Does what school you go for your FNP matter?

Specialties NP

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In terms of finding a decent job or acceptance as a NP?

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

The caveat that I add here is that I have been licensed in several states (NV, IN, IL) and find that my educational institutions have not been questioned. My experience and attitude have always gotten me the jobs I wanted. I guess it is just a difference in life experiences. My docs have no clue where I got my education, just that I have it and can bill - lol! Productivity is the name of the game.

And yes, my patients wouldn't have a clue to ask me where I was educated - many in the ICU are on vents and don't even know I'm there. Their families just look to me for a friendly face that will be honest and upfront with them and again, I've never been questioned about where I went to school.

I did my BSN and MSN vis University of Phoenix also and have never had any questions about it. I did go back to school at a local school of nursing for my post-MSN APN education.

I think this thread just points out that many of us have different experiences and yours might be different than any of ours too. Good luck.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
If the Ivy League schools are so much better, I wonder why my IL educated friend says our state school is the same as or even better than his much more $$ program?

I agree, many state-funded universities have actually gained national renown and have achieved equal footing with Ivy League schools. Think UCSF, UCLA, U of Washington, U of Michigan, UIC, U of Maryland. What one considers a good school is very subjective and very dependent on who you ask. Just think of how the US News and World Report ranks graduate programs in nursing. It's all about perception and nothing else (see http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/nur/search). I personally don't trust that listing at all and I doubt if employers even care to look at it.

I think name recognition of one's alma mater matters to an extent when you're a fresh grad NP and looking for a job. But name recognition is very region-dependent. One region may consider a few local university NP programs as excellent and prefer graduates of that program. Where I currently reside, many physicians attended the same university I graduated from and this is a state-funded university. But the physicians I work with definitely recognize and respect the school. However, I work with a group of NP's, some graduted from programs more "highly-regarded" than others. Does it matter now where we went to school? I think not. Would it matter where we went to school if we change jobs? I think not, our clinical experience and skills will shine brighter than our academic degree.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
Let's put it this way, if you needed brain surgery and you had 2 surgeons to pick from and they were both equally experienced, would you rather have the neurosurgeon who was educated at Harvard or XYZ state school? I'll pay MORE for the neurosurgeon educated at Harvard anytime, any day! The majority of those paying patients would rather be seen by the NP/PA from the "better" school. The Medicaid patients won't have a choice.

Given similar experience, I would pick the neurosurgeon that has good outcomes and good bedside manner. Where they went to med school will be irrelevant to me as I may even pick one with a foreign medical degree. However, I may look at where they received their residency and fellowship from.

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Specializes in Emergency, Cardiac, PAT/SPU, Urgent Care.
Given similar experience, I would pick the neurosurgeon that has good outcomes and good bedside manner. Where they went to med school will be irrelevant to me as I may even pick one with a foreign medical degree. However, I may look at where they received their residency and fellowship from.

I completely agree. Graduating from Harvard doesn't magically make one an excellent neurosurgeon.

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Specializes in Emergency, Cardiac, PAT/SPU, Urgent Care.
Education is not equal. If you have a choice, would you rather attend an Ivy League school or a state school?

Do you really think that everyone on here who has that choice would automatically choose Ivy.....and if they didn't, would you consider them a fool?

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Do you really think that everyone on here who has that choice would automatically choose Ivy.....and if they didn't, would you consider them a fool?

I had breakfast with 5 doctors this morning and we discussed this very issue. I posed the question, "If you were going to hire a NP and everything was equal, except one of the NP's graduated from Yale and the other from a state school, would it make a difference?" Every single one of them said they would hire the one from Yale. Maybe we just live in a different world, but that's the way it is around here.

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Specializes in Emergency, Cardiac, PAT/SPU, Urgent Care.

So, are you passively admitting that those of us who had the opportunity to go to an Ivy school but didn't made a huge mistake?

Realistically, I highly doubt that NPs applying for the same position would all have the exact same identical resumes, credentials and experiences where their potential employment would basically depend upon the school they attended, so that wouldn't even be an issue - especially in my little world of the northeast tri-state area.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Just curious ANPGNPFNP - what area of the country do you live in? I know different regions certainly do have different takes on APNs.

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I think what ANPFNPGNP is trying to point out is that among docs the school that other docs went to is very important to them. Graduating from Harvard Med is different in the eyes of many docs than graduating from State U Med. So why are people surprised when they use this same yardstick when it comes to APN's? In theory, if docs are presented with two APN's, one from an elite school and one from unknown school, which one would they pick? 9/10 times, it will be the elite school. However, this rarely happens. Docs probably will pick among individuals from schools they have only vague idea about.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

Well, I do agree that where one went to school CAN make a difference in one's job prospects. I also agree that physicians tend to measure a prospective NP's qualifications based on standards that they are familiar with. However, my disagreement is in the claim that Ivy League degrees are the only ones that physicians recognize and respect.

Of all eight Ivy League schools (Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, and Yale), all but Princeton offer a degree in medicine. There's no doubt that physicians know about these schools. However, realize that of all eight, only Columbia, Penn, and Yale have NP programs in their roster. In addition, all of these schools are concentrated in the Northeast. What are the chances you'll find a NP grad from these schools applying in the backwoods of Michigan, for instance?

The fact is, there are universities, state-funded or private, that each geographical region takes pride in and the physicians in that region recognize and respect those schools. Some are even local universities where many folks in that specific region or area consider as excellent schools. So my point is, what is perceived as a good school can be region-dependent regardless of whether it is a physician saying it or another professional.

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Do you really think that everyone on here who has that choice would automatically choose Ivy.....and if they didn't, would you consider them a fool?

Exactly. I consider one who goes for the prestige of the title of the school an pays the extra $$$ a fool. I'll have minimal student loan debt, won't have to move and we'll be working in the SAME setting probably. I could care less where someone graduated as long as they can show me quality outcomes and quality consistent care.

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So, are you passively admitting that those of us who had the opportunity to go to an Ivy school but didn't made a huge mistake?

Realistically, I highly doubt that NPs applying for the same position would all have the exact same identical resumes, credentials and experiences where their potential employment would basically depend upon the school they attended, so that wouldn't even be an issue - especially in my little world of the northeast tri-state area.

I'm not passively doing anything. I'm stating my answer to the question. I'm surprised that the vast majority of the general public (certainly the people I know) strive to get their children into the best schools possible. Why wouldn't NP's strive for the same? I've gone to 4 state universities and one private college and I definitely got a better education at the private school. My daughter feels the same way. She got her undergrad degree at a private college and now she's working on her Master's at a state school. The professors at the private school were far more accessible and went out of their way to help her, but now she's just a number.

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