The Nursing School
Application Guide
UC Berkeley – Pre Health Society
First Step: Undergraduate College
• Satisfy Nursing School course pre-requisites
– These vary from school to school, but universally
include the following core courses:
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Human Anatomy & Physiology
Chemistry
Biology & Microbiology
Behavioral Sciences
Nutrition
Statistics
English Composition
History, Algebra, Literature
Two Examples
• John Hopkins School of Nursing
– Course Pre-requisites:
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Human or Animal Physiology/Anatomy (8 units)
Microbiology (3-4 units)
Nutrition (2-3 units)
Human Growth and Development (3 units)
Statistics (3 units)
• Denver School of Nursing
– Course Pre-requisites:
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Human Growth and Development (3 units)
Nutrition (3 units)
Microbiology (3 units)
Anatomy/Physiology with lab (8 units)
Statistics (3 units)
General Education (40 units)
+ A special Denver School of Nursing Entrance Exam
First Step: Undergraduate College
• Don’t rush through
college! Plan your
coursework in advance
•Make sure to leave yourself
room for extracurricular
activities
•Decide what courses you
want to take each semester
– this should take about 4
college semesters
First Step: Undergraduate College
Monitor your grades! Nursing schools
have high GPA guidelines, and the
minimum GPA falls around
2.5-3.0.
• Make sure you
keep up with
your GPA,
regardless of
which major
you are
• Average Nursing
School GPA
admissions are
3.4-3.7
(Very) Small Collection of Examples
• John Hopkins - School of Nursing
– Min GPA = 2.5
– Average GPA = 3.4-3.6
• UCSF – School of Nursing
– Min GPA = 3.0 (special circumstances can be discussed)
– Average GPA = 3.5
• Texas State University – School of Nursing:
– Min GPA (Science) = 3.0
– Average = 3.5
• Auburn University – School of Nursing:
– Min GPA (Science) = 2.5
– Average = 3.4-3.7
Know your prof
• In addition to providing you with lectures,
courses and research oppurtunities,
professors will be your sources and reference
when it comes to letters of recommendation
• You will need letters of recommendatiom from
professors (from both humanities and sciences –
make sure to ask them months in advance)
Next: Graduate Record Examination
• The GRE you know and
love
– This must be completed
within five years of your
application
– This is a test for general
academic nature,
regardless of major
Putting it all together!
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Priority, Early, and Final deadlines are
unique to each nursing school – LOOK
THEM UP
Visit a nursing school’s website to apply
Submit ALL secondary school transcripts
(after high school)
Ask professors to write you letters of
recommendation (3 months in advance),
they will send them to your school of
choice
You will need a minimum of four letters
of rec, maximum of 5
Submit GRE scores, and evidence of
personal qualifications (Like a standard
college application, but with a larger
focus on post-academic performances)
Write a goal-statement
Quick tip
• English, Communication and
Computer Proficiency is
highly recommended for
Masters-level nursing
programs
Last Points
• For Pre-Health related issues at Berkeley, See
Pre-Health Society @
http://ucbprehealthsociety.wordpress.com/
• For everything else, there’s Google
Please email questions and concerns to ucbphs@gmail.com