Master's Entry in Nursing (MSN) for Non-Nurses Admission Guidelines

The College of Nursing participates in Nursing’s Centralized Application Service (NursingCAS). Find out how to apply.  NursingCAS collects and processes your application documents and verifies your 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. 

We evaluate all applicants on the following:

• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher (on a 4.0 scale).
• Prerequisite GPA of 3.0 or higher (on a 4.0 scale).
  • RUSH will receive GPA calculations from NursingCAS only after NursingCAS has received all of your official transcripts.
  • GPAs will be calculated by NursingCAS.  
• Substantive answers to personal essay question (included in Program Materials section of NursingCAS).
• Three professional letters of recommendation.
  • Letters should be from faculty and/or work managers.
  • It is important that you choose recommenders who know you well and can evaluate your current or prospective clinical and leadership abilities, critical thinking, and potential for successfully completing graduate school.
  • Recommendations from friends, relatives, or co-workers will not be accepted and will cause your application to be delayed or denied.
• Resume or CV that includes the following information:
  • Community service.
  • Educational, leadership and professional organization activities.
  • Scholarly activities, including publications, presentations, research, honors and awards.
  • Work experience.
• GRE scores, are not required.
• TOEFL scores, if required.
• Personal interview with faculty. The interview is by invitation only.
• All required prerequisite courses completed by the application deadline.

• The College welcomes applications from those individuals who hold Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) status.

If you fail to submit accurate or any required information, we will remove your application from consideration for admission.

Prerequisite Courses

You are required to successfully complete all of the courses below, with a C or better, by the application deadline. We recommend, but do not require, that you complete a laboratory component for each of these courses.

• General Chemistry I*

• Human Anatomy**

• Human Physiology**

• Microbiology***

*We do not accept Introductory Chemistry, Basic Chemistry, Fundamentals of Chemistry, or Foundations of Chemistry. Only one term of General Chemistry is required. 

**Anatomy and Physiology may be taken as two separate courses or as Anatomy and Physiology I and Anatomy and Physiology II. We recommend, but do not require, that you have completed a Human Anatomy and Physiology course within the last three years.

***We do not accept Cellular and Molecular Biology in place of Microbiology.

Process

Admission is pooled — we take time to thoroughly review all credentials submitted to the admissions committee. 

We enroll 76 students twice per year: fall (September) and spring (January). Clinical groups generally have eight students per faculty member.