Which nursing school should I go to?

[cookie_monster]

Hello!

I'm a high school senior from Michigan and I'm having a really hard time choosing which college to go to for nursing. So I was hoping to gain some insights from the allnurses.com community. I've been accepted into the following colleges:

• Michigan State University
  
• Oakland University
  
• University of Michigan-Flint
  
• Wayne State
  
• University of Detroit Mercy
  

My top choice is attending Michigan State University, however I'm scared about what will happen if I don't get into their nursing school. Their website says that competition is fierce and they've even started an application for qualified high school seniors to be guaranteed admission into the school of nursing if they keep up their academic standards. I'm not even close to being qualified for this program and it makes me nervous about my chances of getting into their nursing school. But I really want to go to MSU because I love everything about it.

On the other hand, I was accepted to the University of Detroit Mercy school of nursing which has a direct nursing program. However, the college is in a shady part of Detroit and has a lower NCLEX pass rate than Michigan State. Although, the NCLEX pass rate is still above the national average. If I were to go UDM then I wouldn't have to worry about getting into nursing school.

Another option I was thinking about was going to MSU and doing my pre-nursing there, then applying to their school of nursing as well as U of M Flint's, OU's and Wayne State's nursing programs. So if I didn't get into MSU's nursing school I could just transfer to another college. Is this a viable option? Since MSU has pre-nursing for two years and the previously mentioned colleges have only one year of pre-nursing would it still be possible to transfer to one of the other colleges?

Any advice you have to offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you sooo much more your time and I'm sorry this post is so long!

[Edie10]

I would really recommend that you make a phone appointment with an advisor from the nursing school in each of the colleges you are considering. Have a list of questions and write down notes. Make sure you ask about any waiting lists (OU has a huge one, WSU has none but I'm not sure of the others), general qualifications of the last class that was admitted (GPA, interview or not), and what their policy is with transfer students. You need to get the facts from someone affiliated with the college, most of us on this website could tell you tons about our road to nursing school but most likely things have changed since then! Good luck to you.

[jazznjac]

One big thing to consider is where you will be living. How important is it to you to have the 'away at college' experience? It is true that some programs (I know Oakland does anyway) do offer preference to students applying directly from high school. However, you are right that you have several pre-reqs to complete before you will enter any nursing program. Maybe you want to have the 'away at college' experience at Michigan State (sounds like you really want to go there , and meanwhile do as edie10 above suggested and meet/phone with a counselor at each of the schools to get your questions answered and help you make a decision.

Also, I would be selling you short if I did not give you advice based on my experience....do check out community colleges at least for your basic general ed requirements. After you decide which university you want to attend the counselor there should be able to tell you which classes will transfer from a community college. #1 they are almost always 'less demanding' than university classes (again, from my experience (went to Wayne State and Grand Valley State)) and #2 they cost a fraction of the tuition. If you decide you want to go to Michigan State, Lansing Community College is very near there :-).

No matter which school you choose, as long as you do your best and (most importantly in my opinion) ENJOY what you are doing, you will be successful in wherever your college path takes you. Good luck with your decision!