Does it matter where a person goes to nursing school?

PCnurse88 · Dec 11, 2013

I attended school out-of-state and unexpectedly had to move home after graduation, and I have had NUMEROUS recruiters/managers say "oh, you didn't go to UConn or Yale? huh, why not?". (I'm from CT) Um, because I chose a fantastic nursing school out of state, thanks. If you know where you're going move after school, I would suggest going to school there, for two reasons: 1) people will have heard of it (oh that's such a good school!) and 2) your clinicals/internships/etc can turn into jobs, so if you attend school in one state then move to another (as I did), you don't have connections anywhere.

acj108 · Dec 11, 2013

Thanks for the comment. You raised good points that I didn't think about.

elkpark · Dec 11, 2013

Lots of people here (and in nursing in general) will tell you that it doesn't matter where you go to school, it only matters that you're licensed. The thing about that is that it might be true much of the time, it might even be true all of the time for some people -- but you just never know when it is going to matter to someone (in a position to hire you, accept you into school, or otherwise influence your future) where you went to school. I strongly encourage people to go to the best schools you can get into and afford; don't take the easiest or cheapest or quickest way out, because, when you least expect it, that decision may come back to bite you.

In my own experience, while I can't point to any specific jobs or opportunities that I wouldn't have gotten if I had gone to different schools, I know for a fact that the schools I've attended have opened doors for me and gotten me (positive) attention that I wouldn't necessarily have gotten otherwise. However, it does seem to be generally true that, the longer you've been out of school, the less it matters where you went to school (and your own professional track record becomes more significant).

Best wishes for your journey!

SoniaReb · Dec 11, 2013

I attended school out-of-state and unexpectedly had to move home after graduation, and I have had NUMEROUS recruiters/managers say "oh, you didn't go to UConn or Yale? huh, why not?". (I'm from CT) Um, because I chose a fantastic nursing school out of state, thanks. If you know where you're going move after school, I would suggest going to school there, for two reasons: 1) people will have heard of it (oh that's such a good school!) and 2) your clinicals/internships/etc can turn into jobs, so if you attend school in one state then move to another (as I did), you don't have connections anywhere.

I am in agreement with what you said here. I have spoken to a number of RN Recruiters and they have told me that they do not hire RNs from a large number of For-Profit Schools with questionable programs, especially those without the "right" accreditation. Given the nursing market these days, Hospitals have been inundated with applications from RNs for a limited number of positions. The recruiters from these Hospitals tend to select candidates from known and highly rated programs. That is the realities of today's marketplace.

When a student goes to a $60K Nursing School versus an available program that only cost $10K, it raises a red flag in the minds of Recruiters and perceptions is 90% of the game. Recruiters these days have the upper hand and they will always default to the programs that they know that produces the best students. If you read this posts on this site, you will see where even experienced RNs are having difficulty find suitable placement in certain jobs and cannot understand what dynamics are at play. So, yes, in today's environment, the Nursing School one attends can be a deciding factor. It can also impacts ones ability to get into a NP or CRNA program.

I would think the most important thing is that your graduated from an accredited school and passed your boards

You do have to factor in the competition. They too have graduated from a accredited Nursing School and pass the boards. But some schools only have a 20% first time pass rate and the graduates from these schools are not necessarily looked at favourably.

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 11, 2013

I agree with the posters above ... but keep in mind that the financial cost of a program is not a good indicator of the quality. Where I live, there are some outrageously expensive for-profit schools that are not good schools. My hospital won't even interview new grads from those schools. Some of the better schools in my area are public colleges with much lower costs.

acj108 · Dec 11, 2013

Great points were made. Do recruiters look favorably at people that graduated from accelerated nursing programs. I ask this question because 2 years ago I was considering getting into one. I eventually decided not to. A couple of weeks ago a friend, to my surprise told me he was going into an accelerated program in January. During the conversation he mentioned that I should do the same. Any feedback would be helpful........