Ivy League = Best Grad School?!?!?

[jewelsg627]

Okay...a few more questions,

So....I am applying to grad school this coming Fall (2004). I am taking a year off to complete the pre-req's and such and so I would be entering grad school in June 2005 or Fall 2005, depending on where I go. The thing is I have heard so many things about this grad school and that grad school...I want to get advice form professionals, again.

So here are the schoold I am looking at: (not in any particular order)

1.) Columbia

2.) UCSF

3.) Univerity of San Francisco

4.) Yale

5.) Penn

6.) University of San Diego

7.) Johns Hopkins

Please keep in mind that I am applying to a special program. I will not have a BSN in nursing and I am not an RN, so some schools have this special program for non-nurses who want to go into nursing, and get a MSN. (Some schools will also give you a BSN and some won't).

I have had a couple people tell me that if I got into an Ivy League (Penn, Yale, or Columbia) ----and that's a BIG IF----AND I got into UCSF, USF, etc. and I did NOT go to one of the Ivies, I would be stupid. Is this true? I was thinking that there is such a shortage of nurses that they wouldn't care where you got your degree from---or is this not the case for Advanced Degrees?. The CNS/NP that I volunteer for graduated from Yale and she basically agreed that my best bet would be an Ivy.

The reason I ask is b/c for awhile I was stuck on going to UCSF (I'm a California native, and all my family/friends are out here, including my boyfriend. He wouldn't let me pass up a chance to go to an Ivy if Igot in, but I can't imagine being that far away from him for almost 4 years! I'm at UCLA, he's in the Bay Area (where I live) and THAT'S hard enough as it is. We have been together 2.5 years, so it's not a "fling/puppy love" sort of thing).

Anyway, what do you all think? What school would be my best bet? (Assuming I am going for an Acute Care NP program).

[275Main]

If you are a Cal native, go UCSF, the first year is expensive, but the subsequent years you would go for in-state and if you worked part or full time after you took the NCLEX (which most programs say is a good idea) the hospital you work for should pay for at least part of your tuition. I guess my opinion is to go where you will end up with the least amount of debt. As to which school is better, look at the US news rankings, you will be suprised at the number of schools which rank above some of the ivy league schools. Also, I would suggest having a safety school, the number of applicants has gone up dramatically in these programs in the last year and I believe that the number of applicants is expected to increase again this year.

[kirbybunny]

IMHO = In my humble (or honest) opinion.

Have a good week!

~ Jen

[globalRN]

Depends on what you are studying in graduate school.

Then look up the ranking for that area of study.

For nursing, you would be surprised at non 'Ivy League SONs''

named as the top ranked schools for graduate nursing.

For example, for NP, U of Washington and UCSF are highly ranked

For example, Harvard has no school of nursing.

[Tinker]

I attended Columbia's Entry to Practice program. I didn't study at all, skipped classes, and somehow still managed to have a 3.6 GPA. No, I am not a super genius. The program was poorly organized and run. Everytime students complained about the education during ETP, the director would say "You will learn that on your first job". Was she right! My 6 months on an oncology floor as a new grad taught me twice as much as my entire time in ETP! I just wish I could have skipped the $53,000 in tuition and went directly to the job.

Starting next year, someone else is taking over the ETP program. It happens to be one of the teachers that I admired the most. I am quite jealous of the new students who get to be a part of her newly-vamped program.

I am currently attending Columbia's Adult NP program and have found myself much more challenged than during the undergraduate part. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me!

[anonny27]

wouldn't want to offend anyone

[MissFlorenceNight]

I have a few to say about this topic.

I applied to both Yale and UCSF, got rejected from UCSF and got an interview from Yale. The rejection surprised me a little since I worked with two of nursing professors, had good amount of volunteer experience, majored in science had good GPA from top public university, GRE... basically, I did all I could to get into UCSF. At the end, I didn't even get an interview. I should perhaps ask why, but I seriously don't care for reasons such:

When I applied to Yale, people running the process were SOOOOO awesome, personable. They freaking did everything to show that they are representing their prestigous school. They saw how much I deserve at least get an interview. Not to mention program that I applied for Yale is the best in the nation. (Johns Hopkins was the same way)

I never believed in the Ivy League (or PRIVATE SCHOOL) difference since I went to public school, but after this experience, I could see what problems I could run into in UCSF... Sometimes, rejections are the best.. I truly believe Ivy league schools such as Yale is better in too many aspects than underfunded UC. (too bad Stanford doesnt have direct entry nursing programs)

About relationship: I understand the difficulty, but you can see this as a test to your relationship or avoid applying to distant schools and later on in your life regret such decisions.