Rankings for Nursing Schools

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I was wondering if anyone is aware of any rankings for undergraduate BSN nursing programs? And what are your feelinds on what (if any) these rankings mean?

How much difference does it make in nursing wether you graduated from a community college or a top school?

I personally want to seek out a top school so I can put myself into an intellectual, stimulating environment that I have thus to experience at my current large, public, state school. Mostly, I want to get the best education I can get to be the best nurse I can be someday! I plan on going to grad school, to either become a NP or maybe even a nurse-midwife...but these are all still far down the road!

Some of the schools I am considering are Penn, Thomas Jefferson U., John Hopkins, NYU....???

If anyone can offer me any advice that would be great. I am a "traditional student" who is looking for a "traditional" 4-year college...have already done 1 1/2 of pre-nursing, looking for somewhere to start nursing next year.

Thanks!

You probably want your BSN. At least that is what I'm getting from your post. All I can tell you is you will get intellectual, stimulating, education at any NLN accredited school. In any BSN program you won't be able to help having enough stimulating intellectualism so that it starts squirting out your ears.

I think what you are actually looking for is prestiege. For that, think 1) Any ivy-league school with a nursing program, 2) Any big 10 schools (yes, think football -- those are the schools that get the funding), and 3) any nursing schools you've heard of where people raise their eyebrows when the name is mentioned.

Yeah, there are cr*p schools out there, but I think you're far from bumping into one of those. Regardless of where you go, you will put so much freakin' effort into what you are doing that when you graduate, you will be proud to say you graduated. Trust me.

Babynurse-

Thanks for your response and advice! I was afraid people were going to take my question the wrong way and feel like I was talking down on community college or acting like a intellectual snob...which Im not! I am actualy at a Big Ten school now, and it is ALL ABOUT FOOTBALL!!! It dose have excellent facilities due to funding and everything, just don't think it's the place for me.

The U.S. News and World Report ranks undergraduate nursing programs every year. They have the results listed on their website. I am not sure of the exact address, but if you search yahoo, you should be able to find it easily.

I could only find nursing grad programs at U.S. News....and it only lists the first 4, for the rest you have to go and buy the whole magazine!!

Tigger,

Sorry about that. They used to post all the top 50 undergraduate nursing programs...it seems like every year they post less and less on the web so you will buy the book. You could probably go to a local bookstore and browse through a copy of the book...I am sure it has nursing program rankings.

Because I was looking into going there, I know for a fact that UNC-Chapel Hill is supposed to be ranked 9th in the nation. Unfortunately for me, they have about 6 prerequisites for 2nd degree majors, and I couldn't get loans to pay the dosh it would take to go there part time. (Since I've already got a degree, I can't get Pell grants and can only get a Stafford loan if I'm enrolled in a program. I can't get admitted to their program without the prerequisites, so... ARRGGGHHHH!)

I hear what you're saying about football, though! I was a grad student at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I was teaching undergrad students as well as taking classes, and I had one student who was a football player who would come to my class and read the paper while I lectured. He got an "F", but gosh only knows how long that stayed on the boy's academic record before it got changed to a "C" or something.

My aunt is a very intelligent woman who attended a state school, and she says she studied morning, noon, and night for her nursing degreee. I've looked over some of the NCLEX questions, and only got about 40% of them right (in my defense, I haven't started taking nursing classes yet!), so it's some tough stuff. I'm thinking that you'll be challenged wherever you go. And let's face it, we have such a nursing shortage right now, employers don't care if you went to Podunk U., as long as you have your license.

Specializes in CCU/ER.

Tigger--

It sounds like you are pretty interested in the prestige as someone else stated. If you are really interested in being the best nurse you can be, I would suggest finding out what the passage rates are for NCLEX at any school you check out.

I am a non-traditional student attending a community college, and I'll tell you what--I am so intellectually stimulated I about can't handle much more!!

I have found that the instructors in my program are some of the best and came out of some of the best schools. Most of them looked for a community college setting to teach in because they were looking for a setting where students were interested in being the best nurses not in having a big name school to go with a paper degree.

Go meet the instructors at whatever school you check out. If they are the best teachers they will want to sell you on their career field not on a "name" for a school.

The best of luck!!! Hope you find the best place for your dreams to be reached!

Like missionnurse, I am a nontraditional student at a community college. For eight of the last nine years, there has been 100% NCLEX passing rate for graduating students. If that's not a good ranking, I don't know what is!!

But ranking is not prestige, and I think that's what you're looking for. When you are actually working in the real world, it has never been my experience that anybody really cares where you went to school, as long as you can do the job.

Tigger, I know Hopkins is #5 in the nation. Since it's in my hometown, that's my first choice. I visited there a few weeks ago and LOVED it. I'm lucky b/c UMD is also in the top 10, and it's right in downtown Baltimore.

I'd pick the place closest to you that you feel is a good school. Be sure to visit the school to get a feel for it. Some programs are larger/smaller. Look at student:teacher ratio during clinicals. Also cost of living while in school would be a factor for me.

I think more than the ranking is the feel you get from the school. For me, MD is just too large and impersonal. I really liked the close-knit feel of Hopkins. The teachers there really seem to mentor their students.

Good luck!

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