Up to 168 high-achieving high school students can earn direct admission to the BSN degree program.

To be considered for direct admission, students first apply to the University of Iowa with a major of Nursing.

Application Process Eligibility Application Deadlines Admission

APPLICATION PROCESS

For first-year students interested in applying directly to the University of Iowa College of Nursing, the first step is to apply for admission to the University of Iowa via the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and indicate Nursing Interest as the major area of study.

     First-Year Admission to Liberal Arts & Sciences

Qualified Iowa residents will see the link to the Supplemental Application on their Admission Profile in MyUI shortly after applying to the University of Iowa (can sometimes take several days to a week). Qualified nonresident students may need to wait one or two weeks before they will see the Supplemental Application in their Admissions Profile. Students will be notified via email when the supplemental app is available.

To be considered for Direct Admission, students must submit the Supplemental Application before the deadline, which includes several essay questions. In addition to this written application, students must submit an official high school transcript. Students who are eligible will receive an invitation to schedule a virtual interview with members of the admissions committee after the deadline has passed. Without all of these components (application, transcript, and interview), an application is considered incomplete and will not be reviewed.

Please have official high school transcripts mailed to:

    Enrollment Management
    2900 University Capitol Centre
    201 S. Clinton St.
    Iowa City, IA 52242

Electronic transcripts can be sent to admissions@uiowa.edu or via the Common App; however, for transcripts to be considered official, they must be sent directly from the student’s school.

All complete Direct Admission applications will be reviewed by the faculty admission committee. Admission is competitive, thus, meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.

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ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR DIRECT ADMISSION

Applicants meeting all of the published criteria listed below will be invited to submit an application for Direct Admission.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Minimum 3.8 or higher cumulative GPA (can be weighted or unweighted)
• Submission of an ACT composite or SAT total score¹. We do not superscore.
  • ACT minimum composite score: Iowa residents: 24, Non-residents: 26
  • SAT minimum total score: Iowa residents: 1160, Non-residents: 1230
• 4 years of high school English
• 3 years of high school Natural Sciences, which must include²:
  • 1 year of high school Biology
  • 1 year of high school Chemistry
• 1 year of each: Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry
• 3 years of high school Social Studies

• Minimum 2nd-level proficiency in one world language³

  Admission is competitive. Meeting the minimum requirements for admission does not guarantee admission. Direct admission candidates are expected to complete high school course content deficiencies prior to enrollment at Iowa. 

  ¹International students are required to submit an official TOEFL score of 5.0 or higher to be considered for direct admission.

  ²Completion of Physics (1 year high school or 1 semester in college) must be completed before beginning nursing courses.

  ³Completing fourth-level world language proficiency can be beneficial to a student for a variety of reasons, including other University of Iowa options, minors, certificates, and other program requirements.

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COMPONENTS OF THE SUPPLEMENTAL APPLICATION

The Supplemental Application includes several essay questions and an activities/experiences list.

The essay questions are a very important part of your application. We recommend you prepare responses in a separate document (using Microsoft Word or a similar program) and paste them into the supplemental application. Preparing your response in a separate document will allow you to check your spelling and save your responses should you want to refer to them at a later date. Each essay question has a 1,500-character limit. A space is considered a character.

The Supplemental Application includes an opportunity to share about your activities and work and/or volunteer experiences.  Applicants are encouraged to share several activities they have been involved in within the past five years with the faculty review committee as this information is an equally important part of the faculty review process.

As you respond to the essays and share activities, work, or volunteering experiences, be sure to articulate how these opportunities have developed you as a person and how this contributes to your ability to be a nurse in the future.

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APPLICATION DEADLINES

• November 2, 11:59 p.m. 
  Application to University of Iowa with Nursing major is due.
• December 7, 11:59 p.m. 
  Supplemental application and official high school and any college transcripts are due.
• January
  The interview portion of the application will be conducted.
• Late February/early March
  Applicants will receive an admission decision. Up to 168 applicants will be offered admission.
• May 1
  Acceptance deadline - students must accept or decline an offer of admission.

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WAITLIST FOR ADMISSION

A select number of students who are not initially offered direct admission will be placed on a waitlist for admission. After May 1, after all seats in the Direct Admission class have been filled, any student remaining on the waitlist will have their application to the College of Nursing canceled. 

FACTORS CONSIDERED FOR ADMISSION

The following factors are considered by the admissions committee while reviewing applications. This list is not all inclusive. It is in alphabetical order and does not indicate order of importance:

• Academic preparation, including GPA
• Advanced Placement/Honors/Dual enrollment credit
• Demonstrated commitment of service to others
• Essay responses
• Experiences that develop qualities that contribute to becoming a nurse
• Experience in caregiving
• Military service
• Understanding of professional nursing practice

BENEFITS 

Direct Admission students will be assigned an advisor in the College of Nursing and become engaged with our college through research, simulation, support and/or volunteerism while completing prerequisite courses for the nursing major. Direct Admission students have the opportunity to complete the degree in four years.

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Questions?

Please contact the college's advising staff in the Felton Student Success Center (CNB 109) in the College of Nursing at 319-335-8216 or nursing-programs@uiowa.edu

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