D was accepted to Penn Nursing last night. We are so proud of her and obviously all very shocked. She had already narrowed down her other amazing choices and “committed” to going elsewhere and is/was super excited! Zero aid from Penn. I think we all know the right thing to do here, and we have always discussed the economics with her. BUT, finding this a tough one to walk away from. Last night was a night of just a bunch of holy sh*ts and omgs—letting it all sink-in. Now the real talk begins. Anyone have any insight? Had to walk away from a top choice, that their kid worked for, due to cost? We cannnn make it work, but we are very aware that it’s not the smartest economic choice.
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Super helpful for future applicants!! So nice of you to take the time to write this all up. I am going to try to sit down and do the same soon. I have enjoyed chatting w you on this board. Best of luck to your daughter at Sacred Heart!!
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Wow! Congrats! What an accomplishment!
My daughter is DA to ASU. I’m in medical sales for 20+ years and I’m not exaggerating when I tell you I’ve spoken to 100+ doctors and nurses who emphatically said “Choose the cheapest way possible to get your license - it simply doesn’t matter.” Advanced degrees might matter more, but that’s a might, too, depending upon career goals.
I think another question to consider is will your daughter be able to afford to keep up with her peers, and socializing. I was unable to keep with my peers in college due to financial strain, and it was uncomfortable. Maybe I didn’t choose the best friend groups, so I own that, but?
Tough place to be in, but I’m sure you will figure out your best route. Good luck regardless!
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That’s exciting! Congrats. That’s a hard one! Good luck with your decision.
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Same! It was so nice having you along this journey!! I will miss this forum!
All the best to your future nurse! 
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WOW! Your daughter did amazing this year! This is so well deserved and I am so happy for you guys! 
I don’t envy the tough decisions you have, but they are amazing choices to have. I love seeing everyone’s hard work pay off on this forum.
Keep us posted!!!
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Hi there,
She liked both programs, but really liked the Center for Healthcare Education at SHU and I think she liked that SHU had a slightly bigger student body and campus. She just seemed drawn to SHU’s nursing program and campus, visited several times and attended Nursing Day which I think she really enjoyed. We were only able to do a general tour at Fairfield at the time, but they do offer nursing school tours and I believe shadow days which is a great thing for a school to offer if you have the time to do it:)
I think it’s hard to find information because it’s such a small program, but they bill that as one of their strengths. If you are able to attend one of their GAAP accepted students weekends in April, you will meet with nursing faculty, tour the nursing school simulator labs, attend a lecture, and spend time with current nursing students and advisors. Highly recommend the experience if you can make it - I think it will really help with your decision making. My daughter is committed for this fall. Good luck!
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This is 100% correct and rings true in most medical professions. There is no BAD medical school… likewise, there is not really a bad choice for TRUE direct admit BSN programs (do your HW- read the fine print- make sure it’s legit DA!!); there are always the nuances of where you want to be and what you are looking for in student life. If you are lucky enough to have multiple options, people in the field will always say just that: pick the most cost-effective option if you are serious about nursing.
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I am wondering how much DA colleges’ ranking(?) matters for students who are looking for graduate school to pursue NP, CRNA, etc.
Also, can anyone share good places in MA that offer a short course to get CNA for a rising freshman?
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I’ll add here, similar to a comment above, take the cheapest route that works for you in many areas, not just cost.
My 22 grad fairly recently started a new job (due to following her fiancee) and she was known as “X from Y hospital” - nothing about her school. Granted, she’d already had a job for a while but it really is true that after a while no one cares (if they care at all in the beginning). Possibly the only way it counts is if you go on for an advanced degree, maybe. We aren’t there yet.
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I just visited Marquette too, with D26. It was her first college tour (excluding the times she was dragged along with her older brothers) – and we also had a nursing department tour. I posted a more general summary on the giant thread “Colleges your child crossed off the list after visiting, schools that went up on the list…” but thought I’d add a few nurse specific items here for future readers.
As @MMMC2 mentioned, there is a brand new nursing building opening this summer. It looks fantastic (modern, lots of windows/natural light). The advisor who gave the nursing dept tour said the new building was designed with lots of spaces for students to “hang out” and connect. They are really looking for the building to be a social space, as much as an academic space, for nursing students.
In conjunction with the new building, Marquette has grown their program in terms of enrollment too. This year they increased enrollment from approximately 150 nursing students per year, to almost 250. This plan has been in the works for awhile (hiring more faculty, increasing clinical spots, etc.). She said the goal moving forward is about 220 students per year.
