First-Year Nursing Admission

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is a direct entry program. This means:

• There is no separate application for undergraduate nursing students
• You are admitted directly to the nursing program when you are admitted to USF
• If you are admitted to a different major, you cannot later transfer into the nursing program

Academic Requirements for Nursing

A strong academic record of college prep courses shows us that you're motivated and that you care to put forth your best work. To be considered for admission, first-year nursing applicants should have taken:

• ENGLISH: 4 years
• MATHEMATICS: 3 years
• SOCIAL SCIENCES: 3 years
• LAB SCIENCES: 2 years
  • Nursing applicants are required to have completed chemistry prior to applying for admission.
  • Biology or Physics (Only one of these courses needs to be completed. It will not increase your chances of being admitted if you have completed both.)
• FOREIGN LANGUAGE: 2 years

See more of what we look for in first-year applicants.

First-Year Nursing Admission Statistics

As a highly selective program, we have far more applicants than spaces available each term. While there is no specific formula to guaranteeing admission, here are admission statistics from past years:

*Internally-calculated GPA of core courses
**As mentioned, test scores are not required for admission to USF. The average test scores for fall 2020 through 2022 represent the scores of students who opted to include scores in their application. For the fall 2021 entering class, 79% of admitted nursing students were admitted without test scores.

First-Year Nursing Dates and Deadlines

The application opens in August each year. We review all applications at the deadline. You do not get priority for submitting early, so we recommend carefully working through your application rather than rushing. Late or incomplete applications will not be reviewed but will be offered consideration for the following term.