Undergraduate Admission Policies

Students wishing to apply to the LHSON must be classified as a PNU2 at Baylor, Post-Baccalaureate, or Transfer student.  Post-Baccalaureate and Transfer students are not required to complete a New Student Experience course.

All applicants must meet the following admission criteria:

1. Applicants must be admitted to Baylor University or be Baylor University students in good standing.
    
2. Formal application to the School of Nursing is required. Applications, including both University and School of Nursing applications may be accessed on the School of Nursing website. Application deadlines for the Traditional Program are January 15 for fall admission and July 15 for spring admission. The deadline for FastBacc Program admission is January 15th (Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time). Fall admission is restricted to Baylor University students who have completed at least 30 credit hours in residence on the Waco campus.  Transfer students are not eligible for Fall admission
    
3. Required lower division courses must be completed during the full academic semester prior to admission. For example, for fall admission courses must be completed by the end of the preceding spring semester. 
    
4. Students may be provisionally registered for the first semester classes pending official transcripts of required lower division courses.  Students will not be allowed to register for future semesters if all official transcripts of required lower division work taken elsewhere are not on file with Baylor.
    
5. A minimum grade of “C” (not “C-”) is mandatory in each required lower division course. Students must achieve a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 on all completed required lower division courses. The overall cumulative GPA and science GPA must be a 2.75 or higher for admission to the program. Only the most recently completed course grade will count for admissions purposes. Students who fail the same required lower division course twice are not eligible to apply.
    
6. Applicants may only repeat a maximum of two required lower division courses.
    
7. The School of Nursing has adopted core performance standards for admission and progression within the major. The core performance standards identify behaviors which are essential to the responsibilities of a student nurse. These include, but are not limited to, psychomotor and sensory abilities, critical thinking, and communication skills. Students must sign the core performance document provided by the School of Nursing signifying that they are able to meet these standards and behaviors.
    
8. Students are required to submit to a criminal background check before beginning classes at LHSON and a drug screen prior to beginning a clinical rotation. A positive drug screen and/or failure to clear the criminal background check with the Texas Board of Nursing will prohibit the student from attending the school of nursing.
    
9. Students desiring to transfer into the BSN Program are required to provide a letter of good standing from the former baccalaureate school of nursing in situations where nursing credits have been earned.
    
10. Regardless of the number of credit hours accepted for transfer, the 60 hour residency requirement must be met.
     
11. Nursing applicants are required to take the designated nurse admission examination as part of the application process. Minimum scores of 80 on each of the HESI A2 Math and English Composite portions are required to be admitted to the nursing program. There is a fee associated with the required testing, and the HESI A2 exam may be taken a maximum of three attempts. A 60 day waiting period is required between tests.
     
12. Students for whom English is their second language are required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Minimum scores for admission consideration are: Paper Based Test of 560, Computer Based Test of 220, Internet Based Test (iBT) of 83.
     
13. Acceptance to the School of Nursing is term specific. Due to the competitive nature of admission to the nursing program, future acceptance to the School of Nursing is not guaranteed.