Suggest me some schools

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I thought I would post in the parents forum to see if you all can help me build my college list. I'm a rising senior and trying to figure out where to apply to in the fall. I am interested in nursing. I am trying to go out of state since I live in Alaska and really only have one option which will work if all else fails, but I really want to go somewhere else (pretty much anywhere else in the United States) for college, so suggest away.</p>

<p>My main concern is cost, so merit aid is really important to me. If you know of any schools with good merit scholarships that would be great (especially full tuition or full ride). I have a 3.97 uw GPA, 2010 SAT (1390 CR+M), ranked in the top 5% of my class. If you know of any school where this would get me a full tuition or full ride scholarship or something close then I would love to know. Also, any suggestions of good nursing schools would be appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>If you go to the Financial Aid and Scholarships forum, you will see pinned threads at the top that list schools with good merit scholarships. Usually I see questions like yours in the Financial Aid and Scholarships forum, rather than the Parents Forum. You may want to post your question there - many helpful parents will be glad to respond and will ask you for additional information to help in your search such as 1) how much can you/your parents pay each year?, 2) what major or majors are you considering (anything besides nursing)?, 3) are you looking for urban, suburban, warm climate, coast, midwest?, and 3) are you an underrepresented minority?</p>

<p><a href=“Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

<p><a href=“Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

<p>You should retest this fall. A 1400 or higher M+CR from one sitting is often the cut-off for better scholarships. Also take the ACT.</p>

<p>How much can your family contribute? </p>

<p>You also have to take into acct the add’l travel costs from AK. </p>

<p>Are you a likely NMSF? What was your PSAT? </p>

<p>Check with your HS to see if any other states have tuition deals with Alaska. You also need to check which schools have nursing programs- not all do. Getting accepted to a school does not mean getting accepted into the nursing program. Check on the requirements for that. Some programs are competitive because more show interest than can be accommodated in the needed classes. Consider where you may want to live and work- where you want to get your first nursing license. Also consider that you may change your major once you are in college so be sure the overall college seems a good fit as well.</p>

<p>Will your family pay the COA for an Alaskan school? If so, is that your budget…and you would need merit to cover other costs? </p>

<p>I dont know if this is common, but I’ve noticed that some schools require more than 8 semesters for a BSN. Sometimes a 9th semester or a summer session is req’d. And, from what I’ve seen, merit scholarships arent covering that extra semester or summer. That could be pricey for an OOS student.</p>

<p>In the Nursing sub form, some of us parents have provided a " master list / complete list" of colleges with " direct entry " BSN nursing program, OP has that list from her previous post there. The thing is find a way to cross reference that list with schools that offer substantial merits ,and with her own finanical info & stats, this will help narrow down the list of possible “direct entry” nursing programs.
Direct entry nursing program has a pretty rigid cirruculum right from the start so most students finish in 4yrs.( with some exceptions of course )</p>

<p>Typo * curriculum *</p>

<p>@Madison85 Well, I’m not quite sure what exactly what my parents can pay since I basically have everything paid for if I go to school here, which I know doesn’t really help, but they’ve just said that I need to find a school where I can get really good scholarships to even consider going out of state. 2) Right now I am just considering nursing mostly. 3) I’m pretty open to anywhere, although somewhere near the coast would be nice although I don’t need to be. Nothing too hot either. 4) No.</p>

<p>@mom2collegekids They will pay for me to go here in Alaska because the scholarships I would receive here would mostly cover the COA, so I’m not sure exactly how much they’ll pay if I were to go out of state. Also, my PSAT score was not high enough for me to be a NMSF.</p>

<p>Check out <a href=“Save On College Tuition | Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)”>http://www.wiche.edu/wue&lt;/a&gt; to see which schools might give you a good deal out-of-state. A search for nursing bachelor’s programs turned up schools such as UNLV, Western Oregon, U of New Mexico, and South Dakota State. Your numbers would put you at the top of applicant pool for any of these schools, so you’d be a strong candidate for a merit discount from the already reasonable prices.</p>

<p>@blue652 is your in-state option where you are accepted to nursing school from the get-go, or do you continue to need to apply/interview/etc going into junior year? The main goal is to obtain that nursing degree. Some states it is a very difficult process in that the limitations on interested students versus who actually gets trained junior and senior years. </p>

<p>As mom2ck referenced, in AL the nursing programs are spread for training in 5 semesters beginning junior year (so you attend with major hours summer between junior and senior year). That is costly for OOS - if a student has a tuition scholarship, it covers 8 semesters -so you can apply it to that summer but the final semester will have to then come out of pocket. Most OOS students apply the scholarship money to their fullest terms and pay out of pocket for summer.</p>

