Should I change nursing schools? Does school reputation really matter?

[kduley13]

Hi, my name is Kaitlin and I'm new here but could really, really use some help. I'm a sophomore pre-nursing student at Shenandoah University. I'm having a "crisis" more or less:sorry: This was the only college I applied to because I'm from the area and was too afraid to leave. However, now that I've "grown up" a bit and I've had solid grades thus far (4.0), I have realized that I really could have applied and gotten into "higher ranked" schools such as UVA, Hopkins, or Penn State (4.1GPA in high school, high SAT scores). Reealizing this now has caused me to really start to wonder whether or not I've made the right choice... So my question is this:

Assuming that I can get accepted into the schools listed above, would it be a greater benefit for me to transfer before I begin the nursing program? Not a lot of people I've talked to know about my university. Also assuming that I will pass the NCLEX at any university, do you think that my employers will care where I went, if my grades are roughly the same?

I do like it here. It's expensive (I dish out about $22k a year despite scholarships) but the faculty and student have really been great. The only thing that's making me wonder if I should leave is that the school isn't well known and I feel like I could make it at a higher-ranked university. Any advice...? Thank you! -K

[PocketSize, BSN, RN]

I chose my local CC, $7k for my RN (not including books/supplies) then bridging over at a state uni for my BSN ($8k). Currently working at a magnet hospital despite graduating with only an RN.

Employers won't care about your perfect gpa or what pristine school you attended. We all have to pass the same NCLEX at the end of it all. It honestly depends on how much debt you want to acquire.

I don't come from money so my priority was getting my degree the cheapest way. Turns out my CC program has the highest passing rate in the state!

My advice is to go the affordable way, provided the program is good. You can find out which programs have top passing rates in your are by checking the BON.