Mom of a junior here. She’s a great kid with all As and Bs in college prep- not the type of kid with 100 AP classes. Her SATs were not what nursing schools want, so we are looking mostly at test optional schools.
She wants to apply to some schools where I think she would be admitted to regular majors, but getting in to their nursing major would be a reach. Does anyone know if universities will offer students another major if they don’t get into the nursing major? Or do they just refuse admission altogether?
Specifically these schools:
University of Delaware
University of Rhode Island
Sacred Heart University
Quinnipiac
West Chester University
This is her current list. But if you can answer for schools in general, that’s great too!
Each school may handle differently. You should ask the school’s admissions office. But frankly she should go to school for nursing if that’s what she really wants.
There are schools with lower thresholds, like Marshall, that might work.
If you want to be a nurse, any school will work. There’s a shortage.
However, different schools’ nursing majors may have different levels of competitiveness for secondary admission, or difficulty avoiding weed-out for direct admission programs.
I understand - but I’m saying if you are interested in nursing, you should sacrifice that goal up front (without trying) just to attend a certain school.
Major over school.
Here’s an example where most can probably at least get in the process:
This isn’t exactly what you asked but may still be helpful…
My D has a friend who applied and was admitted to Saint Louis University. I don’t know what her intended major was initially but I know that She did not apply to the nursing school.
Sometime after she was admitted she decided to switch to nursing and was able
To do so without any difficulty.
The reason I mention this is that SLU has a pretty high admit rate overall. I don’t know their nursing admit rate. But it was easy enough to switch into nursing after the fact. I don’t think that’s true at most places so I mention it because it could be more of a likely admit and then you could potentially switch into nursing. I realize it’s a different part of the country than the schools you asked about. Just sharing the anecdote as an idea.
I’m not sure if this helps bc its general BUT the last couple tours we were on said you apply to the “College of Nursing” so I assume there is no back up major to apply to. I believe Sacred Heart will allow a back up major though but I would def look into this more.
I agree that admission to a second choice major if denied for nursing depends on each individual school’s policy. Is your daughter more concerned with admission to certain schools or with becoming a nurse? There are less selective colleges that will be happy to accept a student who has a mix of A and B grades in college prep classes and applies test optional to the nursing programs. I do think your daughter will need to expand her list if her main goal is acceptance to a nursing program. I don’t know what West Chester’s policy is currently. When my D17’s friend applied to West Chester for nursing, she was denied and not offered a second choice major. She was also denied at Temple for nursing but allowed for public health. She was accepted for nursing at East Stroudsburg and enrolled there. Of other PASSHE schools, Bloomsburg is a slightly easier nursing admit and IUP and PennWest Clarion and Edinboro are definitely easier admits than West Chester. Pennsylvania also has numerous private schools with nursing programs that aren’t too selective. Some do want to see an SAT or ACT score but don’t expect the standardized score to be high. I know of several schools that state a minimum of 1040 on the SAT. If you want more suggestions of Pennsylvania schools, you can PM me. Or I can PM you if you don’t have enough posts to be able to PM. You can also check out a Facebook group entitled “Direct Admit Nursing Program Info for Applying to College.”
I’ve posted in another thread about my future DIL. Her plan was undergrad nursing, but at a non-direct admit school. She saw the stress the sophomore students were under ahead of admission decisions and pivoted early to a Health Sciences major. She did very well, became a paramedic during undergrad and after graduation entered an accelerated BSN program. After 18 months she had her pick of excellent jobs. She chose to work in a cardiac ICU in a level 1 hospital.
Edited to add: All of your listed schools, other than Sacred Heart, have student volunteer EMS services. I highly recommend that your daughter get her EMT-B certification before she gets to school. Both my son and future DIL found “their people” on campus at the rescue squad, and their experiences there truly set them up for success.
I agree that there are schools that would be happy to accept her into their nursing program. She has to decide if she is looking to be a nurse when she graduates, or if she is looking for a particular type of school where she may not make nursing.
If she is looking for a particular type of school and does not make nursing as a secondary admission, she can complete an ABSN (this adds to the cost).
Connecticut is within your footprint. All 4 of their state colleges in addition to UConn offer nursing. I have a GS in nursing at Eastern Connecticut State University, the best kept secret in Connecticut. It is the state’s public liberal arts college and their nursing school is very new. It started with this year’s sophomore class. One of its best features is that the hospital which they use for clinicals is within walking distance of the campus, which eliminates all of the logistical problems which usually confront nursing students in getting to and from their hospital placements.
With regard to your question, I’ve had contact with 4 of Connecticut’s 5 state universities on this question. Eastern’s nursing program, for example, is in the Dept of Health Sciences, which is where a non-nursing student would find a related major. Openings in nursing do appear and non-nursing majors are able to apply and transfer in. The same is true at the other state colleges. UConn being the most competitive, is the hardest place to do that but it is still possible. Bottom line is that if you are not admitted for nursing, you can still be admitted to the university at UConn or elsewhere within the state college system.
One more thing with regard to direct admit nursing programs to ask about…some schools admit more students than they have spots. What that means is the student has to commit/put down an enrollment deposit before May 1 (sometimes WELL before May 1) to secure their spot. Basically, it’s first come first serve once admission notices go out. So…understand the policy at every school that your student applies to.