I got waitlisted from NYU’s nursing school this week and don’t expect to get off the list before May 1st, so I’m trying to figure out which of my backup schools I should plan to attend. Which school is better for Nursing: University of Houston or University of Texas at Arlington? Which has better Housing, Social Life, Cost, etc? All the student I’ve reviews I’ve been looking at on separate websites has me worried to go to either school, so I decided to make a thread here in hopes of getting some actual reviews from current students of either school. Literally any advice is welcome. Thanks!
Cost and direct admission should be at the top of the decision matrix. Then access to clinicals. Pass your boards and it doesn’t matter where you go. Wife is 25 year CRNA. Good luck.
Thanks for the replies!
Here’s some more information:
They appear to be about the same cost but UH has given me a 2k scholarship and a 7k loan (not sure about taking that loan, though.) I’m not sure if UTA will give me any aid. Technically my EFC is higher than the cost of both universities (including room and board) so there’s that. They are both pre-nursing with competitive secondary admission. UH is farther from home (still in state however) which is my preference, and they have a bigger social scene than UTA which is important to me because I want to make friends and all that good stuff. They also accepted me to their honors college. I won’t know if I got into UTA’s honors college until Mid-May. The main concern with UH is their freshman housing. I have a choice of rooming with three other people and having one bathroom to share or rooming with one other person and use community bathrooms/showers. UTA’s housing has two people to a room or three people to a dorm which has private bedrooms. I think UH is cheaper with their Housing but their wording is a bit ambiguous. (3.5k per term. Not sure if term is semester or academic year). UTA is 4.5k or 5.5k (depending on room) per academic year.
You might want to investigate a plan B instead of these schools because if you don’t get into a BSN program after 2 years you are kinda out of luck and admission is quite competitive. Best case your plans are derailed at least a year.
Plan B is to get an RN at a community college (an ADN which is an associates degree in nursing) and then go to one of the RN->BSN programs. Look for a good NCLEX pass rate at the CC. Once you have an RN you are employable and can work part-time to help pay for your remaining schooling. RN->BSN programs tend to much be easier to get into than nursing from pre-nursing BSN programs. I’m more familiar with the Calif programs but expect it would be similar elsewhere in the country. Many RN->BSN programs are online but there are also on-campus programs.
Out in CA more info is at ADN/RN-to-BSN Programs | CSU for CSU schools. For example Fullerton has partnerships with local CCs and says in their FAQ “Historically, the RN-BSN pathway has not been impacted so all applicants who met the minimum admission requirements have been admitted.” Also worth looking into is whether you can get CA residency for tuition purposes at a CSU during the 2 years at a CA CC, if this RN->BSN option is of any interest to you.
Wow, you’ve definitely given me a lot to think about! I hadn’t considered that option until now. I don’t know if my parents would go for it, (they expect me to attend a four year college) but I guess it’s time to seriously consider some alternatives. I don’t know if its worth mentioning but I think after two years at UTA I will at least be an RN. Maybe if they don’t accept me I could apply RN to BSN at other universities? I’m not sure about UH. Anyways, thank you for taking the time out of your day to answer an anxious teenager’s questions, lmao. I really do appreciate it! (Thanks to everyone else in the thread as well) got alot of thinking to do
Essentially in an ADN program they’re giving you a vocational degree and you don’t spend much time taking liberal arts classes like History or English. Then to turn it into a Bachelor’s degree you take a few additional nursing classes including leadership, but also make up those humanities classes you never took. Now look back on the UTA BSN Lower-Division Prerequisite Courses and you can see they flip it around; you take those humanities up front, the last 2 years are effectively taking the ADN program.
This is be a lot to think about and research; it’s a big decision and quite a different college experience so you’ll want to talk it over with your parents. But perhaps the deadlines to decide aren’t as soon as they first appear. Depending on the refund policy it may be possible to register for one of your colleges while you consider RN->BSN and then cancel the registration if you decide on the ADN. Doing things sooner rather than later is important, though, since registration at community colleges may be opening up soon or already open. And you’d need to find out the CC admission policy for the ADN program.
BTW you might also want to post on the “Nursing Major” forum since they have people with lots of knowledge about the options.
Okay, taking your advice I’ve looked into community colleges that offer ADN programs: specifically Collin College since its a popular option that lots of students at my school end up going too. I guess my main problem with the option is feeling like I’m missing out on the college experience. (My high school one has already been extremely lackluster, lol.) I’m still attached to the four-year university idea, especially since I could technically afford it. It’s a lot to think about, and it feels like so little time! It’s already April 1st
Also, I added the nursing major tag to this thread already, unless there is a completely different forum I’m missing out on.
Did you by any chance do the ADN and then RN to BSN program? How was your experience?
I’m not really sure how helpful the tags are or what they’re really for. There is a nursing forum at Nursing Major - College Confidential Forums It’s not the most active forum, but worth a try. You can also find links to other nursing forums outside of College Confidential with a web search and read thru them or ask questions.
I don’t work in healthcare, but first heard of the BSN path from a neighbor years ago who was working at a top US hospital as a RN. To become a nurse manager she needed a BSN.
Two other thoughts. First, for an ADN you should be pretty sure that nursing is what you want. I imagine there are people who start 4-year programs in BSN and come out as accountants or teachers instead when they discover nursing isn’t really what they want, but that’s going to be harder in a vocational program. Second, and this ties into the first, another possibility to put on the table is a gap year. If you don’t know as much about nursing as you’d like, take a year off and get a job in a hospital. After a few months you’ll know if it’s right for you or not! You already mentioned regret over not applying to more colleges, so this would give you a re-do and you could also focus on direct-admit colleges.
I’m definitely post on that forum! And I am 100% set on Nursing, but it sounds like a gap year would give more alternatives. (Would have to get my parents on board ) Thanks again!
) Thanks again!