@ ucbalumnus, that is what I have been trying to say about our public options in WI. There are way too many variables and uncertainties for us with a student that will not be at the top of her class. The GPA listed are not indicative of who actually gets in and I’ve been told by programs there have been cohorts with upwards of a 3.8 to make the cutoff. Every one accepts only about 50% of applicants each cycle. Even with the 3.4-3.6 that Oshkosh lists publicly, she is right in the middle of that with her high school GPA and I presume her college GPA will be similar but probably lower. I know mine was. It’s just not a smart move for us to even consider the public system at all.
Viterbo is not direct admit and leaves us with about $9k left over. Evansville leaves about $14.5k (slightly lower if the nursing loan were in the mix).
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For the non-direct-admit nursing majors, what kind of college GPAs or other credentials are needed to get into the nursing majors?
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@ucbalumnus At some schools, you need a nearly perfect GPA to get “promoted” into the nursing program (clinicals) for junior year. And, at some schools, the calculation doubles the GPA for science courses. At my kids’ undergrad, a near-perfect GPA is needed, and it also doubles the GPA for science courses.
I can understand why the OP needs a direct admit program for her DD, who is a good student, but likely may not carry a 3.8+ GPA in college.
I think she should apply to every Direct Admit that they can find that has a NPC net result of about $10k or less…and then hope that there will be some surprise add’l aid and summer job that can provide the rest.
@momof113
Correcting my earlier post: The Class of 2015 was the last high school graduating class in WI to be offered the opportunity for the Wisconsin Covenant grant program (not Class of 2016). Governor Scott Walker eliminated it in 2011.
^ do you think he’ll reinstate it now that he’s no longer running for president ? Because surely cutting a good program that didn’t cost much and was efficient was just some publicity stunt to boost his presidentiak cred, and not “real thought”?
Walker will not reinstate (or newly create) anything that benefits low-income people. Just a few months ago he signed a budget that cut $250 million from our state University system. That, I suppose, should be another reason we need to avoid them, because of the uncertainty of how they will need to handle those cuts.
@mom2collegekids that is exactly what we have decided we should do, apply to many direct admit options under about $10k and see what shakes out in the end. She’s not married to the idea of any one school or location, so that is very helpful. We visited St. Catherine yesterday and it is now on the bottom of her list (it’s one of the higher remaining cost schools), but we’re still going to go forward with the financial aid process just to see what kind of offer they do give.
Does anybody know about Augustana in Sioux Falls? I keep seeing that they meet 99% need, but when I do their NPC it has over $10k remaining. Maybe they are including PLUS loans in meeting need?
Mom- why nursing? Before you all jump through hoops, make sure she’s not carrying around an unrealistic idea of the following three elements (which I think are quite common for HS kids who are interested in nursing- or so they think).
1- What a nursing education is like, i.e. what the next four years will look like. Both inside the classroom and out; studying for the Boards, etc.
2- What is involved in working as a nurse- life in a big teaching hospital, even if her ultimate goal is something like being a school nurse or working with clinical trial patients, at some point she will be the low woman on the totem pole in a busy hospital and all that this entails.
3- Long term- what her options are with a nursing degree vs. another health related degree- either allied health, or public health, or hospital administration, etc.
Do a reality check now before you get tied up in a knot about direct admit. I know adults who work in public health (some terrific career options right now), some of whom started as nurses, some of whom just have degrees in statistics or public policy or early childhood education, or urban planning- so there may be a less painful way for her to achieve her professional goals unless she really, really, really understands what it’s like to work as a nurse.
We went to Capital yesterday for their big fall visit day. My daughter has been offered a seat in
the nursing program for fall. I will preface this by saying I have a Master’s in Nursing and work as a Nurse Practitioner. I got my MSN 5 years ago and my BSN completion 7 years ago (ADN nurse for 13 years before I went back to school)
They will admit an unlimited number of Freshmen into the nursing program, as long as they meet their benchmark, which I believe is a 21 ACT and a 3.0 high school GPA. This fall they admitted and enrolled 105. Yes, you read that right. Their current sophomore class has 80 some students and the junior class has 60 some. That is, in my opinion, a lot of attrition. They kind of skirted around it saying people change their minds and “some don’t do well with the freedom” of being at college.
