Direct Entry MSN Admissions Overview

When it comes to accepting students into our College of Nursing, we seek applicants who do not only meet our admissions requirements, but also hold values that align with our university’s mission of promoting health, healing, and social justice.

To enroll in our Direct Entry MSN program, you will need to satisfy several requirements. Applicants must hold a non-nursing bachelor’s degree and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0, and are required to complete several prerequisite courses, such as anatomy and physiology.

Once the admissions requirements are met, applicants are encouraged to apply to any of our three start dates each year. Our Pleasant Prairie learning site offers program starts in January and August, and our Milwaukee campus offers program starts in May. Because deadlines may vary slightly from year to year, ask your admissions adviser for the exact application deadline associated with your desired program start. We do not review any application that is not complete by the specified deadline. However, if you are enrolled in prerequisite courses that are not yet complete, we will still consider your application.

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Dedicated Admissions Advisers

We have dedicated admissions advisers who work exclusively with our nursing applicants. Committed to student success, these champions of higher learning go above and beyond to help potential candidates understand the full scope of the program and the time commitment involved.

Once you decide to pursue your nursing degree through Marquette University, we will assign you an adviser who can help you:

FAQ's


How can I make my application more competitive?

While you can’t go back and improve your academic history, you can control how well you do in the prerequisite courses and how well you put together your application package. We require applicants to submit a series of supplementary admissions materials—a resume, three letters of recommendation and an admissions statement—as part of the application process. These materials help give us a sense of your character, motivation and passion for the nursing profession. Ask your adviser for assistance; they will be more than happy to help you optimize your application package.

Is there a time limit on prerequisite courses? What if they won’t be completed by the deadline?

Statistics must be completed within five years of the program’s start. It is preferred that anatomy and physiology be completed within the past five years. If your prerequisites are older, you may wish to refresh your learning in these areas. You are encouraged to contact the Direct Entry MSN Graduate Program Advisor with your questions about the suitability of a course.

You may take prerequisite courses or be in the process of completing a degree when you apply. To strengthen your application, please have your instructor email our Graduate Program Coordinator with your final fall semester grade as soon as it is available.

You will still be required to submit an official transcript reflecting the completed prerequisite and any other outstanding requirements as soon as it is available. To provide your strongest application, it is recommended that all but one or two of your prerequisites be completed by the application deadline. In all cases, all courses leading to your degree, and your prerequisite requirements, must be successfully completed by the time the program begins.

What if I miss the application deadline by one day?

We do not review any application that is not complete by the specified deadline. However, if you are enrolled in prerequisite courses that are not yet complete, we will still consider your application.

I am concerned that my GPA does not reflect my true abilities. Would you take this into consideration?

While we do require a 3.0 cumulative undergraduate GPA for consideration, if you feel that a one-off, short-term situation may be a problem for your candidacy, please bring this to our attention. You may wish to include a brief statement explaining the situation and asking us to take note of a special circumstance. For example, an applicant could ask us to look at each semester’s GPA, where we would see outstanding performance except for one semester, when a specific problem occurred.

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Contact us to learn more about the admissions process for Marquette University.