With one day to spare, he committed to Case Western today 
This was not an easy decision, but we are happy the cycle is over. Best of luck to all our kiddos!
Replying to my own post, so to be easy to access the cycle summary.
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Itâs FINALLY official in our home. This past weekend was filled with many tears because none of the schools checked off every box, and after ALL the application drama she was all of a sudden seriously considering her pre-nursing options⊠I was like what the what?!! Direct nursing was her sole focus 5 months ago! But in these final days, she started wrestling with âhaving the most funâ (the pre-nursing school options) vs. long term goals (what a choice at 17!)
Drumroll⊠GONZAGA NURSING '28! GO ZAGS!!!
Thank you guys for being such a great group over the last months. Appreciate having this space and you all! Good luck to our babies 
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Our family is trying to guesstimate merit aid for a range of direct admit programs for a student with a 3.8 GPA/32 ACT. Assume solid volunteer and health related experiences, no crazy sports, leadership, or extracurriculars. Lots of AP and honors classes at a rigorous college prep high school. Is anybody willing to eyeball our list and indicate if anything looks way off the mark based on your experience/research? Any input most gratefully received:
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I am very very far from an expert â and have not been through the process yet with my own kid â but based on my own review of these threads, think your numbers might be pretty close.
Can I ask: How did you create your list? Does your child plan to apply to all these schools?
I will be following your childâs journey for sure. Stats seem pretty similar to what I expect my D26 will have. Good luck and please keep posting!!
Thanks for the kind words! I basically went to each programâs website to glean what I could, and have updated with clues left behind by other posters on CC. But itâs hard! My main doubts are regarding Pitt, Rutgers, and Temple⊠My son wonât apply to all these schools⊠I would say 8-10. Where are you focusing?
We are not focusing! But also we are very early in this process. I created a thread (in this forum and called something like creating a nursing college list) which gives some background. Please feel free to add your suggestions and insights there as you work your way through this process. Thanks and good luck!
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Gonzaga tends to give good merit - mid $20k
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Yes! I second this.
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I would consider looking at U of Delaware also. My D received a $15k scholarship with a little higher GPA and test optional. I think Pitt could be $5k.
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Anybody have insight as to potential merit aid at Rutgers as an OOS 3.8/32 ACT applicant?
My D24 went into senior year with a 3.81 GPA. She will graduate with a higher GPA. She has a CNA/PT medical job/ NHS/Tons of volunteer hours/ 2 season varsity athlete all 4 yearsâCaptain of both senior year. She also did band 2 years.
She only applied to 5 schools on your list. Marquette, Cincinatti, Purdue, Penn State and Pitt.
Marquette gave her 26k, plus 1500 (only available if she lives in dorm), and 1,500. Total 29k a year merit.
Cincinatti gave her zero merit, and we are OOS and full pay.
Pitt gave her a alternate location, so it was crossed off her list. However, even if she would have been admitted, that tuition is too high for us.
Purdue rejected her.
Penn State gave alternate location- crossed off list.
Hope this helps.
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Before this thread gets too far off track, I suggest starting a new thread for chancing and merit estimates for this student. Or posting in an appropriate existing thread (Fall 2025 or 2026 direct admit?). Thanks for your understanding.
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That helps a ton!! Most grateful.
We live in Portland and my daughter attends UP and has friends in the nursing program. I donât think the comment about UP not having enough clinicals is accurate at all. Providence, Legacy (which has a childrenâs hospital), Kaiser and OHSU are all close to campus and have really strong connections with UP, including lots of alums. And thatâs just the hospitals. There are many other types of clinicals just as there are many different types of nursing. I know UP helped establish a medical clinic at Blanchet House, which is a beloved and longstanding shelter downtown and the students can do rotations there. I would contact someone in the nursing school and ask what kinds of clinicals are offered. From what Iâve heard from my daughter, her friends have all had incredible experiences.
Our family is not Catholic or religious at all, none of my daughterâs friends are Catholic either, and no one feels like UP is âtoo Catholic.â The religiosity is there but itâs for those who want it. Mainly it seems to have created a culture of service/doing good among the students. But I can see if someone ended up with a tour guide who was involved in the religious stuff on campus youâd get a more religious point of view.
Itâs tricky: Everyoneâs perspective on a school is different and unique to their particular âlensâ but their truth might not be your truth. I still remember (eons ago before the internet) when I was on my own college search and I attended an alumni reception for one of the east coast LACs I was interested in. When current students heard I was also interested in one of their âcompetitorâ schools, they poo-pooâed it and said it was in a âboring cow town.â This was the worst news, since I grew up in a âcow townâ (we even had a rodeo) and couldnât wait to get away. I didnât have the funds to fly across country to visit but I accepted admission at that school anyway because it had everything else I wanted. I remember getting on the plane with this kernel of dread, hoping I could survive a few more years in a boring cow town. Turns out, I never saw one single bovine the whole time. Just a lot of cute coffee shops, great restaurants, boutiques, a truly incredible music venue, and the worldâs best ice cream shop.
tl;dr: Take hearsay with a grain of salt and get lots of second opinions!
Our experience that religious is strongly present at UP was not just based on a tour guide, although one of the two tour guides mentioned she had gone to a catholic high school and selected UP as she felt right in place.
Based on the data on their website half of their students are catholic.
At their California reception, they had brought a number of current students and recent graduates to speak about their experiences in UP. A large number of them mentioned they are catholic and that religious played a role in selecting to go to UP.
When the moderator asked this group to talk about interesting memories in school, many mentioned how they liked to get haircuts by Father Parrish. In case any one is interested, here is an article about Rev. Parrish that will also opens a small window into the vibe at the school.
All students are required to take 3 courses in Exploration core curriculum. The two required theology core classes are in here plus another upper level course.
Theology Core | University of Portland)
My advice to all future applicants is to visit the schools, talk to people and ask questions.
I just want to say that with Pitt the key is to get your application in as early as possible! My daughter did get in and ended up receiving $5k in merit but we didnât hear about merit until the very end of March and by then, we had taken it off our list as too expensive (and it still was).
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Thank you for that advice! We will probably submit around September 2024 for the Fall 2025 cycle⊠hopefully thatâs early enough!
can you list the schools your kids were accepted to?
can you give us her stats that got this scholarship to duquesne? gpa , test scores?
anyone familiar with USF FNR program?