Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Because the pre-nursing requirements are designed to give students a solid liberal arts foundation, many of the pre-nursing requirements also fulfill general core requirements for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) at KU. If you are familiar with your ARTS form (academic requirements tracking system form), click here and the page will show you how each pre-nursing requirement fulfills general education requirements as they are listed on your ARTS form.

One of the first things you can do is to access KU's listing of "transfer equivalencies." This is a web page designed and updated by the Office of Admissions at KU to give you a preliminary idea of how courses may transfer. Your next step is to stop by 109 Strong Hall to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) Undergraduate Services office. Ask them for a "transfer equivalency form." This is a form that gives you a more specific idea of if and how the transferred courses would fulfill requirements. The big key is to make sure that official transcripts from the other institution are sent directly to KU so they can placed on your permanent records.

It is very rare for students to be unable to enroll in the courses they NEED for graduation. What can happen, however, is that the times courses are offered or the alternative courses that can be taken may not be exactly what students DESIRE. Because of this, it is important for students to approach course selection with an open-mind and a flexible attitude.

For example, if SOC 104 is full, you have several other options to take in order to fulfill that same requirement (i.e. ANTH 104 or 108); or if the only time that MATH 101 will work in your schedule is at 8:30 AM, you may need to become a morning person! The best thing to do is talk with your advisor about scheduling options and course selection.

KU and most nursing schools are looking for students with a strong academic background; an interest in and commitment to nursing; and community service activities. When evaluating nursing candidates, KU School of Nursing looks specifically at: GPA; fulfillment of required courses; references; extra-curricular, volunteer and work experiences; and personal characteristics.

No, you don't need to have all 62 credit hours completed to submit an application to KU's School of Nursing; in fact, most students don't! All of the required coursework, however, must be completed prior to your final admission to the program and before you can begin courses at KU's School of Nursing.

Admission to KU's School of Nursing is competitive. 128 students are admitted each year out of the approximately 500 students who apply. The School of Nursing admits students once a year for the fall semester. The deadline for submitting an application is October 15th of the year prior to the fall semester you wish to begin. For example, the Fall 2008 admission deadline is October 15, 2007.

At the baccalaureate level, all students will get exposure to a variety of nursing areas: critical care, pediatrics, community health, mental health, to name a few. During the spring semester of their senior year, nursing students will spend the majority of their time in a professional practicum, gaining additional and more specific experience prior to graduation.

Many specialty areas, such as Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Anethesist, Mid-wife, are graduate level programs. Once a student completes their BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing), they can apply to the MSN (Master of Science in Nursing) program for further study.

Class sizes vary depending on the courses. Some courses are very small (less than 10) because the student is learning practical/clinical skills, others will be large because the entire junior class is required to take a particular course at one time. For example, during the first semester, NURS 340-Foundations of Nursing and Health Promotion may have 120 students in lecture, but the labs will have 10 students or less.

The BSN program is designed to be completed in 4 semesters and a summer session, providing the student attends full-time. Attendance during the summer semester between the junior and senior year is required. The program is designed to be a full-time program; however, if a student wishes to attend part-time, he/she can petition the admission committee. Those requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The semesters are designed to build upon each other, so there is not a lot of room to deviate from the curriculum plan.

The job outlook for nurses is terrific right now! 100% of our May 2006 graduates who looked for jobs during the spring and summer had jobs by September. They are working in such fields as hematology, neonatal, pediatrics, oncology, general practice and obstetrics, as well as other fields. The majority of the graduates are working in a hospital setting. The average starting salary in the Kansas City area is $42,000; nationally it is about the same.

There are so many different areas that a person with a BSN can enter! One can work in a hospital setting, in the community, the home health care area, or in an industrial setting, to name a few. There really are endless possibilities.

After the BSN some students elect to enroll in the Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) for further, specialized training. Some of the areas KU offers graduate work include: Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Practitioner, Mid-Wife, Nursing Administration and Nurse Anesthetist. (The Nurse Anesthesia program is offered through the School of Allied Health.) Following the MSN program, some students go on to complete their PhD in Nursing. This degree program prepares graduates for faculty, administrative and research positions.

A person who wishes to become a Registered Nurse (RN) can attain that goal in a couple of different ways. They can go to a baccalaureate program (BSN), like the one at KU, or they can attend a two-year program and graduate with an Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN). Upon completion of either the BSN or ADN, the student can then sit for the Registered Nurse exam. After a successful completion of the exam, a person is considered a RN.

The big difference between the two degrees, other than length, is that the BSN goes into more detail in the nursing courses - a student gets more variety and exposure to different arenas within the health care field. Although there are similarities between the prerequisite courses a student must complete for both degree programs, a BSN student has had more clinical lab experience. It is important to remember that ADN programs vary from institution to institution. Interested students should contact the college of their choice to get additional information.

The School of Nursing at KU does offer a BSN completion to students who already have their RN. And now that program is available completely on-line, as well on the KUMC campus. However, if a student's goal is to ultimately obtain a BSN, we strongly encourage the student to start off in the BSN program, bypassing the ADN. In the long run, it is a more direct route to the RN.