Is nursing school REALLY that hard to get into?

charlieschm
Thu, 17 May 2012 09:07:57 +0000

I’ve only looked at the Middle Atlantic States.

The larger public flagships are very hard for admittance (Pitt, Penn State, UDel, Rutgers, UVa etc).

There are tons of nursing programs in the country. Make sure you apply to a wide range of schools, including some no-name safeties. Many of the lesser known private colleges now specialize in health care education and have excellent programs and facilities. Those types of colleges can also be beneficial because they may allow students to transfer from one health care field to another, if you find one you like better.

Many of the those less selective private colleges also have automatic merit scholarships.

Do not rely upon the average admission stats for a particular college. Assume that you need to be in the top 25% of stats for admitted students of a college, instead of in the usual median 50%.

It seems every college says that nursing is one of their one or two hardest majors for admission, and the classes fill up the earliest. Many colleges have earlier application deadlines for nursing than other programs.

Other people have also said that at community colleges, nursing is the hardest major for admission.

If you will be eligible for a college grant from your own state, look into whether it can be used for an out of state college. Many states only allow their grants to be used within their own state, or only offer much smaller grants if you attend an out of state college.