Simmons College vs UMASS Lowell

[fawnleaf]

Hi Everyone!

This is my very first official post, so I hope I'm posting in the right spot! :) I would really appreciate your help! I also accidentally switched the font size to 3, and I can't figure out how to switch it back. So I apologize for that haha

I am a senior in high school, and I am going into a BSN program for the fall! I am super excited, but I would love your help deciding on a college. I got accepted to 9 schools, but my two top schools are: Simmons College and UMASS Lowell. I'll explain the pros and cons for each school :)

Simmons College Pros:

Simmons is my favorite nursing program. You do all of your clinicals at the Boston hospitals. Boston hospitals are some of the best in the country, and you can't beat that! I am hoping to get a job at a Boston hospital when I graduate, and Simmons would definitely give me the best chance. Anyone I've ever asked about nursing schools (nurses in hospitals, friends who are nurses, doctors even) have brought up Simmons college. In addition, I've been told repeatedly that hospitals want to hire Simmons grads, and often will give them priority over grads from other schools. That's a huge plus. I could also potentially start out with a pretty high starting salary, which might offset any debt I would have to accumulate. I would live on campus, so I wouldn't have to pay for a car or transportation. At other schools, even if you live on campus, you will eventually need to buy a car to get to your clinical sites. But at Simmons you can just walk because it's in the Longwood medical area.

Simmons College Cons:

It's a really expensive school. The total cost of attendance is $53,796 . I received a scholarship for $18,000 which brings the cost to $35,796. The average grant money is 25,928 which (hopefully) would bring the cost to almost $10,000 per year. Do colleges often take away aid after the first year? Like would they give first year students $25,000 in aid to start, and then give the second year students $15,000 in grant money? I'm just worried that any aid I get won't be renewed in subsequent years. Also, is a $10,000 per year cost worth the education? I visited another nursing school yesterday and their classes were horrible. I know people say that you can get a nursing degree anywhere, but from what I saw, I really think some are better than others.

UMASS Lowell Pros:

UMASS Lowell is extremely inexpensive. I would be a commuter student, and with scholarships I already have, the cost of attendance would be $8,500 per year. I still have to receive my financial aid package, so it could go down even lower. However, even if I payed the full $8,500 every year, that amount of money would be a very manageable amount of debt.

UMASS Lowell Cons:

I am not very familiar with their nursing program. I have not heard much about it (certainly not as much as the Simmons program). I am not sure where UMASS students are getting jobs, but I know very few do clinicals in the Boston hospitals. I really want to get a job at a Boston Hospital upon graduation, and it doesn't sound like this program will give me a very good chance at that. I know that a lot of new RNs work in small hospitals and nursing homes when they first graduate, and I would love to jump-start my professional life if at all possible (like what Simmons does for their students). I would also have to pay for a car while at college, which would not be expensive, but would add to the cost of attendance. I would lease, so it wouldn't be much, but still something to think about. What have you heard about the UML nursing program? Where are grads getting jobs?

Honestly, money is a huge consideration for me, but I also don't want to spend 10 or 15 years climbing the ladder to get a job at a prestigious hospital when I could enter the field at a greater hospital right from the get-go. In your opinion,Is Simmons college worth the money? Is UMASS Lowell a good program? Where would you recommend I go to school?

As a side note, if I have to may much more than $10,000 a year at Simmons, then I will go to UMASS Lowell to avoid the debt. Hopefully though, that won't happen.

I really appreciate you reading my post! I would love your opinion!!

Thank you so much!

[nurselia]

This post is kind of late, but I am a Umass Lowell grad and just landed my first job at a Boston hospital with no connections needed. Most of my clinicals were in Boston! I highly recommend the school, it's an amazing nursing education that is well known throughout mass. Good luck with which ever school you choose!!