Individual Admissions Policy

About the Policy

The purpose of the Individual Admissions Policy is to allow students to request special admission consideration when they do not meet the minimum admission criteria or have been unsuccessful in previous nursing coursework. Applying under this policy does not guarantee admission; it only offers students the opportunity to be considered for admission.

It is an applicant’s responsibility for understanding whether they must adhere to this policy prior to submitting their application. The Department of Nursing is not responsible for notifying students if this policy applies to them.

To be considered for individual admissions review, an applicant must submit the additional documents along with their application, official transcripts, and TEAS scores. The application and materials deadlines on the Admissions Requirements page apply to this policy.

Please read this page carefully and in its entirety when preparing to apply to the nursing program.

Policy Statement - Applicants Must Read before Applying

Any student who meets the minimum criteria to apply and the criteria outlined on this page may apply for individual admissions review. However, students who qualify for this policy are encouraged to consider what their recent academic record indicates about them as a scholar before proceeding with any application. The Individual Admissions Policy is meant to provide students an opportunity to account for past academic struggles, highlight evidence of their academic improvement, and attest to their capacity for success in a rigorous academic program.

This policy is not meant to serve as a means for students to request that ongoing academic struggles or substandard academics be overlooked in light of their desire to become a nurse. Students experiencing current and ongoing academic struggles or who have recently been unsuccessful in another nursing program are strongly encouraged to talk with an academic advisor about alternate nursing education avenues or options for improving their academics before deciding to apply.

Individual Admissions Review Criteria

Applicants must request consideration under the individual admission policy if they meet one or more of following criteria:

• Overall cumulative GPA between 2.50-2.99 between all schools attended
• More than two (2) repeat attempts of nursing prerequisites due to earning a grade lower than C (2.0)
• Math or science prerequisite coursework older than 10 years that has not been repeated
• Unsuccessful in another nursing program or nursing coursework

To be considered for admission under this policy, students must be in good academic standing at their current institution. Students whose cumulative GPA is below 2.50 or who are not currently in good academic standing at their current school are not eligible to apply for admission to the nursing major.

Please refer to the "Criteria Definitions" section below for detailed explanations of these requirements.

Criteria Definitions

The following definitions of the policy criteria are provided to guide applicants in understanding which criteria they must address in their personal statements. Please use these when determining whether you are subject to the individual admission policy. 

• Overall cumulative GPA – The grade point average of all college-level coursework taken at all colleges/universities you have attended.
  • If you have attended more than one school, it is not the same as your GPA at your current school.
  • The overall cumulative GPA includes any college coursework completed during high school dual enrollment.
  • To calculate your overall cumulative GPA, divide the total grade/quality points earned at all schools by the total credits/units calculated into the GPA at all schools (often referred to as GPA hours or attempted hours on many transcripts).
• Repeat attempts – The number of times you have repeated a nursing prerequisite course due to earning a grade below C (2.0) in a previous attempt.
  • This tally does not include the initial unsuccessful attempt of a course; only the number of times you have retaken it.
  • Withdrawal (W) and audit (AU) grades are not included as repeats for the purpose of this policy. Repeatedly withdrawing from or auditing prerequisite courses is still discouraged.
  • In progress repeats are included in the overall tally of repeat attempts.
  • Separate lecture and lab courses (e.g., CHEM 121 and CHEM 121L) are each considered an attempt. If a student repeats both a lecture and lab, that would be considered two repeats.
  • Retaking a prerequisite course that you passed with a C (2.0) or higher in to earn a higher grade or because your previous attempt is older than 10 years does not count against the limit of two (2) repeat attempts.
• Course age – This applies to any math or science prerequisite course that was taken more than 10 years since the time of your application.
  • This limit applies even if you have completed a bachelor’s degree.
  • This does not apply if you have successfully repeated the course within 10 years.
  • It is recommended that students repeat a math or science prerequisite if it is older than 10 years rather than apply via the Individual Admissions Policy.
• Unsuccessful in another nursing program or nursing courses – You have at least one unsuccessful grade in nursing courses at another institution or have been dismissed from another nursing program.
  • Unsuccessful grades include letter grades below C (2.0), unsatisfactory grades (U), withdrawals (W), or any other non-passing grade within the school's grading scale.
  • This only applies to courses in the actual subject of nursing. It does not apply to you if you were enrolled in a direct entry nursing program but left the program before starting your nursing courses.
• Good academic standing – You have a GPA above 2.0 at your current institution and no academic standing notations (e.g., academic warning or academic probation) on your transcript.

