Confusion about applying to college and nursing school.

[rabv]

I am a high school senior interested in nursing. I have been looking at many different colleges to apply to, but am confused. All schools of nursing have prerequisites that must be fulfilled before applying for nursing school. Does that mean that I can't apply for school of nursing right after high school? Do I have to apply for the college first, fulfill the prerequisites, and then apply for school of nursing?

What happens if I get into the college, apply for nursing, but they don't accept me? I don't want to waste two years only to find out I can't get into nursing.

I was looking at University of Washington if anyone knows anything about their school. I'm also looking to earn a BSN.

Are there certain colleges perhaps where you apply only to the school of nursing and the prerequisites are included in the courses?

[KatieJ91]

Hi,

I am from WA state as well. I know for a fact that at WSU you must first apply to college, take the pre-reqs, and then apply to nursing school. I understand what you are saying about if you don't get accepted. That is why everyone has to try their hardest to get the best grades possible. Otherwise, it might take you a few months to a few years extra to get into the program once you're done with your pre-reqs. I know there are some programs where high school juniors and sophomores can take their pre-reqs concurrently with their high school credits. This way they can enter the program right out of high school. I have never heard of a program where you can do your pre-reqs concurrently, but someone else might be able to clarify that. This is just my opinion, but if you want to do the WSU nursing program you should check and see what their pre-reqs are and take those classes at the local community college then transfer to WSU whenever you apply to the nursing program. This option will save you lots of money!

[UVA Grad Nursing]

This will vary from school to school.

Some programs have 4-year BSN programs where you apply directly from high school to the nursing school. This is how things are structured at my University. We start nursing classes in the first year of college and clinical classes start in the second year.

Other schools have you apply to the general college or university first, and then apply to the nursing program at the end of your first or second year of study. In this format, you would do any prerequisites before you apply to the nursing program. If you were not accepted, then you would either complete your BA/BS in some other field, or look to transfer to another program. A common format of this type of program is also knows as a "2+2" program (two years doing liberal arts/prereqs and two years doing nursing).