Need help creating list of colleges! [TX resident, 4.0 GPA, Top 4%, 1410 SAT; planning on doing nursing for CNR, PNP, or NP)

College Search & Lists
1

I’m going into my senior year of highschool and have been very overwhelmed with the whole process of looking at colleges. I genuinely have no idea what colleges are good and have just been looking at schools that at least offer a BSN without knowing how effective the program is. Also as a note, I have very little knowledge regarding the process of becoming a nurse, so if there are extra steps like going through pre-med and then med school that would affect the process of selecting a potential colleges, please just explain it to me.

For the main things, I’m looking for schools with smaller class sizes that offer actual interaction with professors. I do want schools that are more academically oriented, however, I’ve been looking into schools that also have a promising swim program (preferably DII). A big thing for me is the college aiding in the process of connecting their students with hospitals or places of work, as I don’t want to face too much trouble trying to look for a place after school and such.

As for the colleges themselves, I’m looking more towards colleges in the north (specifically NE, NW, Midwest, and East Coast), but I’m open to all states. The city the college is located in doesn’t really matter as long as there’s a lively enough city nearby (I’d still like the have the basic “college experience”). Price does play a huge part, but I’m hoping to pay at most $40K to $45K in tuition, with the help of scholarships if available.

I’ve also really only considered A&M, but that’s more so because, as of now, I’m autoadmit.

Here are my stats if it helps!

Academics:

  • GPA: 4.0 UW
  • Percentage (no ranks): Top 4%

Standardized Test:

  • SAT: 1410 ; taking it again this june though

Courses:
Freshman Year

  • AP Human Geography; 5

Sophomore Year

  • AP World History; 5

Junior Year

  • AP Statistics; (not released)
  • AP Chemistry; (not released)
  • AP Language and Composition; (not released)
  • AP US History; (not released)

Senior Year (not started)

  • AP Calculus AB
  • AP Biology
  • AP Literature
  • AP Macroeconomics
  • AP Government

Extracurriculars:

  • Varsity Swim Team (3x regionals qualifier, 2x 6A state qualifier)
  • Top group in club Swim Team
  • Swim Instructor
  • Lifeguard
  • Varsity Orchestra
  • NHS Vice President
  • Usher at Church
    (I’m very much aware this list is small, so if yall have suggestions on potential ECs, that would be greatly appreciated)

Literally anything would help and any suggestions, feedback, or tips would be greatly appreciated!

2

There are many excellent threads here on CC about nursing programs. You can also start by looking into direct admit nursing programs.

3

Southern Connecticut State and West Chester University of Pennsylvania both have D2 swimming and good direct admit nursing programs with smaller class sizes and should meet your budget. I usually wouldn’t recommend to an OOS applicant from TX solely because they tend to be more regional schools, but if you were a team member you’d already have a built in “family” to spend time with.

The question is, are you sure your times are competitive for D2 and will the travel schedule work with your practicums?

1 Like
4

For some D2 schools, I think my times are good enough, but I mostly just said that because that division typically gives out athletic scholarships. I’m just considering that more than say, D3, as I want to find ways to save money on tuition.

Thank you for the suggestions though! I think I could figure out the second part of your question by finding information about athletics alongside nursing for those schools specifically.

5

I am confident that anyone who hires nurses in the northeast of the US will know how excellent the nursing program is at TAMU. Also, since you are in-state, it should be relatively affordable for you. My understanding is that you also have multiple other very good in-state public nursing programs.

My understanding is that to be a nurse practitioner requires a master’s degree (or doctorate). Hopefully any money that you save towards your bachelor’s degree can be applied to help offset the cost of a master’s degree. However, it is also my understanding is that it is normal to get a bachelor’s in nursing, work for a small number of years as a nurse, and then go on to a related master’s program.

It is entirely normal for students who attend any graduate programs to change schools between their bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. A nurse practitioner who I know very well for example did exactly that. Very good universities up here in the northeast of the US will know how good TAMU and other public universities in Texas are.

Both U.Mass Amherst and U.Mass Lowell have good nursing programs, and offer some merit aid for out of state students. The same is likely to be true for multiple other universities up here in the northeast. UNH, UVM, and U.Maine for example might be worth at least considering. Of course multiple private universities in this area also offer very good nursing programs. I am hard pressed to know what the total cost of attendance would be for you, and you might not know until you get offers. With a 4.0 GPA and 1410 SAT most of these should be at least possible.