Ineligibility for Individual Admissions Review

You may not request individual admission consideration if the any of the following apply to you:

• You do not meet the minimum criteria to apply. There are no exceptions to these criteria.
• You earned a grade below C (2.0) in any nursing prerequisite course and have not repeated or are currently enrolled in a repeat attempt.
  • Students currently enrolled in a repeat attempt of an unsuccessful prerequisite should refer to the policy statement at the top of this page. 

Required Documents for Individual Admissions Review

All applicants under this policy must submit one (1) personal statement and two (2) recommendations. Applicants must follow the guidelines below for each item.

• Personal Statement
  • Personal statements must address the following questions:
    • Which admission criteria have not been met & why? What circumstances affected academic performance?
    • How have you worked to improve your academics or demonstrated the ability to be successful in a rigorous academic curriculum?
    • How do you plan to be successful if admitted to the nursing program?
  • Applicants are encouraged to provide detailed insight and examples when responding to each question.
  • Answers should be in a numbered list format.
  • Responses are limited to 1.5 pages single-spaced.
• Two (2) Recommendations
  • References must have a recent academic connection to the applicant. References should be familiar with your recent academic performance and capabilities.
  • Examples of academic references include but are not limited to professors, instructors, research advisors, or academic advisors.
  • References from colleagues, supervisors, athletic coaches, or personal acquaintances are not accepted.
  • Recommendations from prior applications cannot be reused due to the change in our application service.

Submission of these materials does not guarantee admission to the nursing major.

The Department of Nursing reserves the right to reject any request for individual admission review if a personal statement fails to appropriately answer the questions outlined below or letter of recommendations are not received from appropriate academic sources.

Submission Guidelines

Personal statements and recommendations must be submitted through the new NursingCAS application as of the Fall 2025 application cycle.

Personal Statement

Personal statements must be uploaded by the applicant in NursingCAS. To submit, applicants must follow these steps within NursingCAS:

1. In the Program Materials section of NursingCAS, go to the Questions tab.
2. Complete the Individual Admissions Policy Screening questions to identify all reasons that you qualify for the policy*.
3. Save responses to questions and refer to the Documents tab. There will now be an option to submit a personal statement.
4. Upload personal statement document and save.

*It is imperative that you read each screening question carefully to answer correctly. If you answer incorrectly, this will prevent you from uploading your personal statement document.

Recommendations

Applicants must enter the email address of their references in NursingCAS to send a recommendation request to them. To request a recommendation, follow these steps within the NursingCAS application:

1. In the Program Materials section of NursingCAS, go to the References tab.
2. Click on the link to add a reference and select "Add a new reference" from the drop-down menu.
3. Enter the required information and save the reference request.

Saving the reference request will trigger an email to your reference. Please make sure you enter the correct email address and notify your references once you have saved the request.

It is your responsibility as the applicant to ensure that your references are submitted on time. Once your application has been submitted, you can track the status of your recommendations in the "Check Status" tab of the NursingCAS portal. More information about checking your application status is available in the NursingCAS Applicant Help Center.

Re-Applying under the Individual Admissions Policy

Due to the fact that NursingCAS does not allow for any essays or references to be copied to new applications, applicants must submit materials for each new application. Applicants are welcome to request a reference from the same person when re-applying, but they must still submit a new reference request via NursingCAS.

Questions?

If you have questions about this policy, please contact the Nursing Admissions & Advisement Manager at nursingadmissions AT_TOWSON.

For assistance with completing the NursingCAS application, please visit the NursingCAS Applicant Help Center.