BSN Traditional Track Admission Requirements
Application deadlines and due dates for the IUSON Core Campus of Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Bloomington are found below and may also be found at each campus' School of Nursing website. Students interested in nursing on another IU campus should consult the website of that campus for more information about nursing.
August Entry for IUPUI, IUFW and IUB
- Applications available online: January 15th
- Deadline to apply: March 15th
- Application closes at 5:00 p.m. on March 15th
January Entry IUPUI and IUFW
- Applications available online: July 15th
- Deadline to apply: September 15th
- Application closes at 5:00 p.m. on September 15th
The admission process is competitive, and acceptance depends on the number of applicants and the applicant's ability to compete academically in the pool of applicants. Students seeking admission to the nursing major must meet the following eligibility criteria:
- The applicant must be admitted to Indiana University as a degree‐seeking student and must submit official transcripts from other universities attended so that credits may be transferred.
- The applicant must achieve an application overall GPA of 3.00 in all nursing program requirements.
- All applicants must meet the nursing program core course requirements. The nursing program requires the following five courses: English Composition, Introductory Psychology, Introductory Sociology, Human Anatomy [or Anatomy & Physiology I (A & P I) at IUFW] and Finite Math (or Calculus). These five courses comprise 65% of the weighted admission score and are required for admission to any of the three Core Campuses (IUPUI, IU Bloomington, or IU Fort Wayne).
- Of the five nursing program required courses, up to three courses may be repeated one time to achieve a minimum grade of C (2.0).
- (ADD) - Failure of required courses prior to seven years before application, does not count in the number of repeated courses.
- All applicants must also meet three or four additional campus specific general education requirements. Required general education courses are listed below by campus. These courses comprise 35% of the weighted admission score. The total number of credit hours used to meet the application requirements is typically 29-31 credits. While completing the BSN degree program, a maximum of two science/math courses (including physiology and microbiology) may be repeated one time in order to achieve a minimum grade of C (2.0).
- At IUPUI:
- Speech, required
- Human Physiology, required
- Arts and Humanities and/or Cultural Understanding General Education course, and/or MATH-M110 or M111 (Maximum of 2 courses – one General Education Course is required)
- At IU
- One 3-5 credit Critical/Analytical/Science or Natural and Mathematical Science course (specific courses selected by School of Nursing faculty from the approved N&M and Critical/Analytical Science lists)
- Additionally, three courses from the following General Education requirement groups are to be entered on the application:
- Social and Historical (maximum of 1 course);
- World Language/World Culture (maximum of 2 courses) and/or
- Arts and Humanities (maximum of 2 courses)
- At IUFW:
- Speech, required
- Anatomy and Physiology 2, required
- Additionally, one course from Arts and Humanities is to be entered on the application.
- At IUPUI:
- In the case of courses with a laboratory component, the didactic and lab are considered one course. The grade earned on the most recent attempt will be used for calculation of GPA for admission purposes. This policy relates to IU and transfer courses, and students who are not able to meet the minimum criteria are ineligible for admission consideration.
- The applicant must achieve a grade of C (2.0) or higher for each course and an application overall GPA of 3.00 in all nursing program requirements. This criterion also applies to any student wishing to transfer required courses from a university other than Indiana University. Applicants may use up to a maximum of 7 credits of Special Departmental (S) or Test (T) credit (e.g. Advanced Placement or departmental examination credit). The Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology requirements must be met with graded college coursework, not by S or T credits.
- The applicant must complete all required course work by an established deadline date. This includes independent studies, correspondence course work and courses for which students have received an incomplete (I). Students wishing to transfer required course work from a university other than Indiana University must be in good academic standing in that university (i.e., must not have been dismissed) and have achieved a grade of C (2.0) or higher in courses for which transfer is being requested.
- The student must have an application overall GPA of 3.00 or greater in all nursing program requirements at the time of final application processing. The Nursing GPA above includes transfer grades. Applicants will complete a separate application to the specific Core Campus (IUPUI, or IUB, or IUFW) they aspire to be admitted to. Although students may apply to more than one campus, students must meet all the admission requirements for the specific campus to which they submit an application. IUSON Core Advisors will maintain a list of some common courses posted in One Drive to facilitate the transferability of General Education courses for students intending to apply to more than one campus. Students are required to complete the Intercampus Transfer form by the application deadline (March 15 for Fall admission and November 1 for Spring admission). Students planning to transfer to a different Core campus are required to meet with a Nursing or Pre-Nursing advisor on the campus to which they are applying.
- Preference will be given to students who have completed 51% of application courses at a Core campus (IUPUI, IUB or IUFW). If additional seats are available, students who have completed fewer than 51% of their application courses at a Core campus will be considered. Students who did not attend a Core campus who will be submitting an application should work with a nursing advisor to determine exact courses to be placed on the application.
- Students will be ranked using their Weighted Admission Score.
- Students who have been dismissed from another School of Nursing are not eligible for admission.
- Students must have a social security number at the time of application.
