Are there any nursing schools in NC that...

U.S.A. North Carolina

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you are admitted to the Nursing school when you are accepted to the college or university, without having to go 2 yrs as undergrad and then apply to nursing school?

My daughter is a senior in high school and is taking Allied Health II this semester and wants to be an RN or possibly NP/PA. All of the schools we know of, you have to apply to college as an undergrad, take science courses as undergrad and then apply to their nursing school during soph year. If you don't get in, then you have to just hang around your jr year taking classes and then apply again to nursing school.

We have a friend whose daughter is attending a private college in Ohio and when she applied to the college she was admitted directly to nursing school and is already taking her nursing classes. This seems like a much better situation than the schools I know of in NC.

Anyone have any advice for my daughter about nursing schools here in NC?? Do any colleges in NC have this plan of when you accepted, you are in nursing school from day one? Is it better to attend one of the hospital based programs?

I am not a nurse so if this is a dumb question, I am sorry but I felt like if anyone could help us with these questions, it was people who have experience in nursing and have attended school. Guidance counselors at her high school are little help. I tried looking on the internet but there is no way to tell if you can go straight into nursing school or have to do undergrad first just from looking at general school info.

Thank you for any help.

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Check out the nursing dept websites for all the school she is thinking of applying to. If you cannot find the info there call the schools.

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Well, I don't know where in NC you are, but I live in Winston Salem. The Forsyth Tech nursing program is based on points. For example, points for pre-requisites are as follows: each A counts 4 pts, each B count 3 pts, etc. We also have to take the TEAS test. The TEAS test score and points for pre-reqs are added together and the top 80(I think, I can't remember exactly how many they accept) are accepted. So if someone had around 145 pts they would be fine. So, depending on the TEAS score, one might not have to finish all pre reqs. I know some students who have just taken 2 semesters of pre reqs and had enough pts to get in. There is no waiting list or anything like that. I think it is a pretty fair system and an excellent school. Oh, by the way this is for the Associate's Degree Nursing program for RN's. I'm not sure if you're looking for a 4 yr school.

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Specializes in er acute care.

i live in okc. we have a fast track degree program for LPN in 13 months that is prereqs included. we also have an LPN-RN fast track that is 14 months that also includes rereqs. you could try this route and have an assoicates degree when done:twocents:

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My daughter is interested in a 4 year RN degree or even possibly Nurse Practitioner/PA degree.

Unfortunately on the individual websites, it does really tell you unless you spend time digging. Then sometimes it is hard to be sure.

We are approximately 45 mins from Winston Salem. We are in the Triad area.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Trauma.

I think mostly private colleges you can apply right into the undergrad nursing school (I know at Georgetown in DC you apply right to the college of nursing and start first semester).

At all the public state universities (in my state of MI anyway) you have to apply to the college of nursing within a university after completion of prerequisite courses. All the prerequisite courses are courses you'd have to take anyway for your Bachelor's of Science in Nursing anyway (you need to take math, chem, orgo/biochem, anatomy, microbiology etc etc) Both of the programs still take the same amount of time and cover the same things.

There really isn't going to be a difference in curriculum in the programs-- people that start "nursing school" in the first year of college still have to take all those courses the first year anyway. They just happen to know they have a secured spot versus those of us that had to apply after the first year. If your daughter keeps up her grades it shouldn't be a problem to get in after the first year (although requirements and grades for program vary widely from state to state and program to program. If you're in a competitive area you'll have to get great grades-- a few people with 3.7/3.8s were turned away for my program in MI this fall).

I would post in the regional forum for your state as people there may be more familiar with programs in your area. Let us know if you have any more questions and good luck to your daughter. She is lucky to have such a supportive mother who is willing to help her through this process.

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Thanks WayneStateKatie for the compliment. I try to be supportive but sometimes I think she feels like I am too much of a helicopter mom. I'm just trying to help her figure out her options and make the best choice for her and what she wants to study.

And thanks for the info.

