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College of Nursing

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Admissions

APPLICATION CLOSED

Admission criteria for the Accelerated second degree BSN:

  • Submission of a MSU undergraduate transfer application. This does not apply to students currently or previously enrolled at MSU.
  • Completion of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited and recognized college or university with a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.75.
  • The anatomy (ANTR 350) and physiology (PLS 250 or 310) prerequisite courses must be completed at the time of application (or in progress during the fall semester in which the application is being submitted).
  • A grade of 2.0 or higher in each ABSN prerequisite course.
  • Submission of a College of Nursing supplemental ABSN application, including personal statements, resume, and two Reference Forms. 
  • Viewing of an “ABSN Information Session.”  These sessions will be delivered in both a webinar and in-person formats and will become available in August. Available dates and times an be found on the Events page. They will be accessible during the entirety of the application window and are geared toward helping applicants understand the program and application requirements.
  • Completion of all prerequisite courses outlined below. These courses must be completed before the ABSN program start date in mid-May.

Admission to the program is highly competitive, with most candidates exceeding the minimum requirements; therefore, the most qualified candidates are selected from the pool of those meeting the minimum criteria. 

Approximately 80 students are admitted each summer semester. The average cumulative GPA for the cohort admitted for Summer 2024 was 3.58 with an average prerequisite GPA of 3.46.

 

ABSN Prerequisite Courses:

Science Courses:
*ANTR 350: Human Gross Anatomy for Pre-Health Professionals^
CEM 141: General Chemistry
MMG 201: Fundamentals of Microbiology
*NUR 301: Clinical Pathophysiology
PHM 350: Introductory Human Pharmacology
*PSL 250 or 310: Introductory Physiology^
STT 200: Statistical Methods

^Anatomy and Physiology must be completed or in progress at the time of application.

*Candidates must have completed course (or approved equivalent) within five years prior to the program start.

Non-science Courses:

HDFS 225: Lifespan Human Development in the Family
(or PSY 238: Developmental Psychology: Lifespan)

HNF 150: Introduction to Human Nutrition
PSY 101: Introductory Psychology

A grade of 2.0 or higher must be earned in each prerequisite course. 

Students not currently enrolled at MSU who wish to enroll in a prerequisite course should submit an MSU Lifelong Education application for study via the Office of Admissions. 

Prerequisite course review instructions:

Prospective students are not required to complete prerequisite coursework at Michigan State University. To determine if the coursework you have completed, or plan to complete, at an accredited college or university will satisfy prerequisite coursework for the ABSN program, access the Transfer MSU website. Courses listed as MSU equivalents on this website will satisfy the ABSN prerequisite requirements.

If the specific course you are looking for is not listed on the Transfer MSU website, you may complete the following steps to request that the College of Nursing conduct an internal review of the course:

  1. Email the College of Nursing to see if the course has previously been reviewed. You must include the course number, course name, institution name, and MSU pre-req course that you hope to substitute.
  2. If the course has not been reviewed, then follow steps 3-4 below.
  3. Email a copy of the course syllabus to con.nurse@msu.edu. You must include the course number, course name, institution name, and MSU pre-req course that you hope to substitute.
  4. The College of Nursing will complete the course review and email you of its final decision. Allow two weeks for processing.

Please note:

  • You may submit a CON Course Review request prior to submitting an admission application.
  • You may submit a CON Course Review for a course that you have not yet taken.
  • If your request is denied, you will need to find an alternative course to fulfill the requirement.
  • Course Review requests are due January 1 for applicants to the upcoming cohort.

Academic Restart

In addition to your prerequisite GPA (a calculation using the 10 ABSN prerequisite courses only), another factor of your application is your overall cumulative GPA calculation. Typically, all collegiate-level coursework is considered; however, we offer applicants the opportunity to participate in our Academic Restart policy. Students are eligible for Academic Restart if they have accumulated 12 or more credits after the completion of their first undergraduate degree.

If you would like to participate in Academic Restart, you will be asked to identify a semester that falls after the completion of your first degree. There must be 12 or more credits to consider between that semester and the fall semester in which you are applying to the ABSN program. We will calculate your Academic Restart cumulative GPA starting in the identified semester and consider all coursework completed from that semester to present. Courses taken after the fall semester in which students apply to the ABSN program cannot be included in the Academic Restart cumulative GPA calculation.