We live on Long Island, my son finishes high school in the fall,he’s not the best student in the world, and we don’t qualify for financial aid, he got accepted to SUNY Westbury, SUNY Buffalo, and Nassau Community College. He isn’t sure what he wants to do, right now he’s thinking nursing because he cannot get into med school with his grades,the options are Westbury and transfer, or NCC liberal arts associates degree and then transfer, but I can’t get much info on Westbury .I’m leaning towards Westbury because at least it’s a four year college, but there’s very limited info on it,
I live on Long Island as well. If he is not a good student, I would send him to Nassau Community College, he can transfer to a four year school from there unless Suny Westbury or Suny Buffalo has a nursing program. You should also look at “nursing schools” sometimes it is better for them to go to a nursing school rather than doing liberal arts. Look at nursing schools like “St.Pauls” . How about Hunter College? It is a CUNY school and one of the best for nursing.
Why not? It’s a SUNY – so obviously a reputable college. Seems to me that your son should be the one making the choice this point.
I’m guessing Buffalo is too far? or is there another reason your son prefers Westbury over Buffalo?
Your son’s view of med school vs. nursing is very narrow. Once he is in college his interests may evolve and he may also realize that there is a broader range of options in the health care field.
From the Westbury website I can see that they do offer pre-med and advising. Your son’s high school grades wouldn’t make a difference – it would be his college grades that count in the end, so obviously he can get needed courses without transferring. So he really should choose the environment where he thinks he will be happiest-- not necessarily with a plan to transfer, because he might end up deciding to stay at the college where he starts.
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Buffalo is very good for science.
(Or did you mean buffalo state?)
Westbury isn’t as good but it’s a 4- year campus.
If your son got into SUNY Buffalo, he is not a weak student… he likely has at least a solid B average. Do you mean UB or Buffalo State?
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I would recommend NCC over Westbury. It has a program that lets you get an AAS in nursing and helps you transfer to other programs.
What are his stats and scores?
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He got into Buffalo State,not the Uni SAT score 1130, GPA ?2.9 -? 3.0
Thanks for the responses
The problem with Buffalo is the cost ,I have to pay out of pocket and I don’t want him to be burdened with loans, I don’t want huge loans either since I’m close to retirement
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I have a friend who has taught at both NCC and SUNY-Old Westbury. For what it’s worth, he says that the students and faculty at NCC are stronger academically. The nursing program at NCC is well ranked and competitive to get into.
If you really want your son to start at a 4 year school, have you looked at SUNY Farmingdale? I hear that it’s a better school than Old Westbury. If it were my kids I would not send then to Old Westbury if I had alternatives.
Buffalo State is a good school but if you’re looking at budget and value I don’t think it’s worth paying the room + board compared to NCC. Students at NCC transfer to all kinds of schools, to Ivy League, top 50 privates and the top SUNYs.
You can do some college comparisons at collegedata.com
Thanks, he did apply to Farmingdale - to the new BSC dental hygiene program , but he didn’t get in unforttunately
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Start at NCC because they will have articulation agreements with all of the other SUNYs when he completes the associates degree.
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How about the Allied Health Sciences at NCC? http://www.ncc.edu/programsandcourses/academic_departments/alliedhealthsciences/default.shtml It would at least put him into the right ballpark for a transfer into something in the medical field.
Old Westbury has a whole page on their site devoted to those hoping for a profession in the health sciences: https://www.oldwestbury.edu/schools/arts-sciences/pre-med
Here’s the list of majors at Buffalo State.http://ecatalog.buffalostate.edu/undergraduate/major-minor-programs/ By the way, my brother in law lived nearby for a while, and says it’s in a great part of a great city. (But my daughter, also on LI, simply can’t get past the distance. The 5 hour commute to Plymouth State (NH) is about as far as she’s willing to go.)
I would show him the above links, and have him go old school: Make a list of pros and cons of each school. Have him include the major he would get.
And have him get onto the group chats for accepted students at Old Westbury and Buffalo State… and anywhere else he’s been accepted. Have him talk to other kids who are excited about those choices.
My daughter’s grades are similar to your son’s. There ARE options!!!
