Can folks provide information regarding a) access to solid clinical sites, and b) rough proximity to campus (i.e. travel time required) for any/all of these schools? I can’t find the information readily online… thanks for any input!!
Loyola Chicago
University of New Mexico
Creighton
Marquette
North Dakota State
West Virginia
University of Utah
UMKC
Saint Louis Univ
University of Portland
UMaine
Purdue University
Duquesne
Wyoming
University of South Florida
Seattle U
Xavier
Arizona State University
Azusa Pacific
Northern Arizona
Florida Atlantic University
We just attended the virtual nursing info session last week for Case Western (we took a general campus tour last year) and I was so impressed. My daughter is applying next cycle. The Cleveland Clinic relationship is very cool.
What do people think about West Virginia and University of Utah? Seem like solid programs with good college atmospheres, but they don’t seem to get mentioned often on this site? Any observations welcome!
Is that Xavier in Ohio? If you are looking at them, look at the University of Cincinnati just down the road (same city, obviously). Both schools do clinicals at mostly the same sites. For UC, clinicals were generally about 20-25 minutes away city driving with the exception of UCMC, which most students still drove to given how long a day clinical day was.
My daughter went to UC, if you have any questions. She got an excellent clinical education there, worked at a nearby hospital at the end of sophomore year and throughout junior year, and senior year was accepted into the co-op program.
Amazing list. Only ones I’m seeing that are missing off the top of my head are Creighton, Marquette, Loyola Chicago, University of South Florida, University of Utah
@RinoMom, thank you for your insightful comments! I appreciate you taking the time to reply. SU being located right in the city is such a different feel from UP’s campus. Both schools felt very welcoming though, the students seemed so connected to their respective schools and had nothing but positive things to say. One of our SU tour guides was a nursing student and I asked why we should choose SU over UP and she said that she has seen some UP students come all the way up to Seattle because there aren’t enough clinical spots in their area. That’s about a 3 hour drive!! It is nice that SU has 4 major hospitals close by, one being a children’s hospital. My daughter is hoping to eventually work in pediatrics. The weather is a bit depressing for both schools. USF is a great option, but it is so expensive!! I’ve heard from a current student that the tuition just keeps increasing a lot every year, yikes! All of these three options are Catholic schools, but I don’t think any of them push religion. Chapel attendance is not mandatory (as I’ve heard about at other schools!), and I think the only other requirement would be like some theology classes.Coincidentally, UCI is also an option for us. My daughter got in on her 2nd major which is Public Health, but of course, she does not want to do that! She is considering trying to switch to nursing after the 1st/2nd years, even though she knows it will be very competitive. We did visit it a few months ago, but may go again next weekend, I think they are having Admitted Students Day. I think UCI is more her vibe in terms of what she is looking for in a college, but not sure if risking not getting into the Nursing program is worth it. Good luck with your search, maybe they will end up at the same place, lol who knows?!
I’ll try to answer your questions, but keep in mind mine was a 22 grad so things could have changed.
Mine was in-state, so I’m unfamiliar with any OOS aid. They don’t offer a ton of merit aid unless you qualify for one of their big scholarships. UC will give a lot of little awards, maybe a couple grand, but they don’t tend to offer big scholarships. But please look into that for yourself, since I don’t know a ton about that.
Speaking of OOS, the culture at UC - at least when mine was there - was that students stayed for the weekend. Maybe for a long weekend many went home, but it’s not a commuter school by any means. I don’t think an OOS would feel weird, if that’s what you are asking. I have a student at Michigan State, and no one knows or cares where someone is from. The students who hang out with their high school friends would do that no matter where they went.
If I am remembering correctly, nursing students have to have a C+ in all classes to continue. The saying was “C’s get degrees, except in nursing.” I think it was fairly collaborative, although there was some competition and one-upmanship sensed from members of Leadership 2.0, a program giving extra help to first gen students (my daughter was invited to this, but did not want to participate - we both have advanced degrees so I’m not sure how she qualified except that she is an international adoptee). That could have been the personalities of the students in that program that year, however.
All that said, I think UC is worth at least a look, especially if you are looking at Xavier. I bang the drum for UC a lot in this forum, lol, especially if students are looking at comparable schools close by. Feel free to message me with any other questions.
@MTJmom wow thanks for sharing about the challenges of clinical placements at UP. Thats great to know.
[quote=“MTJmom, post:431, topic:3649786”]
All of these three options are Catholic schools, but I don’t think any of them push religion.
[/quote] Yes… they certainly do not require chapel attendance or push religious. However, the religious vibe we got from the two UP events we attended was much stronger than the USF or SU.
My son has a competition the morning of 4/20 but tries to make it to UCI admitted students day later that day. We may see you around.
Hi there,
UMaine- my daughter is sophomore nursing student.
All clinicals are 10-20 minutes away in the areas in and around Orono and Bangor. Seems solid so far- a variety of hospital floors and specialties, as well as care center experiences.
The exception is that senior year, students may elect to widen that radius if another location in Maine interests them.
Best wishes!
I posted earlier in this thread regarding my tour at Marquette. Clinicals are no more than 15-20 minutes away. Weed out criteria is 2.0 first semester, 2.5 after that, with a C in all nursing courses. However, the advisor giving the nursing department tour mentioned that a C in the nursing dept requires a 76 % or higher.
We toured WVU and we liked it more than expected. They gave decent merit and the nursing school has a tunnel right to the hospital. There seemed to be good school spirit there too. It’s worth a visit if it’s an option. The area is very beautiful with the mountains and trees.
For us, it would be a flight plus a 90 minute drive, and the cheaper cost wasn’t worth the travel logistics, so our student chose a college more within driving distance.
Just wanted to clarify for everyone that it is probably not the norm for clinical placements to be so far at UP, but just something that may be a possibility. I would hope UP tries its best not to have that happen!