I would be careful to stay within your budget. For example, if you do want to become a nurse practitioner, you should budget for the master’s degree in addition to a bachelor’s degree. You should make sure that you know what your total budget is for 4 years, and to also find out whether you can save some of this towards a master’s degree.

To me the one thing missing that stands out in your post is that I did not see directly nursing related ECs. You should get some experience in this area during your senior year if you haven’t already.

I would expect the amount of commitment needed to do well in a nursing program, including the time needed to get practical experience, would make it unlikely that you would also want to compete in a varsity sport while in university, whether swimming or anything else.

My best guess is that the best way to save on the cost of education is likely to be getting your bachelor’s degree at a public university in Texas, and then look to come up here to the northeast or elsewhere in the US. I am quite sure that many of us will still need nursing care when you are ready (and I am planning on still being around and still needing nursing care at that point).

Best wishes.

1 Like
6

Some people refer to the program’s NCLEX (nursing licensing exam) pass rate.

But also consider whether the program has clear pre-set criteria for continuing in the program, or if there is some sort of competitive secondary admission process to advance from pre-nursing to the clinical stage of the program. The former is usually called direct admission, which usually comes with some sort of college grade and GPA requirement to stay in the program (such GPA requirements can be as low as 2.something to as high as 3.5 or so). Some of the latter may be so competitive that college GPA of 3.9 or higher is needed for realistic chance of admission.

1 Like
7

TAMU nursing is not direct admit, so although you would have auto admit to TAMU, you wouldn’t have auto admit to nursing (BSN). Traditional BSN | Texas A&M College of Nursing

Why are you looking at becoming a nurse? I am concerned that you haven’t had any healthcare/patient facing activities, and might not know whether the job is a good fit for you. With that said, that suggests you might consider only non-direct admit programs, to give you more time to figure out the best major/path for you.

Why D2? Have you been in contact with any coaches? If not, you need to start doing that ASAP, via email.

I will say this…nursing is a common major that does not work well with varsity sports, especially when clinicals start. That is something you need to address with coaches, because at some schools it’s not possible to do both.

Do you mean $40K-$45K is your all in max price? College costs will include not only tuition but also room and board, which is typically another $12K-$15K or so. Will your family qualify for need based aid?

8

If looking in the Northeast, I’d consider TCNJ in Ewing, NJ. Less than an hour to Philly and less than 1.5 hours to NYC, both of which are easily accessible via train at nearby Trenton or Hamilton stations. They have a direct admit BSN program and also have an NP program. Definitely smaller class sizes. Clinical sites at major health systems in the area (NJ and PA).

However, it is a D3 school and I don’t know much about their swim program other than that they have one.

Price range might be in your budget.

1 Like
9

You are much better off chasing merit scholarships than athletic scholarships. With an athletic scholarship, you are locked into competing. If down the road you find it doesn’t work out for you, or if it’s impossible with your practicums, school could become unaffordable. At that point, it would be very hard to transfer into another nursing program.

Look for D3 with merit if continuing to swim is important to you. If not, just drop it. You’ll be better off and there are a lot more options. There are not a lot of D2 schools. Especially when you are also looking for schools with nursing.

1 Like
10

I toured A&M recently and I’m aware that they don’t do direct admission into the nursing program.

The lack of medical related ECs is just due to my own indecisiveness towards what to do in the future, but I have been trying to see if there are opportunities for me despite having little experience in anything related to healthcare. I know college is a good way to figure out what to do without sticking to something fully, but I do know that I at least want to do something in healthcare.

I’ll take into consideration what you said about the sports alongside nursing as I know that’ll probably be difficult to balance.

Thanks for all the tips and things to think about though!

1 Like
11

As the parent of a nurse practitioner, I’d say that one of the most important parts of training to become a nurse is the placements in hospitals for clinical experience. The better the hospitals, the more likely you are to be exposed to and to learn “best practices” right from the beginning of your training.

I like the suggestion of Southern Connecticut State University because included in their students’ clinical placements is Yale New Haven Hospital, a top hospital which provides excellent training for its student nurses.

In making a list of nursing schools, be aware that some are “direct admit”, meaning that you will matriculate in the nursing school immediately upon entering college. Some other colleges and universities accept you for admission to the university but not to the nursing school. They require that you apply to the nursing school only after you are a student at the university and have completed at least a semester. Some even wait until you have completed the first semester of sophomore year. Obviously direct admit is much preferable. You’d hate to be at college and then find out only after you’ve been there for a year or more that you won’t be able to study nursing after all.

Note that Southern Connecticut, mentioned above, is not direct admit.

