I would look at some of the Jesuit schools which offer direct admission to their BSN programs (Creighton, Marquette, St. Louis University, etc). Many Jesuit schools have generous merit aid even if your student is not in the top GPA range.

I agree with the Virginia options mentioned and SUNY schools are worth considering too.

Loyola MD has a new BSN program as of this fall, and can be quite generous with merit.

https://www.loyola.edu/academics/biology/curriculum/nursing/

Some posters have mentioned Lynchburg, a small private. If private is an option, then one must also consider Shenandoah. Between merit scholarships and the Virginia tuition assistance grant, this might be affordable but it still won’t be lower than most public options. As an aside, when my daughter went to Shenandoah, her classes had between 8 and 15 students.

JMU is really a challenge for any student. First, it is more competitive to get into the school. Then after two years, the students apply to the nursing program and about half don’t make it in. At least in the recent past, the criteria used to determine those that continue was the GPA. This is in stark contrast to programs that lay out objective requirements for program entry (e.g. Radford) and those with direct admit.

Radford.

I know several nurses who went there and have had very successful careers.

Anonymous wrote:Have her look into ROTC. Once she is admitted to a university, contact the ROTC office and ask about nursing scholarships. There is money set aside just for nursing students. She would have to be agreeable to serving in the military as a nurse afterward- but it’s a great opportunity!

Link to the money that’s set aside? You need to post specifics and name the college that offers this.

Transfer nursing is nearly impossible, don’t try that. Community college nursing is not the answer. Longwood and Lynchburg are your best options. You could even tour them on the same day as they are only an hour apart.

Have her look into ROTC. Once she is admitted to a university, contact the ROTC office and ask about nursing scholarships. There is money set aside just for nursing students. She would have to be agreeable to serving in the military as a nurse afterward- but it’s a great opportunity!

Look into Longwood’s direct admit into the nursing program. She will easily be admitted to the college with that GPA and Longwood is lower cost than many of the others listed.

Anonymous wrote:If my child were interested in nursing, I’d encourage CC, and even pay for small apt for more independence. Then get job that will pay for BSN then MSN. But if they want that 4yr on campus experience, then the cheapest option that they can get into. Maybe JMU, VCU or SUNY schools.

I would not do this. The community college nursing experience is not very good and her classmates are going to be a bunch of single moms and middle aged people looking for second careers

Tell her to find a university in a city she likes with a large hospital close by where she could potentially work as an extern or PCA while going to school at some point. But nursing programs are pretty competitive to get into straight from high school and she may not get in. But that’s ok! Still go, take freshman year classes that align with nursing requirements and reapply to nursing program.

Duquesne! Will definitely get some merit, probably around 10k per year. Great school for nursing and fantastic clinicals in Pittsburgh.

Anonymous wrote:Some of these answers are just no. Emory, GT and NYU with a 3.5? Come on.

JMU is a crapshoot, you have to have Bs and above in your prereqs to apply with any chance. 120 get in, usually out of 200 applicants.

Look at Longwood direct entry nursing.

Another vote for Longwood although it’s small. OOS but affordable and with a bigger “college” experience is WVU. VCU is surprisingly expensive if you don’t get any aid but they’ve been trying to be more generous lately. It’s an urban “campus” that’s “unique” (and not always in a positive way….but their nursing program has a good reputation).

Definitely consider whether a school has an on-campus hospital and whether or not they offer direct-admit. Neither one, per se, might be a dealbreaker for your DC but it certainly influenced what differentiated options for ours.

Good luck!

If my child were interested in nursing, I’d encourage CC, and even pay for small apt for more independence. Then get job that will pay for BSN then MSN. But if they want that 4yr on campus experience, then the cheapest option that they can get into. Maybe JMU, VCU or SUNY schools.

Anonymous wrote:3.5 isn’t getting into most of the schools mentioned in this thread. FFS people.

For nursing, it is.

VCU