US News Rankings

Freedom42 · Feb 26, 2009

Many schools no longer participate in the U.S. News rankings, questioning their validity. Since only participants are ranked, the lists are hardly objective. I went to a public nursing school for a second degree, years after graduating from a very well-known private school. I'm grateful for both educations, but no one cares where I went in either case.

jnd1213 · Feb 26, 2009

thank you for all of your input. Bascially im deciding bn the big name, great reputation school, and a smaller, well respected program in Boston. The smaller one offered me a nice scholarship...I estimate the difference in debt is about 35-40k (however, both are still being significant). Now with that in mind...is 35-40k worth the fancy name/reputation...it appears most of you believe its not.

jnd1213 · Feb 26, 2009

PS- I know for an MBA or JD going to a top ranked school will make a HUGE impact on ones salary. However, I get the feeling this is NOT the way it works for NP's. Is this true? Or could I expect, say, 10-20k more a year as an NP from a "ranked" (and I use that term loosely) nursing school...?

Dr. Tammy, FNP/GNP-C · Feb 27, 2009

I think if I were dealing with a price tag that was 4x's less I'd choose the cheaper school in a heartbeat! Unfortunately my difference in price is, although considerable, is not close to 4x's (though I wish it was because the choice would be much more black and white for me).
Seeing as the both of you are NP's, has it been tough paying of all the student loans (if you had any...)? I'm looking at a range, roughly speaking, of 70-100k (yikes)....

You might want to check out University of Southern Indiana.

Less than $10K for everything. Pay as you go--no debt when you graduate.

100% pass rate on boards.

Not even ranked in the top 100 by The US News Sham Report, but then again everyone in my particular class has been offered multiple jobs.

Dr. Tammy, FNP/GNP-C · Feb 27, 2009

A few Vandy grads out our way performed poorly and pretty much ruined it for the rest.

I saw and read about that regarding Vanderbilt on another post. That's sad when some people tend to disparage all program graduates, cast aspersions on the quality of an entire program and generalize an entire population of NP graduates based only on the product of less than a few hundred or so incredibly incompetent losers. I'm confident though that the reputation of Vanderbilt will rise to one of the greatest NP training schools in the US. But then again, maybe it won't. With the money they charge, we can only hope.

*RN123ABC* · Feb 27, 2009

I am acquainted with a physician that is a graduate of Emory. Great school, right? He's a moron. The other docs are pretty vocal about not trusting him. He's in internal med, was on call, surgeon wanted a med opinion on an issue tangential to his primary problem. Finding out who was on call for medicine, the surgeon told me, "don't let that fool anywhere near any patient I am taking care of." You know it's bad when other doctors openly disparage one of their own. I'm sure the guy in question had good grades, and just can't put it into practice. He once wanted to give vitK to an AMI pt. He got the whole coagulate/anticoagulate thing backwards. We reminded him, he said, "oh yeah, right." What if he'd given that order to one of these new grads they are sticking in ICUs these days? I digress.

Vandy is a good school, so is Duke. I don't think they turn out better NPs than ETSU or Western Carolina, for instance. And if you stay in the TN/VA/Carolina's, it won't matter. It you move to GrandRapids, I suspect the name Vanderbilt or Duke will get and "oh, really, great." It may actually get someone the job over a state school graduate, all other things being equal.

The OP didn't say what the "big name school" is. I stand by my verbose assessment up thread. If it is one of the genuine Ivy League schools, and if one is eyeing a career in academia, it might be worth it. Othrwise, I doubt it.

*RN123ABC* · Feb 27, 2009

And on another note, is there a reliable place that ranks graduate nursing programs? I've never seens one and I hope to be presented with a tough choice myself here, very soon.

jnd1213 · Feb 27, 2009

So i've decided to go with the cheaper option. After much research, I feel a fancy university on the resume does not do much for NP's. An NP is an NP...not matter where they go to school (I have heard this from 99.9% of NP's in the field). The program I am going to attend is very well-respected in the nursing community and is still pricey (actually only 15k less than the overly priced Ivy; although, they offered me a scholarship for another 30k...so i'm actually saving 45k on tuition alone). Moreover, I can complete the master's portion part-time (FYI-this is for direct entry) and work as an RN...whereas the other program HAS to be completed full-time in 3 years. The name of where you go to school can drastically affect your life if it's for undergrad, MBA, and JD (ie-if you don't go to a top MBA program, its almost not worth it). Nursing is not about branding yourself as it is for other fields. I went to a well known liberal arts school for undergrad and i feel that was more important than for my graduate degree.

