Searching for colleges in New England is “sorta” like searching for haystacks in a hay field. There are tons of them that would fit your criteria. I suggest you go to a website like www.princetonreview.com and do a geographical, size and intended major search. That will give you a list to start working from. After that, you can visit each school’s website or go to the library and look up comparative write-ups in the college guides. Narrow the search down to 8 or 10 schools initially and do some further exploring.

As far as getting your GPA up, nothing works better than studying. If you need “extra help” ask for it from teachers or tutors.

You cab get in practically any non private school with a ‘B’ average and a decent SAT/ACT score.

The University of Maine meets all of your criteria and has a School of Nursing.

UMass Dartmouth also meets your criteria. It’s not the most beautiful of schools, but its College of Nursing is supposed to be very good. I’m a senior there, but I’m not a nursing major. Still, feel free to PM me with any questions about this school.

I went to Rhode Island College (which is separate from University of RI, and cheaper), and I heard the nursing program is pretty good. It’s a small school.

You can find out which schools in the states you’re interested offer a B.S. in nursing by doing a search engine query. I’ll advise you to delete your Facebook account (if you have one) before applying to college. Good luck.

NE is a huge area with hundreds of colleges and universities.

Do some thinking.

How much do I want to spend?

Do I prefer urban, suburban, rural?

How far from home do I want to be?

How competitive a program do I want? How hard do I want to study?

When I am not attending classes or hitting the books, how do I want to spend my free time?
Sports, clubs, drama, music, partying, going to clubs, hiking, biking, skiing, fraternities and sororities, religious affiliation? You get the drift.

Colleges look at who you are, what you are interested in, what your academic accomplishments are, who you are outside the classroom. Then they decide whether you and they are a good match. They have no prescriptive “ideal candidate.”

Tips; “Dorming” is not a verb. “I think I would do well even at a big school”
Write shorter sentences. Reread what you have written and think about editing. Pay attention to good writers.

Congratulations, however, for spelling “definitely” correctly. That gives you a leg-up anywhere.

UMass Amherst is big, but it’s a great school. There are great academic programs, both undergrad and grad, and great extracurriculars. It has good sports teams and great concerts at the Fine Arts Center and other venues. UMass students are really involved in the community.

Also, Amherst is a great college town. It’s one of five in that area (Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire, and Amherst being the others) so the community is great for students. UMass is walkable from downtown Amherst which is filled with cafés, restaurants, and local stores. Northampton is just down the street which is an even more vibrant community. I went to college in a really shitty location, and it really makes a difference. It’s pretty easy to get to Boston if you need some serious city time. I highly recommend looking into it.

(I grew up in Amherst, so I know a lot about/love the area and the university connection, which is why I so highly recommend it.)

I’d suggest being cautious here. I don’t know where you’re coming from, but northeastern public schools are so-so; good, I would say, but not standouts and rarely worth paying out of state tuition for. There aren’t really Berkeleys or UCLAs in the northeast. That kind of quality exists, but mostly at private schools. Unless there’s a program you really want somewhere (doesn’t sound like it), or you get into a really good private school, or you get a scholarship, or you have some other reason (e.g., you’re gay or black or something and need to get to some place more tolerant), I would think you’d be better off just finding the program you need where you can find it.

I’m assuming you’re in high school when I say this, but you mention concern for your GPA. I realize the college admissions dance is stressful, but I think it can be made a lot easier (and cheaper) if you wait. As I’ve said before, I think community college works fine for the first two years. The teachers are there to teach, the courses are transferable, and there’s absolutely no penalty for not going the full four years at a four-year school. This doesn’t mean you can’t pick the school you want to go to now; just pick it and take the non-traditional route in, and save yourself some stress and pressure. (Of course, you could just want to get away from home too.)