I’m a middle school student looking at colleges ( yes I know its early, yes I know its insane I already know my major, YES to whatever your thinking Ive heard it ALL) anyways… I really want to go to PSU and major in Nursing but I want too know the pros and cons! and any good or bad experiences just so I know what I’m getting into! Thank you!
Also any good Nursing Safety Schools to consider would be great!!!
Anything that anybody will tell you may be dated by the time you start applying in another 4-5 years. When you start high school, speak with your GC and ask them which set of courses is the best for somebody who wants to go to nursing school.
It is too early to be deciding which colleges you would like to attend. It is great that you feel that you know what your major will be, but also remember that this may change. My kid wanted to study astrophysics or mathematics when she was in middle school. She is now majoring in neuroscience, and plans to continue on to do her PhD.
The best nursing schools include OSU, Duke, Yale, U Michigan, U of Maryland, U Pittsburgh, Emory, and Johns Hopkins, to name a few. There are many, and they are different from each other.
My recommendation is to do well at high school, volunteer at a hospital and see what other experiences you can have related to nursing, and leave the choice of colleges until you are in your junior year in high school (though exploring during your sophomore year is good as well).
Good luck with finishing middle school!
Do you know which Penn State campus you’re thinking of?
The best nursing schools are near the best hospitals.
Thank you!
For my campus I’m thinking any of the east ones
If you do nursing at PSU main campus then either junior or senior year must be spent in Hershey.
@MWolf The top private nursing schools are graduate only, except Penn.
I am a nurse and I will tell you that it really doesn’t matter where you go as long as you pass the NCLEX. The MOST important factor in picking a nursing school is NCLEX pass rates for that school. IMO spending a ton of money and having high student loans for nursing is not the best path. You will be making the same amount of money as someone with an associate’s degree to start in most places. Where I work, BSN graduates make $0.50 cents more per hour than a community college graduate. You will not get paid more if you go to a “top nursing school” than if you went to a local state college where the tuition is low. That’s the truth of it. Grad school is a different thing. For grad school, school name matters more. For your BSN, it doesn’t.
Penn State nursing is one of the most competitive majors at Penn State. You will need to be top of your class with very high test scores for PSU nursing at UP campus. The commonwealth campuses are easier to get into and have high NCLEX pass rates so those are always a good option as well.
I’ll add that you are far too young to be considering colleges at this point. It’s good to keep a science track in high school as a general plan, but don’t worry about which college until much farther into your high school career.