Admissions Information: Prelicensure

• Admission to UNCW
• Combined GPA of 2.7 or higher from all institutions attended
• Completion of TEAS Assessment
• Completion of the below five prerequisite courses:
  • CHM 101
  • PSY 105
  • One sociology or economics course (SOC 105, ECN 125, or ECN 221)
  • One biology course (BIO 201, BIO 240, or BIO 246)
  • One math or statistics course (MAT 101*, 111, 112, 115, 150, 151, 152, 160, 161, 162, or STT 210, 215, BAN 280)
• Video with prompt

*MAT 101 The Art of Mathematics will be accepted. MAT 101 Mathematics for the Liberal Arts will not be accepted.

Scores are calculated based on four elements*:

• GPA in Math/Science prerequisites: 30%
  • CHM/L 101
  • BIO/L 201
  • BIO/L 240
  • BIO/L 241
  • BIO 246 (course only; no lab needed)
  • STT 210 or 215 or PSY 225 or QMM 280
  • MAT 101**, 111, 112, 115, 150, 151, 152, 160, 161, 162
  • All Math/Science prerequisite courses must be completed within 10 years prior to application.
• GPA in Non-Math/Science prerequisites: 25%
  • PSY 105
  • PAR 101, 110, 115, 205, 211 or 215
  • SOC 105, ECN 125, or ECN 221
• Score on TEAS Assessment: 25%
  • You must complete the TEAS assessment within a testing period, and UNCW Testing Services must receive your TEAS score via ATI Testing prior to the application deadline.
• Video with prompt: 20%
  • NOTE: In order to submit your video, you must upload it to a service like SharePoint, YouTube, Vimeo, or other file hosting service. You will then share the link to that video while completing the application. It is located after the section where you list your grades for your prerequisite courses. 
  • Please answer the following prompts:
    • Describe your interest in the UNCW Prelicensure Nursing program.
    • Describe how the UNCW Prelicensure Program will help you achieve your goals.
    • How will the UNCW Prelicensure Program enable you to positively impact Southeastern North Carolina?
  • The video is limited to two minutes.
  • This should be a “professional” presentation (as if presenting for an interview for a full-time professional position).
  • The video should have no background distractions that limit or restrict full attention.
  • The audio should not have distracting background noises (traffic, music, pets, children).
  • The lighting is adequate (avoid background lighting).
  • Each of these bullet points will contribute to the scoring of the video on the following scale:
    • 5 points: Excellent
    • 4 points: Good
    • 3 points: Satisfactory
    • 2 points: Partially met requirements
    • 1 point: Did not meet requirements

*When reviewing the course list above, a class with ‘/L’ is requiring a lab, totaling 4 credits, to be considered for admission.

**MAT 101 The Art of Mathematics will be accepted. MAT 101 Mathematics for the Liberal Arts will not be accepted

GPA will be calculated based on all completed courses. Students may repeat all prerequisite courses, regardless of first grade earned. The highest grade will be used in the evaluation of the application.

For courses with multiple options in a category, students may repeat all courses in that category once and the highest grade will be used in the evaluation of the application. The following categories apply to this rule: MAT Category, SOC/ECN Category, PAR Category, and STT Category. For example, if a student earned a C in PAR 101, and repeated for a grade of B, that student could not take PAR 101 a third time, but could take one of the other PAR options.

The repeated course may be taken at UNCW or transferred into UNCW from another institution.

Students are not permitted to take a higher-level course and substitute it for one of the prerequisite courses. For example, if a student has taken CHM 102, the course will not be evaluated because it is not one of the required prerequisites.

The only exception is BIO 330 or BIO 425 can be substituted for BIO 246, as they are both Microbiology courses.

AP and CLEP Credit are not used in the evaluation of applications. Students will get credit for the course, but their score will not affect their standing. At least one course in each category (Math/Science prerequisites and Non-Math/Science prerequisites) must be completed for a grade in order to be evaluated for admission potential.

Once a student has earned a grade in a course, they cannot later CLEP in order to nullify the grade.

A Pass will be calculated in application scoring in a similar way as AP and CLEP: students will receive credit for completing the course as a Pass, but the Pass will not be calculated into the total score. At least one course in each category (Math/Science prerequisites and Non-Math/Science prerequisites) must be completed for a grade in order to be evaluated for admission potential. If a student is repeating a prerequisite course and chooses to take a Pass, the previous grade will be used on the application, not the Pass. Courses taken as a Fail, or any grades below a C in pre-requisite coursework, will disqualify the applicant from applying. 

Math/Science prerequisite courses must have been completed within 10 years of the application deadline. If any course is older than 10 years, students must retake/audit those courses.

Specific Dates:

• November 15, 2024 application deadline: Any courses taken before fall 2014 and prior are not valid. 
• July 1, 2025 application deadline: Any courses taken before spring 2015 and prior are not valid. 

If a student chooses to take the TEAS Test at another testing center or through ATI’s online proctoring, it is the student’s responsibility to ensure that they are taking the correct version of the TEAS Test and that UNCW receives their official scores via ATI Testing prior to the end of the test administration period.

The student will need to go to the ATI Store (online store) and request their transcript. UNCW will be in the drop-down menu on the website (online store) when they select TEAS Transcript.

Updated: 9/2024

Full Admit Status: Students are not considered a full admit until they have successful completion with a grade of “C” (2.77) or better of all prerequisite courses and maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 2.70.

Alternate List:

• When admissions decisions are made, 60 students will be conditionally admitted, and 10 students will be placed on the Alternate List. The 10 students will be notified of their rank on the alternate list.
• As admitted students decline their admissions from the program throughout the semester, the next student on the Alternate List will be notified as soon as possible of acceptance into the program. The remaining students will then be notified of their rank on the Alternate List.
• At the end of the semester, 60 total students will be conditionally admitted.

BIO 201 Waiver: BIO 201 waiver requests are only submitted for students who are admitted into the program. At UNCW, BIO 201 is a prerequisite for BIO 240 and 246. If a student completes these courses at an institution in which BIO 201 is not a prerequisite, the student will not need BIO 201 at UNCW.

BIO 240 Completion: BIO 240, BIO 241, and BIO 246 can be in progress when applying but must before the first semester of the nursing program. 

For the BSN degree in the School of Nursing:

• Current immunization record
• CPR certification
• Professional liability insurance
• Negative drug screen
• Cleared criminal background check
• Seasonal flu vaccine
• Agencies for clinical rotations may require proof of Covid vaccine or documented proof of need for exemption

For advising questions, contact the Student Success Center at 910.962.3208 or chhs@uncw.edu.