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Anyone have any advice for my daughter about nursing schools here in NC?? Do any colleges in NC have this plan of when you accepted, you are in nursing school from day one? Is it better to attend one of the hospital based programs?

.

It all depends what type of college experience your daughter is looking for. It also depends if finances are an issue. Private schools, obviously will be more expensive.

One option would be for her to attend community college and knock out her pre-reqs. She could either try to get into that school's nursing program or apply to other schools once she has started taking her pre-reqs. The problem is that different schools have different requirements so that can get sticky.

Any of the public universities in NC (e.g carolina, unc, ecu) have very competitive nursing programs. You have to be admitted into what is called "upper division" in your junior year before the nursing courses begin. She would get a BSN once she completed any of these schools' programs.

Maturity can be an issue as well- nursing school is really demanding. I would have never have been able to do it when I was 18 but every person is different. Of course, I had no idea I wanted to be a nurse back then and I could have saved a lot of time of money if I had known. She should just be prepared to have competitive grades no matter where she goes in order to be accepted.

I did my undergrad in another field at ECU and diploma in nursing at Mercy School of Nursing so I could answer any more specific questions you may have about those schools if you need. Good luck!!!!

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FitnessAngel25,

Thanks for info but what I am trying to help her find is a school where when you are admitted to the school, you are admitted to the Nursing School on day one. There is a friend who is attending a college in Ohio that admits you to nursing school without having to do all the pre-reqs and then applying and waiting to see if you get in.

In other words, when you apply to this college, and say you want to major in nursing, you go right into nursing school then. Of course, you have to take the core classes but you start nursing classes right away as well.

The college is Moline in Ohio. The girl's mom said one reason she picked this college was because they admit you to nursing school from day one unlike the ones here that you have to go for undergrad, then apply to nursing school, hope you get in but if you don't just have to wait til the next year and apply again, etc. The mom, who is also an RN, said this way her daughter would not be possibly biding her time for a year.

I wondered if there were any schools here in NC or at least closer than Ohio that offer this benefit. We know that UNC-W, UNC-G, ECU, small community colleges all make you go in as undergrad in science major, then apply as a soph to hopefully get into nursing school as a junior. We want to find school that you are in program from day one.

The mom of this girl said that when she got her nursing degree NC schools used to do this but then switched to the undergrad, apply to nursing school situation some yrs back.

Since I have not gotten any info stating this is possible anywhere in NC, I am guessing all schools are of the same program and there is no direct nursing school admission programs. But thought maybe someone would know of something closer than Ohio.

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Right now, I'm taking my pre-reqs at CPCC. There is school called Mercy School of Nursing. It is a hospital based RN program. You will receive a Diploma upon graduation. The waiting list is not so bad because they let in 140 students vs. 50-60 at other schools. Mercy is full accredited and you are able to transfer to BSN programs for degree completion.

http://www.carolinashealthcare.org/education/mercyson/ should have admissions info.

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Since I have not gotten any info stating this is possible anywhere in NC, I am guessing all schools are of the same program and there is no direct nursing school admission programs.

To my knowledge ( and I have extensively researched the NC schools including both private and public universities, community colleges and hospital based programs)- no, there are no programs like that here in NC. There are other factors you may want to consider such as NCLEX pass rate, drop out rate, and accreditation while looking for a nursing school.

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Thanks again FitnessAngel25.

How do we find out about those things you mention such as NCLEX, pass rate, drop out rate, etc? One of my daughter's friends is having some difficulty convincing her parents to allow her to attend a particular school to major in nursing. The parents are worried that the school has a high drop out ratel, not sure if someone has told them this or why they are concerned. According to the girl her parents have not verified the info anywhere because they told her to check into it and then if she could show proof that school didn't have high drop out rate, then they may consider letting her apply.

Do you feel, in your opinion, it is better to go ahead and go to a college to get your RN-BSN or go through hospital program/comm college to get diploma and then try to transfer to get BSN-RN?

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