Chance Me - help! Thank you! [Grade 12, 3.79 UW GPA, 25 ACT, NC resident, nursing major]

Chance Me / Match Me
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US domestic / North Carolina / Public High School - average (currently a senior)

Cost Constraints / Budget - none at the moment, but trying to stay close to instate prices with oos merit

Intended Major(s) - nursing

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.79
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.22
  • Class Rank: 35%
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 25 ACT, not submitting to most - unable to retake

List your HS coursework

  • 4yrs spanish, currently taking precalculus

  • currently in CNA class at school

  • 14 classes that were honors and AP - including sciences and math

  • 9 Dual Enrollment Classes (29 college credt hours hours) - including sciences and math

Extracurriculars

  • Cheerleading (summer, fall, winter) - 4 years
  • Summer Golf Coach
  • Part time job - babysitter, front desk at salon, childcare worker gym
  • Volunteer cheer coach, regular volunteer pop warner events, etc …

Essays/LORs/Other
essay 8.5/10 - cool topic, good hook, etc …

EA to all - all applications done by October 15th

1-6 top choices, 7-10 2nd choice group

  1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - in state

  2. Clemson University

  3. University of Alabama

  4. Auburn University

  5. University of Tennessee

  6. University of Georgia

  7. University of Mississippi (Ole Miss)

  8. University of Arkansas

  9. University of Oklahoma

  10. Lousiana State University

Scholarship - not needed, but would love to get out of state for close to the price of instate. anything 10k+ each year would be super helpful.

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability):
  • Extremely Likely:
  • Likely:
  • Toss-up:
  • Lower Probability:
  • Low Probability:
2

What about Southern University in Louisiana for nursing? They offer out-of-state fee waivers & possibly merit aid. Check this one out as a possible alternative.

Southern University School of Nursing named Best Nursing School in U.S. for second consecutive year (3/16/2026)

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Pay attention to whether the nursing major at each college is:

  • Direct admission.
    • If so, what grade/GPA thresholds are needed to stay in the major?
  • Secondary admission after pre-nursing courses.
    • If so, is it competitive (versus GPA threshold), and how competitive?
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4

Agreed. We prefer direct of course :slight_smile:

5

Look into Marquette and Saint Louis University, both have direct admit and offer merit scholarships.

6

So once you said - prefer to stay at in state prices - most of your list won’t work. When you build for budget, then you have to pick schools that will achieve budget. Given you have one in state school and you are unlikely, you need to pay more as you say you can, or pick schools to get you lower.

If you say UNC is about $26,000 for tuition, room and board:

Clemson is going to be more than double that. If you were lucky to get merit, you’ll still be double that. So remove.

Bama is $52K.tuition, room and board. You could get below UNC but not with a 25. If you want to waste an app, then go ahead because they have a scholarship app that could get you more but your stats get you $6K auto merit - so you are $20K over UNC.

Auburn - no chance

UTK - no chance. $50K

UGA - no chance and you wont’ get in as there is no TO. You likely won’t get in but.

Ole Miss - you’ll get $9K. Tuition, room and board are about $45K - so you’d be $10K or so over UNC.

U Ark is about $48K tuition, room and board. You are unlikely but could get $17K a year. It won’t hit UNC but not far off - but that’s a best case. Like Ole Miss…if you have an app to waste.

U Oklahoma is $51K. You’d get $10K.

So your list - i’m sorry is off.

What might work better is directional/regional schools and maybe a few different publics.

First off, in addition to UNC, which other publics in NC have nursing? UNCC, ECU, App State, WCU, UNCG, Elizabeth City State, UNCP and other publics.

Secondly, publics like a WVU may work. Tuition, room and board is a bit over $47K today (not next year). With a 3.8 you get $16K. They might look at weighted. With a 3.79, $13K. Still a bit more - but another option.

Texas Teh is $37K or so. You’d get worst case $4500 a year - but oh by the way, anyone who gets $1K or more goes down to in state tuition - so there’s a public flagship that will beat.

Miss State is $45K or so and you get $16K off.

Louisville - low 30s

Anyway, hope that helps - but if you truly want to meet in state costs, apply to more in state schools or change your list.

