Need Help With College Choice

Neonzeus
Sun, 24 Apr 2011 06:51:48 +0000

In no particular order, I’d say consider


cost (I generally use the price of a car as a tiebreaker, since car loan payments are typically affordable),
location (where you will be doing your clinicals and internships may be your first opportunities for jobs),
number of clinical experiences (actually doing nursing work will help you be a better nurse),
facilities and nursing professors (Smaller classes and the latest sims are good. Is the library conveniently located and well-stocked? Can you get coffee in the library LOL?)
Distance from home (This could be important if you might get homesick. You could also be incurring travel costs, and will have to figure out how to get home for long holiday weekends like Easter or Thanksgiving.)
program (Do the classes look both interesting and do-able? If you have trouble with chemistry, for example, is a required chemistry class in a semester that you have a lot of other tough classes? Do you get enough or too many electives? Do you know if nursing students take courses on a curve or not? Pass rates on licensing exam?)
other students (Did you get to talk to existing students? Do they recommend their program? Ask them the best and worst things about their schools. Are they happy?)
lifestyle (Do you like the location of the school? Does it have activities for students? Stores? Pizza and Chinese takeout? Sports events? A mall? Whatever you think is important.)
Grad School (If you’re planning graduate school, which school will help you get there? Getting great grades at School A can offset poor grades at School B. However, if School B has a grad school preference or guarantee and you planned on going to grad school right after college, this can be offset).


I intentionally put these in an odd number of bullets. If you analyze each school and determine a winner in each category, you will see a pattern. One school will win. You can then evaluate the factors that made it the winner. Some people might say “Program” should be the only thing that matters. IMO, though, each of these criteria are important.

I do not consider the US News rankings of grad students to be decisive. Their grad school rankings are weighted on things like research that do not guarantee good undergrad experiences, and a ranking definitely doesn’t determine “fit” for any particular student.