How EXACTLY Do I Get Into Nursing School?

Apply & Get Accepted to Nursing School in 9 Easy Steps

One of the biggest challenges of becoming a nurse is getting started. If you don’t have family in the nursing field, an effective guidance counselor or a mentor to guide you on how to get accepted to nursing school, keep reading to find out everything you need to know!

As a registered nurse with over a decade of experience, the question I get the most from complete strangers is “How exactly do I get into nursing school?” or “My [insert family member] wants to get into nursing. Do you have any tips on how they can get into nursing school?” 

With you and other future nurses in mind, I have taken the time to put together a comprehensive and evolving compilation of both reflections on my own personal experience of getting into nursing school along with research on current nursing school admission requirements and stipulations. You are about to unlock a detailed blueprint for the steps you need to take in order to get accepted to nursing school.

Becoming a licensed registered nurse can be life changing for many. Who wouldn’t consider a professional career that only requires an Associate Degree and active license at minimum? Does it sound worth it to you for the opportunity to earn a median annual wage of $77,600 and with projected employment growth of 6% between 2021 and 2031 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Registered Nurses, at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm (visited December 7, 2022). The path to entry into nursing programs can be overwhelming, but the ultimate payoff of becoming a manager of care of patients in various settings, having a flexible schedule, high earning potential, and travel opportunities can be worth the time and effort. 

Read and reread this guide all the way through, save it for reference, or share it with a future nurse in your life. Let me know if it helps you or a loved one fulfill their dream of becoming a nurse or even helps them find clarity in some other way. 

When you are ready to begin, start here. 

Step 1: Do some research about the field of nursing. 

Get in touch with and speak to a registered nurse; ask them questions about the field, average pay, career satisfaction and pros and cons of being a registered nurse. Reach out to a facility you are interested in working at and seek out opportunities for volunteering or job shadowing with a nurse in a specialty you are interested in. See first hand if taking the time to become a registered nurse is realistic and appropriate for you. Once you are satisfied that nursing is the profession you would like to pursue, continue on to the next step. 

Step 2: Research the different nursing programs available to you. 

There are many questions you may have on your mind to ascertain if a particular nursing program is right for you. I have included a list of starter questions one might consider when selecting a nursing program and nursing school. You will likely think of many more questions on your journey to applying to the nursing school of your choosing, but these will help steer you in the right direction when starting off: 

1. How far am I willing to travel to complete required clinical training and attend classes? 
2. Am I seeking out a primarily online program? 
3. Do I want to attend the registered nursing program part-time or full-time, and how would this factor into my home, occupation, and family life. 
4. Am I interested in a two year or four year college? 
5. Can I afford to attend a two year or four year college or university? 
6. How often does the nursing program I am interested in accept new applicants?  
7. Does the nursing program accept new students based on a waitlist, lottery system, or based on merit and academics? 
8. Does the nursing school I am applying to require that I take the Test Of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) and what score is required to qualify for acceptance into their nursing program?
9. What GPA do I need to have to be considered for my nursing program of choice? 
10. What is the graduation/pass rate for students of this nursing program? In other words, how many students who have started this program continued on to graduate from it? 
11. What is the National Council Licensure Examination [for] Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) pass rate for graduates of this nursing program?
12. What is the average class size for courses offered in this nursing program?  

Step 3: Attend an “overview session” offered by the nursing school of your choice to learn more about the program and the curriculum. 

Many schools of nursing offer outreach to applicants interested in attending their registered nursing programs. These sessions are often offered at different times during the year and can be either in person or virtual sessions. Sometimes the outreach sessions even include a tour of the Nursing School’s building or campus. Check out the School of Nursing or Registered Nursing page featured on the college or university’s website and find a featured session to register for. 

You can also typically locate the program’s department phone number on their School of Nursing “Homepage” or “Overview” page. You can oftentimes call this number directly and get valuable information about the school’s program. 

