Total out-of-pocket cost for tuition, room and board, for Illinois State (in-state) and St Louis U (after application of financial aid - which is @ $51k/yr for Saint Louis) will roughly be the same - $15k/yr.
NCLEX pass rates are comparable too: 94-96% currently, and over 90% for the past decade for both.
What’s “weed-out” criteria? Thanks.
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Daughter has committed to UTK starting this fall. Does anyone else have a daughter starting there - looking for potential roommates/suitemates and just to connect to some kids in the program in advance. We are coming from the greater Chicago area.
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Nursing majors often have grade or GPA requirements to stay in the program. The GPA requirement may be as low as 2.0 or as high as 3.5. In programs with high GPA requirements, it is likely that a significant number of direct admit students are weeded out.
These requirements are usually in the nursing major handbook for the school.
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More about weed-out criteria-
Sometimes there are requirements for certain grades in nursing classes, perhaps a nursing class cannot be repeated, or maybe a certain GPA is required in science classes or other required classes, etc.
Read that handbook.
Watch out for the really sneaky stuff some DA BSN programs have in the fine print, such as competitive secondary admission requirements to clinicals… URI is one of these programs-- claims to be DA but the handbook states that progression into the clinicals is actually a competitive process… no guarantee of progression and on-time graduation.
Now that is is almost over, It will be helpful for next year’s applicants if parents post a quick summary of their experiences (and results) and offer any insights.
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Daughter has committed to the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing (Direct Admit). Just completed both student and family orientation for incoming freshmen. Learned just how incredibly competitive the program is. Best advice is it is never too early to start preparing that application if nursing is the path your son or daughter wants to take. Most all of the applicants for UT Nursing have great academic records. “Fit to Major” is very important at Texas so an applicant’s essays can make or break their application — especially the two Nursing Essays. UT Austin is a great university and my daughter feels very fortunate and blessed to be part of such a world class nursing program.
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Hello—months later but can you tell me a bit about admission to OSU’s direct admit program? Not too much info on their website. My dd hoping to get accepted to this program as a current senior in HS. Thx!
Yes,on their website it says:
Senior-level high school students can apply directly to the BSN program provided they meet the following criteria:
- Meet the Traditional BSN program admission requirements and prerequisite requirements completed by the posted deadline in May of their senior year of high school.
- Complete The Ohio State University’s application process for freshman admission by the regular deadline.
- Be admitted to The Ohio State University’s Columbus campus
- Must be 18 years of age by the first clinical course (NURSING 2270), which occurs in the spring semester following admission into the BSN program.
So my D applied to OSU early and was accepted into prenursing in December. She did the online interview and essay over Christmas break. I think she got her acceptance into the direct admit in April.
She needs to take the required classes this year with a 3.2 gpa to stay in.
Feel free to message me if you have more questions.
Thanks for your response! I can’t figure out how to message you directly…
Few questions. Assuming your D was a high stats student—do you know how many students were accepted/enrolled in this direct admit route with her? Seems fairly selective, correct? If school does not rank, how strict is this top 5 percent rule? Were the interview ?s and essays all nursing related? Thanks for any info!
There are 30+ kids that got a direct admit (we had a separate orientation and I think that is what they said). My Ds school did not rank. When you apply to OSU, the admissions will determine where your kid “ranks” depending on their application. Then the college of nursing takes their lead. We heard back about Buckeye and Maximus scholarship in January- so I was happy bc they had assigned her a good rank to get that scholarship. A letter from the school is helpful (we don’t rank but…)
The interview had 2 essays (took a couple of hours I think). Then “timed” questions- so stressful. The clock shows 30 sec. It might just say “introduce yourself” but I would freak out by the clock. My D was not phased by it. It’s general stuff like:
why nursing?
discuss a challenge you have had and how you overcame
a time when you were a leader
I had googled “nursing school interview questions” and we practiced some which I think helped to talk out “why nursing”,etc.
Good luck!
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Ok, thank you so much! So, your d just went on, signed in, and did the interview/essays on her own, correct? All this after applying early action, I assume? My d has already submitted her app and it seems she can complete this next “step” before Feb 1 to be considered. Seem accurate? Thx for all the info!
Yes, she picked a day during break to do it. We did talk though general topics and then she went above garage and took it.We were thinking of rehersing the "interview "question before answering because she thought she had 2 min before the recording. You have like 15 seconds! No time to practice! So she read the question and started answering.
