<p>I guess I'll post this under Nursing instead of Scranton, since it reviews two school visits for specifically nursing B.S. degree. It's long, so I apologize, but I tried to be as thorough as possible. Here goes:</p>
<p>Looks like my D has her choices narrowed down to two of the schools she has been admitted to for a B.S. in Nursing for Fall 2012: Saint Anselm and University of Scranton. This post will review our reactions to the overnight at one school, U of Scranton, and the full day event at the other, Saint Anselm. Both private catholic colleges in Northeast.</p>
<p>We had a one day specialized admitted students Anselm nursing day in the life last month, and then recently, we got back from an overnight visit to Scranton where my D did Scrantons Royal Nights overnight Sunday night visitation. Were interested to hear anyones reactions or anything we may have missed, since for these two schools, it has been hard to get comparisons on these schools since although they are both in Northeast, Anselm attracts New Englanders; Scranton attracts PA, NY, NJ. </p>
<p>Scranton overnight visit was interesting: It costs $75, by the way, to register for it, but seemed worth it for the multiple meals served to both D and to us as parents. (Anselms Day in the Life event was free, and meals were served for that day to parents and admitted students). At Scranton, D, and 4 other accepted nursing students, were placed into a host environment which was at an upperclassmen apt on Mulberry street in Scranton with a host senior nursing student, and her 3 other roommates . The host, who was very nice, had little to no interaction, however, with the 4 nursing admitted students for the rest of the overnight and next day, though. I was hoping for a little more interaction with the current students. </p>
<p>At the parent reception at Scranton, I asked how host students are selected/vetted, and to my surprise, was told by admissions that the host students volunteer and are simply rewarded with 2 free movie tickets. The overnighters in my D's group of four admitted students, all had to sleep on the floor in their sleeping bags. The admitted students hung out together that first night, ate in the U cafe, and went to a sponsored movie that night. </p>
<p>Next day, each admitted student had breakfast in the café again, and a schedule of classes to attend (2 classes only). One class ended up cancelled. D went to a nursing class for seniors and got to see the nursing facilities on third floor of McGurrin Hall, about four blocks from the center of campus, the farthest building from the center of the campus. She came back from class, and had lunch in café, and that was pretty much it. </p>
<p>Enough to give her an impression of the admitted students and the nursing facility, but not much of an impression of the current students there, other than observance of them, since as mentioned, little to no effort was put in by the university or Ds particular host student for much organized or informal interaction. (Anselms approach to that were scheduled student panel discussions, and eating lunch with both current students and the admitted students). I think perhaps that is what was missing, and Scranton should perhaps have arranged more time with students in some way for the admitted students. The onus appears to have been put onto the admitted student to try to do that, but D and the others in her group were on a tight schedule and spent their time together and did not take the initiative or find any time to talk to more existing students. Maybe other admitted students who are more outgoing would have done so. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, as parents at Scranton, we attended an optional reception Sunday night at the Hilton where we were wined and dined and got to talk to 1 admission rep they placed at each table. That was well done, and I asked my share of questions. Reception was at the Hilton, where we also happened to stay (nice enough though expensive parking). Got there early Sunday, so had our D walk around the city with us that morning so she could get a feel for downtown. Ate at Kildares Irish Pub near Radisson. (peaked inside Radisson and was beautiful). Great food and atmosphere at Kildare's pub. Walked to Scrantons little mall within the city, and within a 7 block square, but city was pretty quiet (albeit it was a Sunday mid day). Felt reasonably safe during day time since no one around, and was not as bad as I suspected it might be, though not much down there for students, and somewhat run down in appearance. </p>
<p>As parents, on Monday at Scranton, we were given a finaid group session, and a tour (did tour this summer as well). Science Center nice inside (though I thought an unattractive mish-mash of exterior brick and stone work clashes with the new student center across the green), still not finished outside, so still a mess surrounding the science center. Also toured the new 400 bed fitness upperclassmen apt complex on Mulberry St, but only got to see the fitness ground floor. My wife and I then scheduled a tour of the nursing floor at McGurrin Hall, and they were extremely welcoming to us there, and their facility and their nursing program seemed excellent. We spoke with both a staff member and Chairperson for the Nursing dept. </p>
<p>Picked up D at noon on Monday, and as parents, used our free lunch passes, and had lunch in the café, and I found the food to be outstanding. I had a nice chat with a student in line in front of me, a Junior, who loved the new 400 bed apartments on Mulberry St, and had moved back on campus after a year living in a university owned apartment/house with plumbing problems. Those new apartments seemed to have resolved one of the drawbacks to Scranton, and that student said, if you are going to attend Scranton, now is the time due to the completion of these apts and the science center. </p>
