Traditional Prelicensure Track

Admissions Process: First-Time UMass Amherst Students

The admission process for Nursing has changed. Applicants are now reviewed for direct admission to the Nursing major. Because of the limited number of spaces in the Nursing major, this review process is very selective. The benefit of this change is that successful candidates will enter the University as full Nursing majors. Given the competitive nature of admission to Nursing programs at many colleges and universities, direct admission to the major is a real advantage to students.

Admissions Process: Transfer Students

Freshman applicants have the greatest access to the Nursing major, since students will enter as a cohort and proceed through the curriculum together. Transfer students are condsidered only if positions become available in the major. If vacancies occur, a notice will be posted on the School of Nursing Website, along with directions on how to apply. Because vacancies cannot be anticipated, there is no guarantee as to the semester in which a transfer student would be able to enter the program. Transfer students are responsible for all prerequisite coursework needed to enter the junior year of Nursing. To be eligible for transfer, applicants must have an overall University GPA of 3.0 or better and must have completed 12 credits of course work at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. For more information, please refer to the Undergraduate Student Handbook. See the section on Admission Requirements for the Traditional Pre-Licensure track.

Course of Study

This traditional prelicensure track begins with a two-year pre-clinical plan designed to help you select appropriate courses on a semester-by-semester basis. Required science courses need to be taken in the correct order. Most courses that meet the university's General Education requirements need not be taken in a specific sequence but must be completed by the end of the first two years of study because the nursing courses in the junior and senior years constitute full course loads in each semester.

You need to complete all School of Nursing prerequisite courses with a grade of C or better (minimum GPA of 2.5).

The final two years of study focus exclusively on nursing theory and clinical nursing courses to prepare you to graduate and take the NCLEX-RN® Professional Nursing Licensure exam.

Revised: NK 9/17/09