Does going to a "top-rated" nursing school really make a difference?

[pantherfan14]

I have been set on the nursing field for quite some time now. I am a senior in high school trying to decide what school to choose. I am torn between a public 4-year university, and a top-rated rated school; University of Central Arkansas (UCA) and Emory University. Both universities have a phenomenal nursing program, but the price is a big difference. UCA's cost of attendance is around 12,000 per year, while Emory is around 63,000. I live in Arkansas and Emory is located in Atlanta. Emory is a private institution that is well recognized in the nation. I am extremely determined to get into Emory for their masters program in Nurse Midwifery or Emergency Nurse Practitioner, but I know it would be easier to get accepted if I went to Emory for undergrad. My question to any experienced nurse out there is, does going to Yale, Columbia, Emory, or any other top rated school truly make a difference in the nursing field? Also, another consideration is that I will be graduating with almost 24 college credit hours which places me as a Sophomore in college. UCA accepts all of them, Emory accepts none. I have gone through UCA's suggested 4 year plan, and there are a couple of semesters where I will be taking up to 18 hours. With the high number of hours I'm going in with, I will be able to knock all of the hours down to around 12 with a couple of 15 hours semesters. Any opinions will be appreciated!

[meeep, BSN, RN]

I don't think it matters so much even a community college would suffice, get your Associate's RN, then you can do an online RN-BSN program, I agree with others, if you're going into teaching or maybe becoming a NP, reputation might make a difference, but only for the facility reading your resume. There are strict standards under each state's Board of Nursing and they curriculum is often updated to current standards of practice.[/quote']

Be aware if you go straight from ADN to BSN and hope to do a new grad residency - a lot of them will not count you as a new grad even though you have not worked as an RN yet due to the fact that you will have been licensed a year prior.

[texasgirl22]

I think an important thing to remember is that just because a university is known to be elite, does not mean it is elite in all aspects. There are many colleges within a university and you really need to dig deep and figure out if the one you want to go to is worth the price tag. From what I see from other posters, the NCLEX pass rate is not very high. That is a good indicator of the quality of the program. In my area (DFW), we have several private and public universities. We even have an ADN program with a 98% pass rate and it's an excellent program--many of the graduates even get hired into magnet hospitals because they have clinicals there so the staff can see them perform.

Personally, I have taken my prerequisites at a community college ($3000 tuition per YEAR) and I have no regrets. I will start nursing school this fall. I am now at a university, with low tuition but a great nursing program. Most of their funds from the state go towards there nursing program.

What I've noticed from the people graduating from the "top-rated" (whatever that's supposed to mean) is that they have this sense of entitlement. You aren't going to get paid more just because you have $80,000 in debt from your undergrad. Save your money for when you want to obtain a higher degree.

When my parents were getting divorced, my mom went back to school to get a certification in diagnostic sonography. She took out loans which totaled $40,000 due to the private school and she needed money to live off of. She will be paying on those the rest of her life.

Point is, remember to look at it from a financial aspect as well. Your future employer is not going to care how much debt you have. They will only care if you passed your NCLEX. Also, there is a school that has clinicals where you would want to work someday, that should be on the top of your list as well.

On a side note, I've never even heard of Emory and I've done plenty of research so I don't know how "top-rated" this college is. I personally rated my choices of programs on their NCLEX pass rate :)

Good luck to you and remember to enjoy these next four years.