Help Choosing a Nursing School

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Hi everyone!

I am a senior in high school and applied to a pretty broad range of schools for 4 year direct-admit nursing. So far, I have been accepted into all the schools I have applied to (listed below), but I have to wait to hear from SDSU, UCLA, and UC Irvine. With the following as options, I am unsure as to which school would be best for me, and it would be very helpful to hear from someone who attended.

Arizona State University

Texas Christian University

University of San Francisco

Case Western Reserve University

Saint Louis University

Seattle University

University of Portland

Does anyone have experience with any of these colleges and/or their nursing programs? I am struggling to figure out which school would suit me best as well as which has the best nursing program.

Thank you in advance!

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

You should be able to find NCLEX pass rates on the state BON website. A poor pass rate indicates that the school does not adequately prepare its students to meet the minimum level of competence to practice as a novice nurse. The BON should also list schools that are approved to qualify graduates to sit for NCLEX. A school that isn't on the approved list can mean that graduates can't take the exam, and thus can't gain licensure.

You can also check the accreditation status of a school on the websites of the two national bodies that accredit nursing programs: ACEN and CCNE. Accreditation status can affect the grad schools that students will be accepted to and in some areas of the country where nursing grads far outnumber open positions it's even being used as a qualification for applying to a job.

There are also some other statistics that should be checked: completion percentage (how many students finish the nursing program compared to how many started), on time completion percentage (how many graduate in the scheduled amount of time as opposed to finishing later or not finishing), employment rates 6 months post-graduation, etc.

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I'd go for the least expensive option. USF is crazy expensive (and so is living in SF), while SDSU is quite reasonable. Also, where do you want to live? I'm assuming you're a Californian based on your school choices, and I think Texas would be an odd choice. For me, staying on the West Coast would be almost as important as cost.

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If you get into UCLA, i would choose that one because its a name brand school with a good reputation.

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Specializes in GENERAL.

Cut to the chase. Most schools like to be non-transparent. It's easier to pull the wool.

NCLEX pass rates are too narrow a parameter to use when assessing a nursing school.

Even some of the worst schools with terrible graduation and retention rates have good NCLEX pass rates. After all, if you graduate but one student and that student passes the NCLEX, wow!!! 100% pass rate.

So go to (collegescorecard.ed.gov) and look at graduation and retention rates and tuition costs and other much better parameters of evaluation and come to an informed decision.

By the way I'm glad to see that none of your possible choices are for-profits. Some of which advertise almost daily on this site and you should only know.

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Having lived and worked in most of those cities, I'd say take Seattle U. Marvelous city, great, great medical facilities and opportunities, and temperate weather. But my very excellent thesis adviser from UW ended up Dean at OHSU, and that's a lovely city too.

You've probably seen this study: (It's actually Top 50, and the first page is the top 10)

Top 5 nursing schools in the West | NursingSchoolsAlmanac.com

You can't go wrong when so many of the schools who accepted you are on this list. I'd say go for best quality of life (including cost of living) and financial aid offers on any of these.

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I am also choosing which nursing school I want to go to. Here's the advice I got:

- define what is important to you: What exactly do you want out of this college experience? Do you want to live in a thriving city and go to school in an urban environment or a slower paced suburban university? How important is cost of attendance? In other words- college is expensive how are you going to pay for it? Are your parents paying for it? Will you need to get loans? If so, how much are you will to take out? Scholarships and financial aid should also be considered- not all universities give the same amount so don't be afraid to shop around and compare offers. What sort of campus culture do you think would be most comfortable for you? This is hard to determine out of state but one way is to check the student activities section to see what most the students are involved with.

One way the super proactive people in all the self help channels say to identify what you want is to imagine what you want your life to look like 4 years and then 10 years down the line. Which would you be most proud to put on your resume? Most likely that will be the most prestigious one but don't forget the student loans that might be associated with that. Do you want to buy a house within 10 years? Travel around the world? Create your own line of scrubs? Consider the long term ramifications of your decision (i.e loans again)

- Determine which school fits the best based on what you want.

This is an exciting thing! Congrats on getting admitted to all of those great universities. I struggle with this but try to remember that there really isn't a "wrong" decision. Just make the best choice for you

Good luck :)

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