High School Direct Entry vs. Traditional Route

Students Pre-Nursing

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I was just wondering if any nursing student got into nursing school through the Direct Entry route from high school. I'm currently a Freshman in college and planning to apply to the nursing school at the end of this semester. (For Fall '17) I would have applied for the Direct Admit program, but the deadline already passed when I found out about it.

Looking at the criteria for the Direct Admit program compared to the traditional application, I realized that applying directly from high school would have been easier.

Requirements for High School Direct Entry:

1. Minimum Exam Scores

SAT: Critical Reading-510 Math-510

ACT: Reading - 22 Math - 22

2. Minimum high school GPA of 3.0 at the end of Junior Year of H.S.

Continuing requirements:

Minimum GPA of 2.5 on all freshman year college coursework

Minimum grade of B in all program coursework

Requirements for Traditional Applicants:

1. Minimum Exam Scores

TEAS-V: 78% Overall, 83% Reading, 86% Math, 66% Science, 80% English and Language Use

NLN-PAX: 50 in each of Verbal, Math and Science

2. Minimum Cumulative GPA of 3.0 in all college/university credits

3. Completion of prerequisite courses:

Human Anatomy & Physiology 141/142 (with lab for both)

Microbiology 130

2 Social Science Courses

1 Math Course

1 English Course

1 History Course

and at the time of application, you must have completed 16 credits, including Microbiology 130, Human A&P 141 + Lab

~ ~ ~ ~

I'm not trying to complain, but what do you guys think about the criteria? I feel like going through the Direct Entry route would have seemed easier and I wouldn't be as stressed. I was also told that the students in the Direct Entry program right now will take up "space" in the total numbers of student the nursing program accepts every year. (e.g. if they take 50 students every year and 30 are in the Direct Entry program, they will only take 20 traditional applicants) I was also told that admissions is strictly based on numbers (GPA + Test Score) and that kind of killed my confidence. I just had my first round of midterms and I did pretty well, but it still kills me a little that my application and chance of acceptance all revolves only around my GPA and Test Score. There's no section in the application for Letters of Recommendation, Resume, Personal Statement, etc. I would have met all the minimum qualifications for the Direct Entry program if I knew about it sooner and applied, but I didn't. I'm still planning to bust my ass and work hard to stand a chance for one of those 20-30 slots, but I still feel a little discouraged.

I just personally don't think that a student should solely be chosen because of numbers: their GPA and Test Scores. What about their involvement, commitment, and all the other things that would play a role in creating a great nurse? I also think the Direct Entry Criteria is too easy compared to the traditional application.

Any thoughts/opinions?

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

All schools establish their admissions criteria based upon evidence.... data that are associated with student success. The school has a ton of data that was used to establish their criteria. It's not arbitrary. Nursing school curricula is very challenging. No amount of compelling personal reasons or personality assets will make up for inability to obtain the required grades. FYI, the grading scale in nursing programs is higher than general studies.

My guess? I'll bet that if you take a look at the fine print you'l find that students in the direct admit program have to maintain very specific grade levels or they are dropped from the program. So in the end- the criteria are pretty much the same. Remember, the overall measure of success for nursing programs is NCLEX passage rate because this is critical for maintaining their approval/accreditation. So this will always the focus for all programs in the USA. They can't afford to slack up on requirements that are clearly linked to NCLEX pass rates.

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