- Students must be at least 18 years of age at the time of admission.
As part of the application process the applicant must submit a Student Criminal Disclosure form to communicate any issues that would be documented on a national criminal background check. Students who have a criminal history that precludes clinical placement will not be eligible for admission (consult with an academic advisor).
Anatomy and Physiology
If a student has taken a set of combined-content Anatomy and Physiology courses at another university, each of the Core Campuses admissions department will determine how they transfer in. Because there may be campus differences, the IUSON will record on the nursing application the exact grades the student received in all components which meet the requirement with the grade awarded by the institution where the student took the course. For example, if the Anatomy requirement is met with a combination of Anatomy and Physiology part 1 and 2 with separate grades for the lectures and labs, there would be four separate entries on the nursing application.
Consideration for admission is based upon the following:
Core Required Courses GPA (65%):
- English Composition
- Introductory Psychology
- Introductory Sociology
- Human Anatomy (or A & P I for IUFW)
- Finite Math or Calculus
General Education Courses GPA (35%):
The remaining courses listed on the application constitute the General Education course requirements. The applicant must have completed the minimum requirements listed in item 6 for the campus(es) for which they are applying. The applicant must designate which courses will be applied to meet the general education requirements where course choice is an option. These courses may come from approved course lists relevant to the campus to which the student is seeking admission.
Grades earned in transfer courses accepted and applied to required general education credit hours will count in the calculation of either the General Education Courses GPA or the Required Courses GPA.
Test of Essential Academic Skills (ATI TEAS):
The Test of Essential Academic Skills (ATI TEAS), published by Assessment Technologies, Inc. is a standardized test of achievement, measuring basic essential skills in the academic content domains of reading, mathematics, science, and English and language usage.
Students may take the TEAS test up to two times to obtain a score of Proficient (58.7%). Students must receive an overall ATI TEAS score of Proficient (58.7%) to be eligible to apply. In the instance of a student taking the TEAS test two times the scores will be compared and the higher of the two scores will be used for application eligibility. The TEAS Score will not be used in the weighted admission score to rank students competitively.
When multiple students are tied for the final position available in an incoming class the Center for Academic Affairs will:
- Extend the number of decimal places presented in the Weighted Admission Score to identify and select the student with the higher score.
- Compare the tied students’ application overall GPA and choose the student with the higher application overall GPA.
- Compare the tied students’ Nursing Program Core Required Course GPA and choose the student with the higher Nursing Program Core Required Course GPA.
Time limitation on specific courses:
Knowledge and competencies developed in courses that fulfill the requirements for Anatomy, Human Physiology, Finite Math, Microbiology, and Statistics are considered to be time limited for individuals pursuing an undergraduate degree in nursing. If any of these courses were taken no more than seven years prior to the beginning of nursing courses to the nursing undergraduate degree, the applicant must validate the related knowledge and competencies through testing, portfolio, or repeating the course to be eligible for admission and progression.
Failure of required non-math or non-science courses prior to seven years before application, does not count in the number of repeated courses.
Entry requirements for applicants offered admission to the BSN program:
Students will be admitted to the baccalaureate nursing degree program for a specific semester and are expected to enter the program that semester. Students must formally accept or decline admission by the deadline indicated in the provisional acceptance letter. Students who do not accept admission by the deadline are considered to have declined and the offer of admission is null.
Students who have received an offer of admission will need to submit documentation of the following requirements prior to beginning in the nursing degree program:
- Required immunizations
- Proof of health insurance
- CPR training
- National criminal background check: our clinical partners have requirements about who may participate in clinical rotations, therefore applicants with positive criminal background checks will be reviewed to determine eligibility for participation in the program.
- Drug Screen – Our clinical partners have requirements about who may participate in clinical rotations. Therefore, applicants with positive drug screens will be reviewed to determine eligibility for participation in the program.
If the requirements are not met, the offer of admission will be rescinded.
Applicants who are offered admission to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program but then fail a required course in the interim between an initial offer of admission and program entry will still be eligible to begin the first semester in the School of Nursing. Students must successfully complete the required course in the semester in which the course appears in the admitted student’s plan of study.
The Human Anatomy, Human Physiology and Microbiology courses must include in-person lab sections. Labs may not be taken online.
Social Security Number Requirement:
Most health care facilities which provide clinical training space to the IU School of Nursing require that participating students have a Social Security Number to be granted a computer ID and password to access patient records and other information. Therefore, to be eligible for admission to the BSN program, students must have a valid Social Security number. There are no exceptions.
If admission is denied or declined:
If denied admission, the applicant may reapply to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program in a subsequent semester if eligibility is maintained. The applicant is not automatically considered; the student must re‐submit an application.
Students will be admitted to the baccalaureate nursing degree program for a specific semester and are expected to enter the program that semester. Students not entering that specific semester must reapply for a subsequent semester on a competitive basis. Students will not be considered for further admission if they have declined an admission offer two times.
Please refer to School of Nursing Policy AFS-15
Last updated March 2022