Good luck.

Regional schools:

UAH is $41.4K. You’d get $13K a year.

Salisbury is $37K - you’d get $7,500 a year

Marshall - i know is direct admit. About $37K - if the GPA is weighted, need a 3.8, you get $9K. Your GPA isn’t weighted but they likely take a weighted GPA.

ETSU is $27K as a NC resident. I didn’t even look at merit aid.

UTC is $28.2K direct costs. No merit.

On each, you need to check if TO or not but there’s lots of directional schools. A N Alabama or Murray State, etc. But there are state flagships now that are no longer TO.

If you remove your budget concern and are willing to pay double UNC, then your list works although there are some on your list I don’t think you get into - like Clemson, UGA, etc. And then nursing adds another wrinkle of uncertainty.

Good luck.

7

I agree. we also have a seperate list of safety schools, some in state, this list is our daughter’s top choices. We are are hoping to get 10k towards oos if we go that way. Thank you for your feedback.

Would love to know if you think we can get into Clemson - curious… thanks!

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I’m not an adcom - but I don’t think you are close - no.

Just my opinion.

And for Auburn - they have multiple deadlines - and you need to get in earlier to have a chance.

9

Maybe @2plustrio has some opinions.

Just curious…why can’t you retake the ACT? Also, did you ever try the SAT (probably too late to do so for this coming year).

I think getting significant aid from the OOS schools you have listed is not going to be easy. Some of their net price calculators include merit aid. I would suggest you do the NPCs for each school in your list to see a potential net cost to attend there for the upcoming year.

10

Beyond taking a CNA class, has your D had any direct patient contact? It doesn’t appear so, and without that, I don’t think she will be competitive for highly selective direct admit programs (which the ones on this list all are.) Is UNCG on her broader list? Queens/Elon?

If she wants direct admit, why apply to non-direct admit schools?

Has she already applied to Auburn? If not, I might drop that because they are test required and not direct admit. I would also drop UTK because they are test required, her test score is well below the OOS 25%ile mark, and the DA nursing school has a mid single digit acceptance rate.

What does her HS counselor say about her chances at UNC Chapel Hill? Does the school provide scattergrams in Naviance/Scoir/Schoolinks, etc?

11

I think this is an important point for any school. If a program is direct admit (like Marshall, FAU), you have to look well beyond the “school’s” safety component because the nursing program may be highly rejective.

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Agreed, and just to be clear I was referencing the admit rate for UTK DA nursing in that quote. I would recommend OP’s D contact admissions for these programs to see what information they will share. Clemson’s is reputed to be below 5% for OOS, with only about 175 spots per class (both in/out of state.)

13

As you know, direct admit nursing is very competitive. I hate to say it but the fb page is pretty helpful (and I know some who have said they found the paid list was pretty accurate). Clemson is at about a single digit acceptance rate.

Her list is popular for those wanting the SEC/Southern college life and I fear its only getting more competitive. She shoots her shot and has to sit and wait. None of those on your lists are safeties as you know and all have about a 30% or less likely of acceptance into the nursing program but she might get lucky. Based on her list, it sounds like she wouldn’t be really happy attending any of the potential more “safety” or higher likely admit direct admit nursing schools as they tend to be much smaller.

I teach at a second degree nursing program. Many of our students went to non direct admit schools and were not successful getting into the nursing program after 2 years and graduated with a different degree. We also get a lot of PA and med school “drop outs” as I call them (those who thought they would go that path and after a few failed admissions cycles they give up and pivot to nursing).

Families need to decide what is most important to them. If the child is truly set on nursing but insists on the college experience of their choice (which may mean not ending up with a bsn at a non direct admit school), there are post bachelors choices but they are often expensive (I think our program is now up to like 60k total).

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She has taken it several times and we have spent a few thousand dollars on testing, we may go for one more in November - but for now planning on applying test optional where we can.

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I agree - we have a list of safety schools we are also applying to. These are just her favorites - we are applying to 18 total.

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Are you sure they are safe for nursing? Check into that. There definitely are some privates that are safer - Belmont, Carlow, I think. Schools like that.

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