I’ll also suggest that you pay attention to where the clinical placements are located in relation to the college. Some may beaten 60-70 miles away from campus. Nursing school is hard work, and no one needs to add lengthy commutes to a grueling schedule. The best nursing schools tend to be located in cities because that’s where the best hospitals are.

1 Like
12

I know you didn’t list SE in your regions, but these schools in North Carolina are all D2 and have BSN:

  • Wingate University (Wingate, NC) - Competes in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC). Offers a highly regarded BSN program with a direct admission option. [1, 2, 3]
  • Catawba College (Salisbury, NC) - Competes in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC). Features a pre-licensure BSN program designed for entry-level nursing practice. [1, 2]
  • Lenoir-Rhyne University (Hickory, NC) - Competes in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC). Offers an excellent undergraduate nursing curriculum with direct admission pathways. [1, 2, 3, 4]
  • Barton College (Wilson, NC) - Competes in the Conference Carolinas. Home to the Judy Howard Hill Nursing Program, which features a Nursing Direct entry path

I’m familiar with the first three for sports (different sport) and found them to have nice students and fair competition.

1 Like
13

When you say that you’d like the basic “college experience”, what does that mean to you?

14

I’m wondering if you’re targeting Division II schools because they can offer athletic scholarships and thereby have a school come within budget? D II schools are well known for offering partial scholarships (half, perhaps) so that they can stay within their budgets. Your best chance of staying within budget might be to expand your target schools to D III programs at state schools with cost friendly out-of-state cost of attendance. Competition can be at a higher level at some D III schools over D II. The main distinction between these 2 levels of competition is the scholarship factor. Is access to scholarships in fact the reason for your interest in D II?

New York is a state with particularly cost friendly tuition to out-of-state students. Here are some great nursing schools in New York but with D III swim programs.

Hunter College (enrollment: 17,000 undergrads) is one of the best of the City University colleges with an excellent nursing programs. Located in Manhattan, it utilizes top hospitals for its student’s clinicals. It is absolutely not the traditional college experience as there is no green campus although although 850 acre Central Park is nearby. It is primarily a commuter school although there are some dorms and nurses get priority for housing. Subways offer public transportation to make commuting to clinicals easier than a lot of other places. You have to want city living to spend 4 years of college here.

SUNY Brockport (enrollment: 6,000 undergrads) is at the opposite end or the state and offers the opposite college experience although still a very good school at a cost friendly price. A more traditional campus, located 20 miles west of the mid sized city of Rochester with excellent air travel connections, it is in a small town (population: 14,000) whose history was as a port on the Erie Canal. Brockport is a charming, affordable, and vibrant village of Victorian era architecture with a Main Street of shops & restaurants. The Erie Canal offers opportunities for kayaking & canoeing plus a Canalway alongside for biking, hiking, and walking. The nearby city of Rochester has very good hospitals, including the University of Rochester’s teaching hospital for its med school. SUNY Brockport has a D III swim team and a very good nursing school.

New Jersey is another state with attractive out-of-state tuition costs. The College of New Jersey (undergrad enrollment: 7500) is the state’s public liberal arts college and has a very good nursing school. It is located in Trenton, the state’s capital city.

These are a few examples, but they don’t fit your stated interest in D II swim programs. I can provide more D III recommendations if you’re interested.

West Chester, Millersville, and East Stroudsburg are all D II schools in Pennsylvania worth looking at as is Frostburg State (MD) and Saginaw Valley state (MI), Grand Valley State (MI). All offer a combination of good public nursing schools and good D II swim teams.

15

You might find this tool helpful in developing a list of colleges with nursing and swim teams. You can generate lists for Div I, Div II, or Div III:

1 Like
16

This may seem really vague, but I don’t want to be all too “quiet” if that makes any sense? Like a college with a good amount of school events or a more lively scene is what I meant by that. However, I know that’s really the case at any college regardless of the size, so I wouldn’t say to focus on that point too much.

17

Honestly, yeah the scholarship aspect is one of the bigger reasons I’m focusing on DII. I’ve talked to a few DIII coaches though, and they have mentioned how they especially try to find ways for athletes to save money on cost.

Thank you for all the suggestions and help!

18

Tagging @2plustrio our nursing educator person on this site…who might be some help here!

19

Yes, that perfectly helps me see what you’re looking for. :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

1 Like
20

Yes, I have 2 grandsons, both at the same D III college. The younger one is paying less than his older brother (who has a partial academic scholarship) because the younger one was recruited for the soccer team. They “found a way” even though there are technically no athletic scholarships.

2 Likes