I live in Georgia and I am currently about to be a junior in high school. It feels like there are no great colleges with a nursing program here except for maybe Emory or KSU. I would like to go out of state but out of state tuition is super expensive and most of the good colleges for nursing that are out of state are very far away. I’m interested in a BSN program and I am having trouble deciding where to go. Any suggestions?
University of SC, Clemson, Auburn , Alabama, ECU, UNCW. University of SC and Alabama will probably have the best OOS scholarships. What about Mercer, UGA ?
Are you planning on working in Georgia after graduating with your BSN? Georgia Southern and KSU have wonderful programs and are much cheaper than Emory. It is hard to give up Hope for OOS schools and admission is extremely competitive so there isn’t much buffer for your grades. You want the highest GPA possible when applying, so honestly KSU is a better choice than Emory, Auburn and the other school recs above. Everyone takes the same state mandated boards for their license.
I didn’t find current data online for Georgia, but here’s some past data on RN exam pass rates for many Georgia colleges.
http://www.usg.edu/assets/research/documents/publications/rn-aug07.pdf
Most nursing programs in the southeast US are not direct entry. I’d consider applying for a couple programs that are direct entry in any case, to provide some choices.
Queen’s U in Charlotte has a direct entry nursing program with relatively modest requirements (25 ACT, I believe) and substantial automatic merit aid for relatively modest stats. Queen’s is small, but it is in Charlotte (about 4 hours from Atl) and has a lot to offer. If you put your stats or expected stats into their NPC, you can get a good idea of what it would cost. Since, even with HOPE, you have to pay room and board and piles of fees, it came out for my kid to be about the same cost as in-state with HOPE.
@complexmel Do you prefer direct entry nursing programs over non direct entry? Most direct entry schools are in the northeast, but perhaps you can find a few on this list that aren’t too far/that you’d be willing to go to.
OOS can be expensive but if you have good stats, you can get scholarships and aid. I’d recommend looking up the types of scholarships that are offered, how much each one offers, and the average amount students get. Make sure to add the cost of dorming and a meal plan too since that can easily amount to 15k or more depending on where you go.