Hi guys, im an incoming senior and am applying to nursing direct admit schools this fall. I was wondering what ppl who got it extra curriculars looked like? Im worried because i dont have hospital or direct patient care volunteering/experience. I have a summer research internship at an orthopedic surgery lab, will that be enough? My stats are 1450 sat (trying to get up), 3.95 uw gpa/4.45 w gpa, along with multiple sports, founded physical therapy club, member of hosa club, and organized donations for red cross. Will i still be a competitive applicant to uci, ucla, sdsu, and other top direct admits even without hospital experience? Thank you guys in advance
These are test blind so won’t factor in your score.
My guess is most nursing students don’t have directly related experience. And you have plenty - EC wise and your internship.
Personally, I see nurses from all over - online to name schools and everything in between. Foreign countries too. And that’s at hospitals out west (my dad’s entire hospital team was Filipinos who came here to work due to shortages) and at Vanderbilt U.
It’s a vastly under supplied major.
So you’ll be fine, top or not.
Best of luck.
thank you!
Be aware that nursing is among the most selective majors at UCLA and UCI. They recently had 1% admission rates, with top-end (weighted-capped) HS GPA ranges.
To recalculate your HS GPA for UC, you can use GPA Calculator for the University of California – RogerHub
UCI’s BSN program admit rate was 1.1% and UCLA’s was 0.9% so High Reach schools for all applicants.
Can you be competitive without patient contact EC’s, sure but direct patient contact is Central to the Nursing profession so having that exposure can only be beneficial when applying to these highly competitive BSN programs.
SDSU’s Nursing BSN admit rate was 5%. EC’s are not considered in their application review.
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I have a question about nursing…I hear all the time about how competitive it is to be admitted to a nursing program. And @Gumbymom cites stats above about acceptance rates below 1 percent. I mean WOW. At the same time, I know so many people (mostly girls) who go into nursing. I’m sure they are all bright, but I am not only talking about valedictorians with top stats. Just normal bright students. I’ve also heard that OU accepts “all qualified nursing applicants” - whatever that means?
Since there is supposedly such a big nursing shortage (right?) why is it so hard to get into so many nursing schools? I mean one percent acceptance rate? Really? I feel like maybe I’m missing something but I’m sure someone will explain…
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It might be similar - why is it so hard to get into Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, etc. but not into San Angelo State, New Mexico Highlands, Marshall, etc.
It’s likely supply and demand - the demand is always for certain schools, not the schools with potentially excess supply.
It does seem like programs are being added - which is good.
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I get what you are saying…some schools are just hard to get into/prestigious/in demand. But less than one percent? I mean that’s just crazy. Also…where are the “easy/easier” to get into nursing schools? I can name you a whole bunch of colleges with acceptance rates above 80 percent. But I haven’t seen a lot of people recommending nursing schools with acceptance rates that high. I feel like they must exist but just haven’t seen people mention them.
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Good question - there’s a lot of community colleges that offer nursing. It appears this list is related to nursing schools - so it might be a start.
Not on the list is Marshall U, a public in WV which says this for entrance to their pre-licensure BSN program - Automatic acceptance is granted to those with an ACT composite of 24 or higher (or equivalent SAT composite score) and HS GPA of 2.5 or higher (pending available space).
Is someone willing to go to Marshall - which has D1 sports and more to be a nurse?
I was curious that one of my primary nurses at Vandy went to an online school - I forget the name but I think it might be Aspen University. Here is a top teaching hospital - and I know my dad’s nurses, as noted, all were from the Phillipines.
I think prospective nurses may have to get flexible geographically and name wise - but I think there are easy admits.
50 Easiest Nursing Schools to Get Into - 2024 - College Transitions
Do you happen to know if Fullerton’s traditional BSN admittance rate is also in the single digits?
Community college ADN programs can be competitive admission, unlike other open admission programs at the same community colleges.
This is the data I have seen for CSUF’s direct admit BSN program.
Cal State Fullerton: 3,000-4,000 applicants for 40 enrolled seats
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A big reason is that while nursing schools would love to expand their sizes to meet the need, there is a shortage of nursing educators AND clinical sites willing to take on nursing students. In order for a school to accept more students, they have to be able to guarantee that the students can get into the clinical that they need. USC (Univ. South Carolina) just opened a new building that will allow then to grow their students but they are doing it slowly for that very reason.
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When looking at nursing programs, you need to weigh the acceptance rates to get in, whether it is DA or not (which would require another round of acceptance rates to get through for upper level), the NCLEX pass rates, and how many students who started out in nursing actually graduate with a BSN and take the NCLEX.
A lot of people focus on the Direct Admit, and for our family that was important as well. Fewer ask the questions regarding how many drop out/fail out of the programs prior to graduation. I think that question is just as important, if not more important.
It’s interesting. Just visited with my cousin who’s a nurse. I brought up lack of supply.
She says what are you talking about - hospitals are trimming, not looking to hire. There won’t be government money. She said Canada is trying to recruit nurses with big bonuses.
It was interesting to me / seems there’s historically been a shortage. I didn’t realize.
For direct admit programs, also check on what the progression requirements are to stay in the major. These might include college GPA minimums ranging from the low 2.x area to 3.5 or so.
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I live in the northeast and have many friends that work in hospitals. There is still a shortage in the Boston area as there are so many hospitals. We also have lots of schools that are not that difficult to get into with direct nursing programs. Ones like St Anslems, Endicott, Regis, Curry, Simmons, Emmanuel, Westfield State, etc. St Anselm has a 99% NCLEX pass rate and I have a family member that got into nursing there with a HS GPA under 3.0. My daughter has a couple friends that she graduated HS with that are now nurses. They all went to smaller, lesser known schools and are working the same exact jobs as kids who went to places like BC and BU. One went to Regis and had 4 job offers before graduation, all at major Boston hospitals. I really think nursing is one of those majors where the name of the school really doesn’t matter, esp if you are in a high demand area.
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