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Do you qualify for Excelsior? I believe that for this school year, it’s $110K and below federal AGI as the cutoff.
Also, it’s not too late to apply to SUNY Delhi http://www.delhi.edu/academics/majors-programs/index.php
How about Allied Health Services at Plymouth: https://www.plymouth.edu/academics/undergraduate-academic-programs/athletic-training/allied-health-sciences-bs/ (Note: OOS, so not as cheap as SUNY)
Health Related Services at SUNY MOrrisville https://www.morrisville.edu/programsofstudy/schoolofscienceandtech/healthstudies/
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His grades aren’t bad at all. He can do better than Old Westbury.
If he wants to go to NCC for a year, he could look into applying to the Plattsburgh direct admit nursing program. All of the nurses my D (who went there for teaching) knows who went there are working. His stats currently are a little light and they have probably filled the 2018 class, but call the school and talk to them about the future. Two of my kids went there and while it is far, they both loved it (we are also on LI). The Amtrak station is 5 minutes from school.
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I would have him start at NCC and then apply to one of the SUNY schools as part of the articulation agreement. Or… perhaps he can apply after a year if that works out. I like the idea of SUNY Plattsburgh- it’s a very nice school with a lot to offer. Have him call and ask about the direct admit nursing program. I would also call FA and ask how this can be affordable for you- you may qualify for free tuition etc. Good luck to you and your son!
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I’d be leery of making a college decision based on nursing for a kid who didn’t show a passion for nursing. The reality of what the academics are like, the lab work, passing the boards, working as an actual nurse-- nothing like on tv.
If your son doesn’t know what he wants to do (which is perfectly fine, most kids don’t at age 17 or 18) I’d encourage him to start at NCC and cross one bridge at a time.
Nursing is a terrible “default” profession. It is hard work, physically challenging, emotionally taxing, and the only way to be employable is to pass the boards. So there’s no way to be in it halfway- you either work like crazy during college to stay in your program and pass the boards, or you flunk out or get counseled out and have to figure out plan B.
your son doesn’t seem ready to commit based on what you’ve written.
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I really appreciate the responses, I apologise for the wall of text but here goes- I filled the FAFSA we didn’t qualify for anything this year, I think I earned a little bit above the cut off for the Excelsior,but I’m going to look into it.
The problem with any of the ‘away’ SUNY’s is that the cost of the dorms put them beyond reach financially unless we take out loans, I’m trying to keep that down to a minimum because as mentioned earlier I am close to retirement, and he has a sibling that I also need to pay for,( fortunately she tests better and will probably qualify for merit scholarships)…
He wants to do medicine , but while he is intelligent , he has ADD which he will not treat and in consequence his grades and scores are all over the place and math is his kryptonite,it means he can’t get into a medical school ,and even a direct nursing school is a stretch - they want 80 average throughout high school.
So at present our options are to get him into a liberal arts/or associates degree program and then transfer him into a nursing or dental hygiene program.I figured a year in college from home will ‘season’ him,and depending on how well he does,will also give him better choices.
In other words, either trying Westbury, a 4 yr SUNY , or 2 year NCC with an option to transfer I’d have thought Westbury.but as mentioned I can’t quite get any clear info on what is ‘wrong’ with it, most of the reviews I found by students complained about the lack of parking and things to do there, a few complained about the lecturers but then so did students at NCC.
I appreciate the pointers I got here, I’m going to try and get my son to do what was suggested , draw up a list of pros and cons, we still have a couple of weeks before we have to absolutely make a choice
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NCC has a very short program for dental assisting. One of mine is thinking about it. It might be a good option for your son, so he can see if he is really interested in eventually working as a dental hygienist. If he does this course and likes it, he might be able to reapply to Farmingdale, which my son wasn’t eligible for either; his grades are crummy because of dyslexia.
As for Westbury, I have just never heard anything good about it, except that the campus is pretty.
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Thank you all very much for the info and advice,I am definitely going to look into some of the suggestions on Monday, I had a longer response but apparently it has to be moderated ,not sure why , but I am still finding my feet here so to speak,
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