We appreciate your interest in the Rush University College of Nursing. You will apply to Rush University’s nursing programs via NursingCAS, the centralized application service for nursing. NursingCAS collects and processes your application documents and verifies your transcripts. We receive this information from NursingCAS and use it to make our admission decisions.
Regardless of whether a program admits on a pooled or rolling basis, applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their application as early as possible.
For programs with rolling admissions, decisions are emailed as they become available.
Choosing a Program Designation
When you apply in NursingCAS, you will need to choose a specific program and term of entry.
- During each admissions cycle, applicants may apply to 1 program track only.
- Applications submitted to multiple tracks, during the same admissions cycle will not be considered for admission.
Program options for non-nurses:
- If you have a bachelor's degree in an area other than nursing and do not have a registered nursing license, choose the MSN for Non-Nurses: Generalist Entry Master's (GEM) option.
- If you have a master's degree in a health-related field and want to become a clinical researcher, choose the PhD option.
Program options for nurses:
- If you have a bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN) and no graduate nursing degree, you can choose one of two options:
- MSN for RNs: Clinical Nurse Leader.
- BSN-DNP in your desired specialty.
- If you have a BSN and a master's degree in another field, choose the BSN-DNP option.
- If you have a master's degree in nursing (MSN), choose the MSN-DNP option in your desired specialty.
- If you are an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), you can choose one of the following options:
- MSN-DNP designation in a second specialty (not the advanced practice area in which you are already certified).
- MSN-DNP designation in transformative leadership: systems.
- MSN-DNP designation in transformative leadership: population health.
- If you want to become a clinical researcher and have a BSN or MSN, choose the PhD option.
Submitting Transcripts
We recommend that you order all official transcripts from a collegiate level or higher and have them sent directly to NursingCAS as early in the application process as you can. It can take up to 10 business days for NursingCAS to process transcripts from the time they are received. NursingCAS provides detailed information on the transcript process for all applicants. Rush University requires course-by-course evaluations for transcripts from foreign institutions and we accept evaluations from World Education Services, Inc. and Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
We do not require that you submit high school transcripts to NursingCAS.
Starting Your Application
We recommend that you complete the required NursingCAS fields and submit your application well before the deadline. It can take several weeks for NursingCAS to verify your transcripts and calculate GPAs after you submit the application and transcripts have been received.
Please review the required fields in the sections below that you need to complete before you can submit an application.
- Personal information
- Academic history
- Supporting information
- Program materials
As programs are competitive, we strongly encourage you to submit all required documents to NursingCAS well in advance of the application deadline.
You should check your personal application page in the NursingCAS portal to confirm that your transcripts and recommendation letters have been successfully received.
If you submit your application well before the deadline, our admissions staff will review your file and notify you if any materials are missing to ensure your application is complete by the deadline.
For select programs, the Admissions Committee may consider applications completed after the deadline if space remains available.
Completing Your Application
To apply to any of our programs, complete all of the following steps:
- Submit a completed application to NursingCAS.
- Pay the non-refundable fee to NursingCAS.
- Complete the brief Rush supplemental application, which you will receive after submitting your application to NursingCAS.
If you do not submit accurate or all required information, we will not consider your application for admission.
Applications must be completed independently and without the use of artificial intelligence.