She is currently a Certified Nursing Assistant. She took the class at the CC the end of her junior year, was licensed over the summer and has been working in a nursing home for about 3 months now. It isn’t extensive experience yet, but it’s way more than any of the other seniors she knows who are expressing interest in nursing “just because”. She also comes from a long line of nurses (great grandma, three great aunts, an uncle, two aunts, and some “honorary family” members as well). As of now, her goal is NICU and she’s not at all interested in the administrative side of healthcare so stats or policy or education would never interest her as a major.
@blossom your list is very insightful and we will definitely discuss those things just to be sure that this is her route, but from all her indications it is really what she wants to do.
@kandcsmom that is very interesting. We visited St Catherine yesterday and they said something similar, that nearly half of their applicants come in with nursing as their intended interest but after a first year required team healthcare class many of those fall away and they then admit 72 per cohort. It has worked out that all who are qualified with their minimum standards were able to get in.
Attrition is an area I haven’t really thought to investigate. My DD is quite focused on nursing and doesn’t have any doubts that it’s what she wants, but I know she has several friends that say they are interested but have no background or experience at all. Maybe that makes up a large part of the attrition, the students who want to put down a major but aren’t necessarily committed to the idea. It’s definitely something I will inquire more about.
I’m sure there are plenty of other programs in the US but those are the ones I can think of where you might be within budget. Sorry this is so difficult but I hope some of the above will meet your needs. I know some are far (SUNY Plattsburgh in particular) but I’m thinking far and within budget would be better than close and unaffordable…
Attrition has four components from my observation:
1- Kids who pick the program without knowing enough about what a nursing education is all about. They discover it’s not what they thought it was- or not what they are interested in anymore.
2- Kids who do not have a strong enough base from HS to do college level work. They either realize they can’t hack the academics and switch to something else, or their adviser recommends finding another major/program. Sometimes kids come in with gaps in their prep- and are prepared to work hard, get tutoring, etc. to catch up. So it’s not all doom and gloom, but not every kid can hack college level courses, especially if they are used to grade inflation in HS.
3- Kids who COULD do the work- they’ve had a decent prep from HS, and are well suited to the program, but the partying, distractions of college life get them off track. Add inadequate sleep to the mix- and an adviser will likely recommend finding something else to study unless the student is prepared to buckle down quickly.
4- Kids who run out of money and need to transfer to a cheaper school which may not have the desired program- or where they can’t get in to the desired program so they pick something else so they can be done with a degree in four years.
@erin’s dad That is a different school. They’re looking at the one at Sioux Falls.
It says avg of 99% of need, but their avg package isn’t huge, so it suggests to me that they don’t have many low income students accepting their gapped offers.
Keep in mind that reported “average need met” is the result of who enrolls at their school. It’s NOT a promise. All it means is that those who had a LOT of need and who got lousy pkgs didn’t enroll…and therefore their pkg offers don’t get included in the reports…because only the ENROLLED students’ FA pkgs get included.
Marshall is an excellent possibility for her as her stats qualify her for freshman admission to nursing and a tier 1 OOS achievement tuition waiver which covers 60% of demonstrated financial need after other scholarships/grants are applied. This is a great option we can add to our list, thank you @MYOS1634 !!!
Well, let’s go WAY outside of the box for a minute. Have you looked at CC’s that are not in state? Yes, going straight to the BSN may be the most desirable option, but as someone upthread said, beggar’s can’t be choosers. You need a very low cost option to serve as an admissions and financial safety, and let’s face it, a Pell Grant and a student loan is enough to cover expenses at many CC’s. It may be that Wisconsin’s CC’s have long waitlists or high OOS prices, but that is not true everywhere. Look at Iowa’s and Nebraska’s community colleges. They’re very low cost for OOS students, don’t have 3 year waiting lists, and offer housing. Ok, they may be rural (but probably more so than WI), but unless she ends up in Scott’s Bluff, they’re within driving distance.
Sorry this is so difficult but I hope some of the above will meet your needs. I know some are far (SUNY Plattsburgh in particular) but I’m thinking far and within budget would be better than close and unaffordable…