<p>UAB (web site <a href=“http://www.uab.edu”>www.uab.edu</a>) has a nursing scholars program, where you apply for that program (check on web site, but historically it has been Dec 1 during HS senior year). If accepted, you will have a seat in junior level classes as long as you complete the pre-reqs and have the required GPA on coursework. Check for automatic scholarships levels, and sharpen your pencil/prep for ACT for best achievable scholarship level. ACT offered Sept/Oct/Dec - again check to see when last score can apply to scholarship. My DD is in that nursing scholars program (we are in state) - she starts her junior year courses in Aug. UAB also has honors programs that you can be part of (then can also apply/continue with nursing honors program - she is in that too). There are several really good opportunities - they have a VA scholars program where 20 students are accepted and have their clinicals together under the advisement of program director (DNP) - she also was selected for that.</p>

<p>Also explore if you may want to go further into nurse practitioner? See what is available within AK. Explore resources etc with Alaska Board of Nursing - web site <a href=“http://www.dced.state.ak.us/occ/pnur.htm”>www.dced.state.ak.us/occ/pnur.htm</a> If you were my DD, I would fully see what is available where you are first. Maybe graduate program going somewhere OOS paid for another way?</p>

<p>Have you thought about options such as military nursing? My DD did Air Force ROTC training sophomore year, but due to funding cuts this year did not go into field training this summer. She is applying for Navy nursing now, which has a process early junior year. The paradigm is ever changing on those options. DD wants to have graduate school training paid for via military. It is very attractive to her to have a 20 year military career with option for retirement, and living in many locations.</p>

<p>You want to have good training - and be able to feel competent going into taking the licensure exam. Check the pass rates on various nursing schools - preparation is key with decreasing anxiety. Schools do everything they can to properly prepare their students - however with everything, the key is to check out their nursing dept. A great nursing dean or nursing dept chair is often key. Everyone seems to take review courses now. I just bought some review books and drug guide book so DD can study along with her courses for preparation. That way when she takes the review course, she will be totally ready. I am a RN, and I was in the paper/pencil generation of nursing exam - we didn’t have review courses or materials; I knew where I was weak - my school used a med/surg book that was flaky; I checked out from the hospital library the good med/surg book that other nursing programs used, and studied it from cover to cover - back then you got scores in 5 areas, med, surg, Psych, OB, and Pediatrics. My highest scores were med and surg then psych (even though I was a psych double major). My niece was telling me a little about the score areas (she is preparing now for exam; graduated nursing school in MN in May).</p>

<p>Good luck with the process.</p>

<p>It’s not full tuition but just seconding the WUE program. It’s a Western state program that allows a student substantial discount on attending out-of-state schools. </p>

<p>I have heard about the WUE program and looked into it. It’s still an option but it probably won’t bring costs down enough to where the school will be affordable. And I think at some schools if you get the WUE discount, then you can’t receive other merit scholarships, but I may be wrong.</p>

<p>@SOSConcern in-state isn’t direct-entry and I’ve heard there has been a wait list. I still need to look into it more. I will definitely be looking at UAB now to see what they have to offer. Currently, I don’t think I’ll want to continue to become a nurse practitioner, so I’m not really thinking about graduate school. I have never thought about military nursing before either but who knows maybe that could be a good option for me. Thanks for all the information! I appreciate it!</p>

<p>@blue652 you sound like someone bright - don’t sell yourself short on perhaps going down the road into something advanced; you could stop out at BSN for a while and work for a while.</p>

<p>I would venture to say that most nursing programs have you interview/apply during sophomore year for junior year nursing. If you are a strong student, and have had pretty good sciences in HS, you should be able to go this next step - nursing programs should be able to tell you GPA expectations for ‘making the cut’.</p>

<p>I would check into WUE program - and see if any of these schools offer departmental or other scholarships that you could be considered for. Do not assume something without checking. Look at the states in WUE, then see what schools within those states have BSN programs. Some states have so much student demand in-state, while others may not have as many highly qualified students.</p>

<p>Washington state may have some more extensive training opportunities than within AK - or maybe not enough to consider if it costs a lot more. It has to do with population density - for example level 1 trauma center, or NICU (neonatal) and other sub-ICU specialties. In a BSN program, you might work in the facility with a lot of stuff going on, but you are learning the basics in routine medical areas. </p>

<p>If you think you will end up working in AK, maybe going to school there would be good; however if you want to spread your wings a little. If you know anyone in health care in AK, start asking around - can start with your family practitioner, people in your church or who your parents know, other HS student parents…</p>