Advice if you have to go to 2nd choice & they don't offer Nursing

U.S.A. North Carolina

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Ayone have any advice on what to take if you do not get accepted at your first choice for a college that offers Nursing?

My daughter would really like to go to UNC-W but she is trying to be realistic and prepare if she does not get in there but does at like NCSU, what should she major in so she can try to transfer to a nursing school later? She is thinking of applying to UNC-Ch, NCSU and UNC-W at this point. We live close to UNC-G and she would rather be a little further away from home because she feels if she is too close to us, she might not have quite as much independence as she would like to experience for college.

I have looked at Barton College and they have a nursing school but do not know anything about them.

We are just sort of floundering since there is no guarantee to get in where she really wants to be or if she does that she will be able to get into nursing school there. I guess what I am asking is for any input from anyone that can offer some encouragement. These colleges have gotten so competitive, which is great for the colleges but so stressful for the students because they feel like they have to apply multiple places to try to secure a spot.

We need some help and guidance, we don't have any help from the high school guidance counselors. She knows she does not want to do the community college route because our cc's nursing program has gone in the trash, so it is useless.

Can anyone help or offer any advice?? I'm just mom trying to give her guidance and help her make the best decision for her. She really wants to be a nurse and wants to get her BSN.

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Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

Have you considered East Carolina University College of Nursing? They have the largest nursing program in the state and a fairly high acceptance rate (they may receive 250-300 applications for 130 seats per each semester).

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Her best friend is talking about applying to ECU but my daughter is not sure that is what she is looking for in a school. I know they have good programs in physical therapy and nursing though.

I kind of dread her going there since it is about 4 hrs away and I would like if she could stay 3 hrs or less to home.

She was just considering maybe applying to NCSU since her brother is a senior there and maybe taking a Science major or Zoology and then transferring later. She is interested in maybe pursuing Nurse Practitioner or PA after 4 yrs, so I guess that is why she was thinking about NCSU and the Zoology. We know people who have gone that route of study and gone on to pharmacy school or other medical related fields.

It's just hard for them to know where to go and I am just trying to help her keep her options open and not be too closed minded about any school. Thanks for the input on ECU, I will keep encouraging her to look at them and consider it, in case UNC-W is not an option.

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She needs to apply to nursing school if she wants to be a nurse. I don't see the sense in majoring in zoology or anything else that isn't going to bring her closer to her goal. She can increase her chances of being accepted if she applies to a variety of programs. I don't understand why she doesn't want to consider ECU just because her best friend goes there.

Another option is to get her associates degree through a community college first. She would become an RN in less time and still be able to pursue the BSN online while working.

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She needs to apply to nursing school if she wants to be a nurse. I don't see the sense in majoring in zoology or anything else that isn't going to bring her closer to her goal.

I agree with this. It took me 2 years to get into a nursing program in NC with a degree from another school. Another major doesn't help you b/c you will just waste time and money taking courses over again. For example, for my degree I fulfilled the sociology requirement and got a "B" but it wasn't the sociology that nursing school required. She needs to either go to a university that has a nursing program or a community college and then transfer those courses in. A lot of school will take transfer students easier than freshmen so she could take 1 semester of community college courses and then apply again to her first choice schools.

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It would be a good idea to look at the prerequisites for the nursing programs that she would like to go to. You can be a "pre-nursing major" without being accepted into nursing school. This way you can ensure that you have all of the requirements done (A&P, chem, psych classes, statistics, etc). And most people I know that get a double major with nursing do it with psychology or biology, because most of these classes overlap with requirements for nursing school. UNCW isn't that hard to get in to as long as you have a decent GPA and meet your requirements.

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And just trying to clarify here...you are aware that when she gets accepted to some place like UNCW she would do two years as "pre-nursing" and then apply to nursing school after that, and then she would be a "nursing" major and taking the actual nursing classes, right?

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Specializes in EMS, ER, GI, PCU/Telemetry.

why not apply at community college? NC has a 2+2 system with universities such as UNC-W.

she would have one of two options....

a) complete gen. ed courses and transfer to university of her choice's nursing program upon completion

b) complete prerequisites and apply to community college's ADN program

a community college is not only much more affordable, has smaller classes with more technical hands on skills.... i attended CC for my associate's in EMS, and will be finishing up in a month for nursing.... i got a great education!

i wish you and your daughter good luck :)

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