Nursing, Accelerated B.A./B.S. to B.S.N.

Contact Information

Kimberly Baxter, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC
Associate Professor
Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs
University of Nevada, Reno
Orvis School of Nursing
Reno, NV 89557
(775) 682-7145
kimbaxter@unr.edu

Lisa Thomas, PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN
Associate Professor 
Track Leader, ASBSN Program
University of Nevada, Reno
Orvis School of Nursing
Reno, NV 89557
(775) 682-7155
lmthomas@unr.edu

Admission Requirements

Students must meet the following requirements to apply to the nursing major.

1. Must be a graduate of an accredited institution with a baccalaureate degree. Degree must be posted prior to application period.
2. Must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75.
3. Must be an active student at UNR during the application period with all transcripts submitted and evaluated. In progress coursework must be documented in transcripts.
4. Submit a formal application to the Orvis School of Nursing by the date specified by the Admissions, Progression and Student Affairs (APSA) committee. No more than 2 prerequisite courses can be during the application period.
5. All prerequisite courses must be taken for a grade (not S/U). Transfer credits taken for S/U credit from an institution that does not offer letter grades are evaluated on an individual basis.
6. The following courses are required to be completed with a grade C or higher from an accredited college with minimum GPA of 3.0 to qualify for application to the program. All prerequisites must have been taken within 7 years of application process.
   1. Anatomy & Physiology: 12 quarter credits or 8 semester credits; a full sequence of human anatomy and physiology with laboratory, inclusive of all body systems. This sequence must be taken in its entirety. (UNR equivalent: BIOL 223 A/L and BIOL 224 A/L)
   2. Microbiology with lab: 3 to 4 quarter/semester credits: Basic Microbiology with laboratory component. (UNR equivalent:BIOL 251)
   3. Nutrition: 3 quarter/semester credits: Class should cover biological functions, dietary sources of essential nutrients and the relationship of diet to health (UNR equivalent: NUTR 223)
   4. Human Development: 3 quarter/semester credits: Class should cover the social and psychological developmental process of human life including the full life span (birth through death). Courses covering only part of the life span will not be accepted. (UNR equivalent: HDFS 201)
   5. Statistics: 3 or 4 quarter/semester credits: Class must include both descriptive and inferential components. Statistics may be taken in any department (e.g. Math, Psychology, Business, etc) (UNR equivalent: STATS 152)
   6. Math: 3 quarter/semester credits: Course must be a college pre-calculus course or higher (UNR equivalent: MATH ≥ 126)
7. Students must have a completed HESI exam with minimum scores of 80% on Anatomy & Physiology, 80% on Math, 75% on Reading, and 75% on Grammar. The HESI exam may be taken one time per application cycle with a maximum of three total attempts. The most recent HESI scores must be submitted, and will be used for each application submitted to the Orvis school of Nursing.
8. The Orvis School of Nursing actively supports the University of Nevada, Reno’s policies that ensure equal opportunity/ affirmative action and diversity.

Prelicensure Program Application Process

1. Applications are reviewed by the Undergraduate Program Officer, the Associate Dean of Undergraduate programs, and the chair of the Admissions, Progressions, and Student Affairs committee.
2. Applications that do not meet minimum requirements will not be considered. The applicant will receive a letter stating the reason(s) the application was not reviewed.
3. Applications that meet minimum requirements will be evaluated through a point-based matrix (see below).
4. Applicants will be ranked from highest to lowest based on the application matrix. Applicants with the top 24 matrix scores will be offered provisional admission to the OSN accelerated second baccalaureate program.
5. In the event of a tie, the tie-breaking candidate will be selected using the following criteria in order of preference:

a. Healthcare experience

b. HESI A&P

c. HESI Cumulative

Carefully review the application information available at https://www.unr.edu/degrees/nursing/bsn.

Graduation Requirements

• Total Units | 120
• Cumulative GPA | 2.0
• University GPA | 2.0
• Major GPA | 2.0 & earn at least a “C” in required NURS courses
• University Residency Requirement | 30 upper-division units at UNR
• Major Residency Requirement | 15 units in major requirements at UNR
• Upper-Division Requirement | 60 upper-division units
• Half Program Units/4-Year Institution | 60 units

I. Core General Education Requirements (7 units)

II. Additional Core Requirements (6 maximum)

Students must take courses that satisfy the following Core Objectives. Some or all of these Core Objectives may be satisfied in the Major Requirements (Section IV).  Refer to the Core Curriculum  chapter in this catalog.

III. Prerequisite Requirements (24-25 units)

Complete prerequisite courses with at least a “C”.

IV. Major Requirements (51 units)

Admission to the ASBSN Program is competitive. Requirements include a bachelor’s degree or higher in a non-nursing field from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.75 and successful completion of the prerequisite courses listed above.

Complete NURS courses with at least a “C”.

V. Recommended Schedule

This schedule does not include prerequisite courses which must be completed prior to admission to the ASBSN Program. Outstanding Silver Core requirements must also be met prior to the completion of the program.