Choosing the Right Nursing Program

Two thirds of every nursing class actually graduates. Many students believe they can graduate and become a nurse until they start their college courses. All over the United States, there are colleges that have nursing program, which will give you everything you need to become a nurse. The only bad part is that the nursing career field is extremely competitive. Sierra1399 wrote "I am a senior in high school and I plan on attending a junior college in California that has a decent nursing program. But all seem to be incredibly competitive. I really don't want to be on a waiting list for 3 years. I'd love to hear success stories." I agree that this field is competitive but that's how all jobs are now. I really enjoyed one of the comments Sierra1399 got back on her post. TheCommuter, BSN, RN responded to her by saying "I am a native Californian who moved out of state and got accepted into a nursing program immediately without any waiting lists or lotteries. If I had remained in California, I'd still probably be competing." In making this comment TheCommuter, BSN, RN urges us to think about the other states and or cities that also have colleges with nursing programs that will be easier to get into. When people think about a nursing program their mind immediately goes to a university but when in fact some of the best places to get a nursing degree is a community college.

CollegeAtlas.org ranked the top sixty-eight colleges with nursing programs. The school with the best nursing program as of 2015-2016 is The University of Pennsylvania. While this might be a good school there is probably a lot of competition to get in to this program. A school that is ranked the second best community college is Walla Walla Community College. This is a community college but community colleges have the same amount of resources as a university. Let's compare these two colleges. While the university is in Pennsylvania the in-state tuition as of 2011-12 was $25,660 dollars, the community college's living with parents tuition fee is $11,244 dollars. That is a $14,416 dollar difference but the only thing different is one is a university and the other is a community college. University of Pennsylvania's acceptance is 9.4%, while Walla Walla Community College accepts anyone as long as they can pay for their classes. The university is extremely competitive. The community college might be a little more competitive just because they are ranked number 2 for best community college with a nursing program. There are always other options to pursue your dreams, especially cheaper options. Whether you pay $14,000 dollars more doesn't give you an edge on someone that pays that much less than you. 

Some of the best nurses got their degree from a community college. In some cases a person learns more by going through a community college because the class sizes are smaller and the professor can slow down or speed up whenever they need to, especially when there is about twenty people to a class. For example, in my hometown there is a community college and a university about thirty minutes away from each other. The difference is the nursing students that come out of the community college are hands on and very communicative people while the students from the university would be reading a patients chart rather than talking to them and asking them. In my opinion, with the two options I would rather be hands on and more patient oriented, but some people just aren't that patient oriented. What would you rather be, more patient oriented and hands on or think about everything before you meet your patient?