<p>We drove to two of the local hospitals where nursing clinicals would be held. Quite close (maybe 7 or 8 blocks), but would not want to walk back to campus from them at 4PM at night, though area was not too bad. I guess a bus and some kind of new shuttle they mentioned might be an option, though the U was sketchy about exactly when the bus ran to the hospitals. Parking around Scranton seemed pretty scarce, and students must be juniors to keep a car on campus. Not a car friendly campus, but probably not much need for one.</p>
<p>Ds comment when leaving Scranton was that it was nice, but her gut kept telling her she still liked Saint Anselms better, mostly based on the types of kids she hung out with and perhaps the urban vs suburban factor, I think. With visits like this, its all about who you spend the time with and your emotional reaction, and she said that she seemed to hit it off much better with all the admitted nursing students at Anselm than those at Scranton, though that is a random sampling, she understands. She was not keen on the Scranton traffic noise at night right outside the host student apt on Mulberry st she stayed at, and perhaps the city itself, and Scrantons lack of trees and green spaces (we live in rural suburbs surrounded by trees and quiet, so the sudden urban feel at Scranton without it being a major city attraction like a Boston seems to have hit her negatively.) </p>
<p>As parent who spent time at both schools on these visits, its a tough call, since I see Scranton as more progressive about many things, and if you can get past the location of U of Scranton squeezed into a small 50 acre space in the middle of a small, hillside, quiet, urban setting, then Scranton gets my bid as a parent. The students at both schools, to me, were welcoming and good down to earth kids, and yes, all held doors for you and said thank you a lot (unlike many we met visiting Quinnipiac in CT, and my favorite Quinnipiac story where we actually saw a female student walk directly into a lamp post because she was texting while walking in her Uggs and Northface. Her fashionable sunglasses were knocked askew but not broken, so she survived!).</p>
<p>Lots of similarities between Anselm and Scranton for nursing, but also lots of differences between the two schools. Anselms negatives: my issue with it, is it forces a regimented 4 semester Humanities program on everyone including nursing majors (will be reduced and made more elective in another year for new Freshmen, per curriculum committee in the school newspaper but that will not be in time for my D), has fewer electives because of that, is known for anti-grade inflation (grad schools wont like those lower grades, will they?), makes students work very hard to get Cs even in non-major classes like philosophy and theology, in subjects the student may not care about as much as their major. </p>
<p>Scranton a bit more liberal approach to its academic choices, offers actual electives in Humanities and Philosphy, and has you to take 2 phys ed classes which D likes. Anselms positives: quiet serene and very uncrowded 450 acre campus and extremely safe; free bus into Manchester 8 minutes away, and Boston (hour away) available directly from campus itself for students. And 59% of all students at Anselm have cars. Downtown Manchester NH perhaps with a bit more to offer than downtown Scranton, though that is based only on opinions I have heard. Great long standing nursing reputation at Anselm, including its preceptorship/internship (which Scranton does not have for seniors. Pros and cons to preceptorship programs, anyway). Nursing is one, of if not the largest, major at Anselm (90 per freshman class in what is otherwise of course a smaller overall student body). (Scranton nursing student representation is small, 58 students in a double the sized overall freshman student body). Excellent food reputation at Anselm too, as we ate there as well great food. </p>
<p>Parking at Anselm is plentiful and allowed all four years, with most students able to park very near their dorms, without the parking lots taking away from the beauty of its campus. Prepping students for NCLEX exams and getting 90% to pass those tests at both colleges seems excellent, and neither seems to sabotage the senior nursing student like some colleges who the college does not want certain students to take the test since they would draw down the pass percentage, though Scranton hinted that the students had to pass some kind of screening pre-test, and that might be a red flag that hinted of that practice. Both schools say they work with the student until the student is ready to take the test. I am somewhat concerned that Anselm may have to send its nursing class students farther away for clinicals than Scranton does, where Scranton has its relationships quite close by. I sensed that Anselm may run out of locations and the students have to drive farther away for the clinicals based on a comment I heard from admissions at Anselm in our Day in the Life visit that, ..finding places for clinicals is increasingly competitive but that surrounding facilities know and trust the reputation of its students at Saint Anselms so we have an easier time finding clinicals for the students than other colleges in the area .</p>
<p>So thats my summary of our Scranton overnight, and our Day in the Life at Anselm, and what D and we as parents thought. Any reactions? Recommendations for what else to check on these two schools?</p>