Are all nursing schools equally hard to get into?

[mg94]

Hi I am wanting to become a nurse but I have heard that all of the schools in California are extremely difficult to get into. Are the the nursing schools in every state just as hard to get into as California's? Thanks for reading!

[zoe92]

No, they aren't all as hard to get into. I know in where I am in Maryland that yes it is hard, but they don't have years long waiting lists like California does. Out of all the different states I think California has it the worst due to the large influx of applicants. Have you looked at Nevada or Oregon as possibilities?

[mg94]

Oh okay. I was interested in OHSU. Do you know much about the nursing programs in Oregon? I'm willing to travel anywhere.

[dkmamato3]

OHSU is a great school (at least from the research I have done) - I think most of the programs in and around Portland are pretty competitive to get into. I am only looking at the ABSN program there but you should check on the threads on the Portland area and that will give you an idea of how competitive the individual school are.

[mg94]

Oh okay. Thanks!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

OHSU is extremely competitive, and like all state universities, they give priority to residents of their own state.

If you want to get a better idea of the difficulty of admissions, you may want to investigate the 'acceptance rate' of the schools you are interested in. This will tell you how many people apply, and how many are actually admitted.

[hodgieRN]

It also depends on the population. Schools in dense areas will have more applicants compared to rural schools. Look into different programs, meaning BSN, ADN, LPN and find out information on bridge programs. No matter what the state, nursing programs are very popular and the admissions process can be very involved. Make sure your have multiple options for nursing school (bsn, adn, lpn) and pick the one that is most realistic.