Yes, she applied EA. So far she loves the program.]
what were her stats pls
Daughter applied to 10 programs - both DA and secondary application programs. She was admitted to all in the end, but chose Univ of Tennessee (Knoxville). Merit aid from all to the point none were outliers in that respect. She just loved the campus, location, vibe - and the direct admit aspect was the icing on the cake. Supposedly the admission rate into the program at UTK was in the teens last year as compared to the number of applications. We know that her essays made a huge difference virtually everywhere. She has a chronic medical condition and was able to write about that. Her HS classes included electives that showed her interest in this path (Medical interventions, Anatomy, Microbiology, Human Body Systems). I know GPA and test scores get you to one point with these programs, but I have no doubt the essays and digging deeper into their classes, extracurriculars, grade trends, etc. make a huge difference. Happy to share anything else we learned in the process with anyone interested. (Admitted to: UTK, Alabama, Baylor, TCU, Kentucky, ASU, LSU, Univ of Tampa, Louisville, Auburn)
I realize this is an old post but you are 100% correct. My daughter is at Saint A’s after getting accepted to many other programs. She is my third child and we did our due diligence and went to all of the accepted student days and truly dug into the programs. Based on the recommendation of someone who hires at Boston Children’s Hospital and who teaches at the college level, she chose Saint A’s - BEST DECISION EVER.
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Yes -this - Saint A’s is truly at the top of Nursing schools - a gem that many do not consider! My son passed the NCLEX first time and easily due to the amazing curriculum and staff at SAs. He is shining at his current position and has multiple opportunities due to SA and now SA is positioning itself as a school growing in the nursing and health science majors and grad programs. My son and his friends are hoping to explore a NP degree at SA’s in the near future. So glad your daughter loves it.
Hi @nwiggs ,
I just wanted to check in to see how your daughter was enjoying OSU’s nursing program. My daughter was accepted into the Early Admissions Pathway as I see you daughter did last year. I wanted to see if you have any feedback or advice on the program:)
Thanks!
Hello! I am looking for more information about UTK nursing. How is it going for your daughter ??Ours is between UTK and TCU. We were just at TCU for admitted students day. I feel the job market and opportunities in Fort Worth are remarkable. Can you please share any special details about UTK’s nursing path? What do you think sets them apart from other nursing programs. Will your daughter stay in TN after grad? We are OOS, from illinois. My daughter does not plan on coming back here. Hope all is going well!!
We are OOS from the greater Chicago area. Our daughter is not certain where she will end up wanting to live. She’s talked of traveling nurse when she first graduates but she will definitely be doing grad school eventually. She is interested in NP and knows the program at UTK is likely her focus, so she is happy to be here. She has loved her professors and classes. Did very well first semester. They are pretty generous with AP and transfer /dual credits so she came in as a sophomore, and that has allowed her to add a psychology minor and still be ahead of the game to finish in 4 years. She feels that she is getting to know kids from classes as many are nursing majors in some of them (they seem to put nursing majors in the same sections of chem, orgo, physiology, etc.). They have the same adored professor teach the chem and orgo sections with the nurses. My daughter is particularly interested in pediatrics so the pediatric hospital on the edge of campus at UTK was a draw for her. Knoxville is very engaging! We are consistently wowed by the lovely food scene, shopping, etc. I could see our daughter staying there and we would be happy with that - we love Knoxville. It is a different vibe than Ft Worth. She stepped foot on campus and knew immediately it was her place. She consistently refers to it as her “happy place.” She has loved the other kids she has met and connected with. She didn’t do the greek thing although considered it, and has friends in and out of the greek system. She loves the SEC school spirit and attending the sporting events. We have another child at Alabama so we have seen each of ours follow their hearts.
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This is so great to hear. Thanks so much for the information since it helps expand our knowledge of UT! We visited utk last March, have seen Alabama too. They are both great. Finding your place and people is so important. Going back for admitted vol day in march, she is so excited! That’s great to hear about Chem class and all your daughter’s dual credits. So did she take Calculus to fulfill the math requirement first year or was she given credit? Mine will have an AP English lit and AP psych under her belt that i hope we get credit for somewhere. I dont think they will take her AP Spanish because i dont think it’s required, not sure about her AP chem from junior year. I have a feeling the decision will be made rather quickly at the end of our visit to campus next month:)