How to choose a PMHNP program

I too am doing my research for schools. I live in Las Vegas so I've kind of narrowed it down to Frontier Nursing University and UNLV. So far it has been difficult contacting and gettin info from UNLV. I also looked at my BSN school, MUSC and they too have been near impossible to get into contact with LOL. Every time I've called or emailed FNU, they respond quickly or answer the phone. UNLV is not much more than FNU and supposedly has guaranteed clinical placement which from my research seems to be very difficult to find on your own (this is just from research not personal experience mind you). This is a bonus but I fear that if it is hard to contact and get info now, how will it be during school? Also, the next cohort is not until Fall 2026. I have a friend that did FNP and PMHNP at Duke and he said, save your money it is not worth plus they worked him to death. Although, he opened his own practice now and is quite successful and I wonder how much the Duke diploma has contributed. I will say he is very business minded and incredible at networking so it may not have mattered at all for him. So yeah Duke is very expensive, I looked at some other top schools and they are also expensive. Oh and all I have checked thus far are online even UNLV is online so that makes it less appealing to choose a "brick and mortar school". I called Walden or Chamberlain or similar. They were very sketchy about giving out details without signing up for an appointment. I went to WGU (Western Governors, I think different from what you listed) and did a degree with them and felt the education was lacking and they didn't sound very confident in placement for clinicals. So yea thus far I have applied to FNU, they have a cohort starting this fall and lasts 2 years FT. I will probably apply to UNLV too and that way if the "online school" feels inadequate or clinical placing looks impossible, maybe I will transfer. I have read on forums many good reviews of FNU and can't find much on UNLV. I have read many forums and it sounds really sad that preceptors are now charging students in addition to what the school gives them so that is another reservation I have with FNU but I guess that could be the case with UNLV as well. I have heard of Gonzaga but have not looked into. I'll do that next. I would love to hear what you have found thus far and if you made any selections. 

1.  Does the school provide clinical placements?  Schools that do are usually more expensive, but it is money well spent.  It is not easy to find a clinical placement, especially in a sensitive field like psych.

2.  Where do you want to live and work?  Schools located there will have more active alumni networks, making it easier to find placements and jobs.

3.  Schools with a national reputation may be worth it, but they better be really good and have a lot of alumni.  If you want to live on the East Coast, Duke likely has a strong alumni network there, especially in the SE U.S.  I went to Johns Hopkins and they have a lot of California alumni, plus an international rep, so that helped me when I returned to Calif.  Otherwise, I would have gone to UCLA, which has a lot of very loyal alumni in California.

Good luck.

Thank you both so much for your thoughtful responses! The insight on reputation was incredibly helpful when considering the span of the alumni network. I think that will be very helpful in making a decision against types and locations and all of the other elements of schools. Thank you!!