, pre DPT). Both she and my 18 year old felt UCONN was to rural, my 18 year old is leaning towards Clemson (business).Villanova was taken off the table due to no merit and high price tag.
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If you visit Ohio, you might as well add Xavier University if you are in Cincinnati. They also have a direct admit nursing program. I am with a lot of others, as time passes, cost and direct entry will likely become more important. But I do understand the whole college experience thing. It isn’t just the 5 home football games. It can be a lifetime of connection to your school because you can watch the football, basketball, volleyball and hockey teams play no matter where I live.
I’ll chime in on the Miami OH bandwagon – we are also PA residents and my daughter’s final 2 were U Del and Miami OH - she ultimately chose Miami. Both universities offered her merit scholarships that made the COA less than that of Penn State. The UDel and MiamiOH campuses are very similar in appearance, size, etc – my daughter was determined to have that red-brick-green-lawn-campus look. And just like Newark, Oxford has a main street with college oriented shops (a couple blocks shorter than Newark, maybe). They have a direct entry nursing program that is fairly new on the Oxford campus, I think (I believe nursing used to be only at their regional campuses.) My daughter’s roommate is a sophomore in the nursing program and seems to be getting a great education. As far as I know, they haven’t started clinicals yet, but there is a small hospital in Oxford and then a bunch of hospitals in Cincinnati which is about 45 minutes away. Anyway, if you want the quintessential red brick campus in a cute college town (and great merit scholarships to boot!), Miami is definitely worth looking into.
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If you’re throwing Ohio into the mix, the you should definitely throw Boston into the mix as well. The weather is no colder. Boston College has a great nursing school and will give anyone all they could ask for in campus activity from sports to clubs in a pretty campus in a beautiful suburban neighborhood. Northeastern and Boston U both have fine nursing schools as well. They are city schools in terms of campus although Northeastern does have some green space on a very clean, well manicured campus. At both schools, hockey is the big sport to cheer for as both schools as well as BC are past national champions. The big draw in Boston is the hospitals for clinicals - several of the best teaching and research hospitals in the country.
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On your way I would add WVU. It doesn’t get much attention on CC but I think it’s a sleeper, especially for medical professions. Look at their webpage. Ruby Memorial is on-campus and a teaching hospital. Morgantown has grown and changed the last 20 years.
Also, maybe look at UDayton. Our HS sends a few kids there every year and they seem happy.
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Another vote to reconsider Penn State. I’m an alum and my son is there now. The nurses seem to LOVE going to Hershey - they are in a tight group, live together, etc.
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