You can view the curriculum and course descriptions of the classes you will be expecting to complete while in the nursing program. The nursing program’s curriculum can be found on the School of Nursing website found on the website of the college or university you are wanting to attend. This will give you an idea of the courses you will be required to complete the nursing program. 

Overall, the most important indication for this step is to find out everything you can about your chosen college’s nursing program while familiarizing yourself with its faculty and layout. 

Step 4: Familiarize yourself with the guidance counselors who specialize in guiding students who are on the registered nurse career track. 

Check in with your guidance counselor at your college campus at regular intervals to ensure you are meeting your goals and doing everything required to be able to apply for your registered nursing program. You can often get intouch with these valuable resources through your School of Nursing’s webpage, by visiting your School of Nursing on campus and speaking to someone in student outreach there, or by scheduling a visit with your college’s available guidance counselors. Your guidance counselor can provide you with a list of, and any updates to, the requirements for your program, as well as refer you to any nursing student outreach opportunities on campus. Student outreach opportunities could help you network with other future or current nursing students or graduates that are willing to serve as your mentor. 

Step 5: Complete necessary prerequisite courses with qualifying GPAs. 

Before you can even apply to your nursing program, you need to have specific “prerequisite” courses completed to be academically prepared for the courses offered in the nursing program itself. For example, before learning to manage the care of a sick patient, it is expected that you have taken human anatomy to know about the human body structures, physiology to have a basic understanding of how the human body works, pathophysiology to know how different diseases affect the human body and pharmacology to have knowledge of how various medications and treatments work.

 You may also need to complete certain “corequisite” courses which can be completed prior to or while you are already in the nursing program. Corequisites often need to be completed before the last semester of the nursing program you are attending. 

You can navigate to your School of Nursing’s list of prerequisites. They can likely be found under “Admission Requirements”. It is important to get started right away at completing any prerequisite classes because you cannot even apply to the nursing school until these are passed with a satisfactory GPA. The minimum GPA requirement for prerequisites will be determined by your School of Nursing. 

Sometimes it is possible to take prerequisites as early as while you are still in highschool. This often requires parent permission, permission from your highschool, and qualification for admittance to the college you will be taking the classes at. 

 If you attend a community college, sometimes you can even enroll at a different community college to complete classes faster. For example, if a prerequisite course you want to take is already full at one college, you can enroll at another community college and see if you can get into their class instead. This was a method that I personally employed to complete my prerequisite classes faster than if I were to only attend one college. It did require me to put in a lot of effort juggling classes and extra commute time during the week, but it ultimately helped me pursue my goal of getting onto the waitlist of my nursing school program of choice faster. 

Remember that it can take years to complete prerequisite courses (and some prerequisite courses can have their own prerequisite courses!), followed by a year or more of being on your program’s waitlist or hoping to be selected from a nursing program’s lottery. The process of even being admitted to an accredited registered nursing program can add to the overall time it takes to become a registered nurse, even on an associate degree level. A two year associate degree in nursing can easily take 5-6 years to complete because of this caveat. Take this piece of information into account when deciding if pursuing a career as a registered nurse is right for you. Once you have decided it is absolutely your calling, just remember to use your time wisely and don’t be discouraged by how long the process can take! 

Step 6: Schedule, study for, and pass your Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) with the minimum required score % for your nursing program. 

Studying for the TEAS can be daunting, but it is very fortunate that there are several preparatory programs that focus solely on helping nursing student hopefuls feel confident and prepared to pass their TEAS. This is accomplished by way of guided learning via video libraries or in person sessions, access to practice-test banks, and access to study guides. Figure out what percentage score you are required to achieve in order to qualify to apply to your School of Nursing and aim for higher than that! 