ANPFNPGNP · Feb 28, 2009

No disrespect to the earlier poster who attended Vandy, but in this area, East TN State U has a far better reputation for 1/5 the price tag. A few Vandy grads out our way performed poorly and pretty much ruined it for the rest. but it isn't always worth the cost.

Do you know if these graduates were "direct entry" students? Almost half the people I knew at Vanderbilt had degrees in other fields and never actually worked as a nurse. I've always wondered how they fared in the job market. The few people I've kept up with have done well though.

The Vanderbilt name has definitely benefited me in not only finding jobs, but it has enabled me to charge more in the outpatient setting. I work as an independent contractor, so I set the fee. I was just offered a position filling in for a physician and I'm starting out at $10 an hour more than the NP I'm replacing (she had worked there for 3 years). The doctors I work with have all been impressed that I have a graduate degree from Vanderbilt. Also, after attending 3 NP programs - one 100% online (USA), one in a "block" learning format (Vandy) and the last being a traditional program (UT), I thought the Vanderbilt program was the best...hands down!

Dr. Tammy, FNP/GNP-C · Feb 28, 2009

Do you know if these graduates were "direct entry" students? Almost half the people I knew at Vanderbilt had degrees in other fields and never actually worked as a nurse. I've always wondered how they fared in the job market. The few people I've kept up with have done well though.
The Vanderbilt name has definitely benefited me in not only finding jobs, but it has enabled me to charge more in the outpatient setting. I work as an independent contractor, so I set the fee. I was just offered a position filling in for a physician and I'm starting out at $10 an hour more than the NP I'm replacing (she had worked there for 3 years). The doctors I work with have all been impressed that I have a graduate degree from Vanderbilt. Also, after attending 3 NP programs - one 100% online (USA), one in a "block" learning format (Vandy) and the last being a traditional program (UT), I thought the Vanderbilt program was the best...hands down!

I didn't know that about Vanderbilt. So they take people who are RN's and people who have never touched a patient before in the same class and turn them into NP's in the same amount of time? Do they at least make those who have never held a health care credential in their life spend an extra few weeks in school or is it all the same?

ANPFNPGNP · Mar 1, 2009

I didn't know that about Vanderbilt. So they take people who are RN's and people who have never touched a patient before in the same class and turn them into NP's in the same amount of time? Do they at least make those who have never held a health care credential in their life spend an extra few weeks in school or is it all the same?

The direct entry (DE) students have to live in Nashville and complete a RN program before they begin NP classes. When I was there, the DE students had to complete the NP program in Nashville. Since I was already a BSN, I was able to complete my clinical hours in another state, but I had to attend monthly block sessions in Nashville. Maybe there are some Vandy DE students out there who can chime in and tell us about the difference between the two. However, I remember that some of the DE students had already started the NP program before they had even passed the NCLEX. They weren't allowed to begin clinicals until they passed it.

Another thing, Vandy doesn't award a BSN, so the nursing students go directly into a MSN program. Some of the top NP programs in the nation are now starting DE programs, it's not just Vandy. Apparently, there are studies that have shown that patient outcomes are similar, whether they're treated by DE NP's or traditional NP's - in primary care anyway. Seriously though, I worked as a RN in a hospital setting (med/surg and psych/detox) and I don't think the med/surg experience really helped me that much in primary care. I honestly think the psych experience has helped me the most.

Get this, I'm considering working a few days per month doing physical assessments for an insurance company. I had to take some RN/NP tests and I STRUGGLED with the RN exams (thank GOD I passed). The NP exams were a piece of cake, but the RN stuff encompassed things that I learned/practiced years ago! That goes to show you that there really is a big difference in the RN & NP scope of practice!

*RN123ABC* · Mar 1, 2009

I am not personally acquainted with the Vandy grads, save one. She was not a DE stuent. She had been a CCU/ED nurse for about 10 years. I was suprised to hear she didn't take to NP, b/c when I knew her as a coworker in the unit, she was excellent. Just goes to show you it is more about the individual than the school I guess!