Analysis of Collegeboard Survey

            The hard part of the college-picking game is figuring out which college has which program to offer whatever it is I want at a price I can handle. The problem is that there are too few colleges in the U.S. to be nit-picky about where to go, but enough that I can find the ones that very closely suit my needs. I took the college survey on collegeboard.com, and picked my preferences to their detailed question (there were a lot that I couldn’t even be sure of my preference on). Collegeboard spat out some solid colleges in north Georgia that tailor to the future plans that I have laid out as of now.

            I’m looking heavily into North Georgia College and State University, but am also weighing my options with Kennesaw State and Georgia State. These colleges and 10 others came up as possible choices from the survey. They all offer Bachelor Degrees in nursing, and some of these are online. NGCSU’s BSN program is approved by the Georgia Board of Nursing and accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission. North Georgia has roughly 5500 students, and I prefer a smaller class size. It’s located near my house, accepts HOPE scholarship while at an already reasonable entrance price. They also award undergraduates 71% of student aid through scholarships.

            NGCSU is a smaller college and doesn’t receive much national spotlight. It’s ranked at a solid #56 (southern region; calculated by school size, funding, etc…) in the USNews.com rankings, but has over the years earned the title of “military school”. After speaking with three different doctors at my mentorship, however, the school was number one on all three of their lists on where to attend for a nursing degree. They said that with the low number of nurses in the U.S., getting a BSN at North Georgia almost guarantees a job right out of the gate. Considering that I’m not attending college for the experience, this sounds right up my alley. I plan on visiting those three colleges in the near future, and hopefully making a good decision on which is the best for me.