<p>If you want to apply to direct entry nursing programs, I would also suggest that you submit more applications than you think you’ll need. You won’t be able to rely on the GPA and SAT numbers that the universities publish when figuring out which schools are a match, since the nursing programs are going to be even more selective. After all, most of them are limited to small entering classes. If a school says its average GPA is a 3.0 and SATs are a 1000, for example, their nursing program’s average GPA may be a 3.5 and its average SATs a 1300. Some of the nursing schools will tell you their average stats, but some of them will not. Sme of them will tell you how many applications they get for each spot. The only one I remember right now is Duquesne, which told us at an open house that they receive almost 700 applications each year for their 100 spots.</p>
<p>Also…keep checking the schools throughout the application process, and be flexible. One of D’s top schools had been a 2+2 program that had offered a nursing program guarantee as long as prenursing students maintained a required GPA. It recently elmininated the guarantee and went to a straight 2+2.</p>