In terms of weed out criteria, the advisor said that students must maintain a 2.0 first semester and a 2.5 after that, with a C in nursing classes. However she mentioned that a C in the nursing department requires at least a 76 percent.
All incoming nursing students are immediately assigned a specific nursing advisor that they keep all 4 years. This person is not necessarily a nurse, but is a resource for all things Marquette. The nursing advising office is right in the nursing building, and students meet with their advisor at least one time per semester in person.
Clinicals start second semester sophomore year. Last semester senior year, students select their clinical from a fairly extensive list depending on interest. I asked, and was told almost all clinicals are within 15 minutes from campus. This was pretty much confirmed by our general tour guide, who is a senior nursing student; she said clinicals are no more than 20 minutes away. Incidentally, she is doing her final clinical in pediatric neurology at the children’s hospital and accepted a job offer to stay there after graduation as a nurse.
There is a nursing LLC in one of the dorms, which is of course optional.
I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head – but Marquette definitely impressed us. It is a good starting point for D26.
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Did your son choose his path yet? Just curious! 
Not yet. We have visited Seattle U, USF, and U Portland with no clear winner 
we may now need to go see Case Western. Will keep you posted.
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@RinoMom, we visited Seattle U and U of Portland this past weekend and we can’t decide which one we like better! We were particularly impressed with SU’s Clinical Performance Labs. The UP campus is more the traditional college town, whereas SU is in the middle of a big city. Would love to hear your thoughts on them! We previously visited USF but it’s probably too close to home, plus it’s a lot more expensive than the rest of my daughter’s choices.
Congratulations on all her acceptances. We are right there with you trying to make the right decision. Any of these schools will give them good education. It all comes down to their preferences in college experience and affordability.
Seattle U has a beautiful campus, with great hospitals nearby. In our orientation they said that many of the nursing students work as nursing assistants at nearby hospitals, and that these hospitals specifically hire nursing students from Seattle U. This provides them experience and also helps financially which is very positive. Seattle is also a vibrant and high tech city, with a beautiful nature. I however was not impressed by the campus surroundings. I took a walk at the evening in the neighborhood, and saw some homeless people were wandering by couple blocks away. Too many rainy days might also be a factor for some.
University of Portland had a gorgeous campus, beautiful architecture, lush and very well manicured landscape, over looking the river and hills while situated in a residential area. All very positive. UP also has impressive study abroad programs, much better than both USF and SU. The impression i had from online posts was that the UP is not very religious even though it is a catholic school. To the contrary, a large group of the students and alumni presenters at our reception were catholic, and it seemed that religious plays a considerable role in the campus life which may or may not suite some. My son did not get the same energy and enthusiasm from the people he met at Portland campus, compared to those he met at USF. This might have been a coincidence but enough to change a young mind who is trying to make a decision quickly.
You mentioned USF is too close to home, but that might be a positive factor if you could afford droms to give her the distance she might need but being close by to support her if needed. My son liked USF program the best, specially that they start clinicals at sophomore year and having so many good hospitals around. The campus is very diverse and situated in a good part of the City in a nice residential area and a block away from the Golden Gate Park.
In my opinion, San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but my son had a different feeling about the City. After visiting these 3 schools, we still don’t have a clear front runner.
UCI bio is still on the table for us, while we are contemplating a trip to Case Western. I am not sure if you visited UCI yet. It is a beautiful campus located in one of the safest cities in the country. Personally, I prefer UCI with a slight possibility to switch major in second year to nursing or just have a good 4 years of undergrad and continue on getting masters in nursing. UCI is closest to home for us and the cheapest. I am sure my son has a total opposite opinion 
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How did it end up that costs were similar for you between Pitt and Purdue? I’m factoring Pitt at $53k for our son (all expenses included), compared to approx $42k for Purdue. Thanks for any insights!
We got lucky with a merit scholarship from Pitt, so that definitely helped!
May I ask how much and what the student’s GPA/test scores were? 
It was a few years ago - she had a 4.0 unweighted, I don’t remember weighted or test scores, but had 10+ ap classes and was a national merit finalist. She got a $20k oos merit scholarship and a nursing specific one that has since been discontinued. Honestly, she probably wouldn’t have ended up there if it had been more expensive, and I’m sure she would have enjoyed wherever she did end up!
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