Application Fees to Oversubcribed Programs

P_RN, ADN, RN · Dec 16, 2004

I thought it was a rip off back in the day when application fees were $10. I applied to about 4-5 schools and got accepted at all except my 1st choice...they said my NLN test scores were too high and my HS grades too low....LOL.

At USC (South Carolina) transcripts have to be official and have to be in a sealed envelope......money, money, money.

Tony35NYC · Dec 16, 2004

It seems unethical for them to keep all the money from those application fees. However, from an academic point of view, it makes sense for them to accept as many applications as possible before the deadline and then select the most qualified students (or the ones they feel have the best potential to succeed). Also, I think just about every college has a no-refund policy when it comes these application fees.

Have you looked into applying to a program at a community college? They usually have cheaper fees, and you'll be learning the same things taught at the more expensive schools.

hypnotic_nurse · Dec 16, 2004

It seems unethical for them to keep all the money from those application fees. However, from an academic point of view, it makes sense for them to accept as many applications as possible before the deadline and then select the most qualified students (or the ones they feel have the best potential to succeed). Also, I think just about every college has a no-refund policy when it comes these application fees.

Yes, they really can't stop accepting applications until the deadline the school sets is met. My guess is that the fees are high to discourage marginal students from applying (not to say that everyone who applies is marginal...they may ALL meet criteria) but that may be the reasoning behind the fee. Or the fees may be high because there are so many applicants and they are hoping higher fees will mean fewer applicants (if that is the case, it is NOT working!).

smk1, LPN · Dec 16, 2004

community college student here and our fee is $40 for health occupations (nursing and dental hygiene and pharmacy tech.) and an additional $20 if you apply to more than 1 program. also if you stop going to school for even 1 semester you must repay the $40.00. I think it's a ridiculous as well.

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 16, 2004

It costs just as much to process an application that gets rejected as it does to process one that gets accepted. In fact, with so many applicants, the expense of processing per applicant may go up as both clerical staff and faculty have to put in over-time hours to get them all processed.

Also, as someone else said, they don't want their school to become a matter of "first come, first served" by giving marginal students who apply early a spot in their program while rejecting outstanding students who apply later, but still within the deadline.

Also, as someone else said, they want to discourage people from applying who are not serious candidates.

I truly do not believe their is anything sinister going on there. It really is hard work to process all those applications and they need to collect the money to pay the people who are doing all that work.

llg

Fiona59 · Dec 16, 2004

That was for a community college program here in Canada. The university in the same city charges $100 for the application fee.

rach_nc_03 · Dec 18, 2004

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Also, as someone else said, they don't want their school to become a matter of "first come, first served" by giving marginal students who apply early a spot in their program while rejecting outstanding students who apply later, but still within the deadline.

Also, as someone else said, they want to discourage people from applying who are not serious candidates.

llg

The 'first come, first served' admission philosophy is used at many community college programs in my area. there's a wait-list of up to 3 years for some of the larger programs; all you had to do was work on your prereqs while you inched up the waitlist, and eventually (unless you made below a C on the prereqs), you got in.

My school is one of the few community colleges around here that admits based on test scores and gpa exclusively. when i started the program last year, there were a handful of students who'd been admitted by a former director *before* they took the admission test; the rest of us got in because of our test scores and grades. guess who ended up flunking out the first semester?

I agree with you about the fees...I'm certain the $60 i paid wasn't entirely eaten up by processing my application, and several hundred students applied and weren't accepted (program accepted 30 students). of course, this was just the first in a long list of fees....fee to graduate, even though I won't march (just going to our pinning ceremony)...fee to take various standardized tests....fee to park at the hospital for clinicals (I live more than an hour in the opposite direction of everyone else, so carpooling is out)...fees to get background-checked by the clinical site...over-priced uniforms that had to be bought from one company...it never ends.

rach_nc_03 · Dec 18, 2004

[

Also, as someone else said, they don't want their school to become a matter of "first come, first served" by giving marginal students who apply early a spot in their program while rejecting outstanding students who apply later, but still within the deadline.

Also, as someone else said, they want to discourage people from applying who are not serious candidates.

llg

The 'first come, first served' admission philosophy is used at many community college programs in my area. there's a wait-list of up to 3 years for some of the larger programs; all you had to do was work on your prereqs while you inched up the waitlist, and eventually (unless you made below a C on the prereqs), you got in.

My school is one of the few community colleges around here that admits based on test scores and gpa exclusively. when i started the program last year, there were a handful of students who'd been admitted by a former director *before* they took the admission test; the rest of us got in because of our test scores and grades. guess who ended up flunking out the first semester?

I agree with you about the fees...I'm certain the $60 i paid wasn't entirely eaten up by processing my application, and several hundred students applied and weren't accepted (program accepted 30 students). of course, this was just the first in a long list of fees....fee to graduate, even though I won't march (just going to our pinning ceremony)...fee to take various standardized tests....fee to park at the hospital for clinicals (I live more than an hour in the opposite direction of everyone else, so carpooling is out)...fees to get background-checked by the clinical site...over-priced uniforms that had to be bought from one company...it never ends.

Nursebaby23 · Dec 18, 2004

This is interesting:coollook: . The CC I went to for LPN didn't charge any fees to apply, acceptance is based on PSB scores and prerequisites under the belt. Same way for RN; LPN's had to take the PSB and a challenge exam. The only thing I don't like is that they only choose 3 LPN applicants and 11 applicants out of the general population for this county(the program is made up of a consortium of 3 counties). It shouldn't have to cost anything to apply to a CC program. On the university level, perhaps I could understand.

Nursebaby23 · Dec 18, 2004

This is interesting:coollook: . The CC I went to for LPN didn't charge any fees to apply, acceptance is based on PSB scores and prerequisites under the belt. Same way for RN; LPN's had to take the PSB and a challenge exam. The only thing I don't like is that they only choose 3 LPN applicants and 11 applicants out of the general population for this county(the program is made up of a consortium of 3 counties). It shouldn't have to cost anything to apply to a CC program. On the university level, perhaps I could understand.