It is important to really focus and try your best because each time you take the TEAS you will need to pay for each testing session. Additionally, it is only able to be taken a certain number of times per calendar year. This number varies from school to school. If you fail this test, you may have to wait an entire calendar year to retest, which could really delay your being able to continue on your journey to becoming a registered nurse. (https://atitesting.com/, Retrieved Dec 6, 2022)

Step 7: Before applying to a nursing program you will need to make sure you have everything you need to qualify for it. 

You can find “Admission Requirements” for your nursing program on your college’s School of Nursing web page titled as such. The Admission Requirements will likely include but not be limited to: 

1. Completed application and acceptance into the college or university of the nursing program you are applying to
2. Completed application to nursing program 
3. *Official transcripts from your highschool
4. *Official transcripts from any college you have attended
5.  Official course descriptions for any prerequisites you have taken at a college campus that is not the same as the one you are currently applying to 
6. TEAS results (which will likely have a minimum percentage achieved necessary to qualify for admittance to the nursing program)
7. Current email address 

*Remember that official transcripts from either your high school or college need to come in a sealed and stamped envelope directly from the campus registration or counseling office. They can usually be ordered online or in person and can sometimes take varying amounts of time to be processed by the school and then received by you. 

It is important to note that in many cases “courses in microbiology, anatomy, physiology, and nutrition must be completed within seven years of application to the Registered Nursing program.” You will want to keep this in mind when taking prerequisites over too long of a period of time as some may find themselves in a situation where it takes them several years to complete the coursework. By the time they are actually able to be admitted to their nursing program (which can include time spent on a waitlist), some of their prerequisites can no longer be counted. This is quite unfortunate and causes delays for some being able to continue on their journey to becoming a registered nurse. 

Step 8: Submit your application and admission requirements to your college’s School of Nursing 

You have done your research and made your decision to pursue your dream of becoming a registered nurse. Now that your prerequisites are completed successfully and your admission requirements are neatly organized it’s time to go ahead and submit your application to your college’s School of Nursing. 

Once this is done and processed you can then determine your position on your nursing program’s waitlist or familiarize yourself with your school’s lottery system. 

If your school accepts new students into their nursing program based on a lottery you should get to know how it works and your chances of getting accepted into your nursing program each year. Add yourself to your nursing program’s emailing list and otherwise keep in contact with your School of Nursing to ensure you are up to date on your estimated time of entry into the program and factors that could affect this estimate. 

For those on a waitlist, there are sometimes instances where a student who is supposed to begin their nursing program has to unexpectedly drop out of the program before it even begins for personal reasons. This can actually work in your favor and you might be called suddenly to fill the position of the student who dropped out at the last minute. So if you are near the top of the list and nearing the start of another semester, be prepared to be accepted into your program without notice. That way you can immediately work toward completing any last minute books and supplies purchases, complete any required reading prior to the first week of the program, complete any vaccinations, titers, or health screenings, or attend any mandatory meetings. 

Step 9: You made it!!!

 You might be coming back to this post after having been on the nursing program waitlist for some time or selected from your School of Nursing’s lottery (hopefully sooner than later). I hope this happy message finds you well and congratulations to you for your perseverance and determination. Now is your time to shine and I wish you good luck and a memorable experience in your nursing program now that you are accepted to nursing school! 

Go register for your classes and remember to make meaningful connections along the way. The relationships you foster in nursing school will often last you a lifetime!   

This was written for future nurses, from a nurse. 

Thank you for taking the time to read through my advice to you on how to get into nursing school. I hope you have a great experience along the way and that my guide helps you or a loved one navigate your way into nursing school with confidence and knowing someone is cheering you on the entire way! If you found this guide useful in any way, please share it with another future nurse and pass the love! 

References:

ATI Testing. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://www.atitesting.com/ 

Nursing, Registered. Sierra College. (n.d.) retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://catalog.sierracollege.edu/departments/nursing-registered/#degreescertificatestext 

Registered nursing. Sierra College. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2022, from https://www.sierracollege.edu/academics/interest-areas/public-safety-health-wellness/registered-nursing/