FAQ about Admission to WKU Nursing Programs

I want to be a Registered Nurse, is this an associate degree program  or a baccalaureate degree program?

WKU has both types of programs. You can become a Registered Nurse by either attending the Associate Degree program located on the South Campus (Bowling Green Community College) or by attending the Pre-licensure Baccalaureate Program (4 year) located on the Main Campus.  Both degrees will prepare you to take the NCLEX exam, and obtain a license as a registered nurse in Kentucky or any other state in the US. Baccalaureate prepared nurses receive additional education and experiences in public health, community health, and nursing leadership. They are more likely to be advanced to positions of leadership within the profession of nursing. However, people who have Associate Degrees in Nursing are eligible to return to WKU and take the Post-RN program (2 years), which then allows them to graduate with a Baccalaureate in Nursing.  So either route will allow you to become an RN, and if you do the Associate Degree plus the Post-RN program, you can graduate with a Baccalaureate degree even if you start with the Associate Degree program.  If you are interested in signing up for the Baccalaureate Program, please contact Shirley Jones at 270-745-3391. If you are interested in the Associate Degree Program, please contact Lynnita Glass at 270-780-2550.

What is ATP, why do I have to sign up for it, where do I go to sign up for ATP? 

ATP is a required WKU orientation. You can’t enroll as a pre-nursing student or transfer in to our program unless you go to ATP.

The Academic Transitions Program (ATP) is a 1-day orientation program for new WKU students. ATP is required for all first-year freshmen and transfer students and offers students:

• Informational Sessions
• Q&A Session
• Meet the Dean
• Academic Advising
• Class Registration and more
• Go to http://www.wku.edu/Info/Admissions/orientation.htm to find dates and sign up. YOU MUST SIGN UP at least 3 days prior to the ATP you plan to attend.

I hear the nursing programs at WKU are hard to get into. How many people apply and are accepted each semester?

Nursing is one of the most popular programs at WKU, and we have limited numbers of faculty and clinical sites. Currently, our main campus pre-licensure program is restricted to 40 students per semester.  While it changes from year to year, we usually have between 75-150 people apply for the program each semester.  Students are ranked by their GPA, science grades and overall professionalism. The top 40 students are sent admission letters, and an additional 10-15 students are placed on the alternate list. If any of the first 40 students decide not to come into the program, then students on the alternate list are allowed to take their place. 

Can I apply to the Baccalaureate and the Associate Degree program at the same time?

You may apply to both the Baccalaureate and the Associate Degree program at the same time, which may increase your chances of being accepted into one of the programs faster. This involves completing two different applications, because the programs have different forms and they go to different places.

If I am not accepted into the program, what can I do to improve my chances of getting in?

You may re-apply if you are not accepted into the program. Often students who are not successful on the first attempt are able to take additional classes, increase their GPA, and thus be successful when they re-apply.  If your science grades are a C, you may consider re-taking the class to increase your grade, particularly if you feel you could improve it to an “A”. This will greatly improve your chances of admission.

How many classes can I re-take to improve my GPA?

WKU has a policy that limits the number of courses you can re-take. You may repeat a maximum of 6 classes or 18 hours (whichever comes first). So while you can repeat a  you must be careful not to use too many hours in the “retake” category. If you use all of the hours before you come into nursing, then if you need to repeat a nursing course you would be out of hours and would not be able to complete the program.

I want to transfer from another college to WKU. How can I find out which of my classes will transfer and what they will count towards?

Go to the website below and select the college you want to transfer from. Select the classes you have taken and it will tell you the WKU class it will transfer as. If the class or the college is not there, you can still apply to the deparment the class is taught in to see if it will transfer. For instance, if you want to transfer a Chemistry class to WKU that is not on our transfer page, you need to contact the WKU Chemistry department.

http://www.wku.edu/Info/Admissions/transfer4.htm

What classes do I need to take before I can apply for the nursing program?

Requirements for application include:

BSN Required Curriculum

What classes count for the statistics requirement in the pre-nursing program?

 Math 203, Econ 206, Social Work 344, Soc 300 and Psy 201. Any one of these classes will meet the three hour undergraduate statistics requirement. What tends to confuse students is that the classes are NOT listed under “STATISTICS” in the catalog. They are listed in their individual departments, so if you are looking for the class in the catalog, you have to look under the various departments to find the course descriptions.  

Can I take nursing courses part-time?

If you are CURRENTLY a registered nurse and you are taking classes in the Post-RN program, you can take nursing courses part time. The Post-RN program is designed for working nurses who want to complete a baccalaureate degree.

 If you are NOT currently a nurse, you must sign up for the pre-licensure program.  The pre-licensure program is not designed to be taken part time, and in fact this would be very difficult to do. We admit a full class, and they transition together as a group of 40. If you did not go on with the group, then tried to drop back into the class behind you, it might be full (unless one of them failed or decided to drop out or go part time). We have had students fail a course and then be unable to get back in the program because the class behind them was full, so they just have to sit out until an opening comes up. We can't run even one student over the limit, because of State Board regulations requiring a specific number of instructors for each 10 students. Therefore, if we had 41 students instead of 40 in a class, then we have to hire an additional instructor for that one extra student.

Are any Scholarships available?

There are a limited number of scholarships available for students, once they are accepted into the nursing program. These scholarships are not directly administered by WKU, but some of  the applications can be obtained here. The Kentucky Board of Nursing and local health care facilities also offer scholarships to students after they have been accepted into nursing. For more general scholarship information (money that could be used prior to admission to the nursing program) you can contact the student financial assistance office.  http://www.wku.edu/Info/FinAid/

I have a Baccalaureate Degree in a field other than nursing.  Do you have an accelerated program just for students like me?

Not at this time. Students with BS degrees in fields other than nursing do not have to retake general education courses, but you must still take or have the equivalent of the following nursing pre-requisite courses prior to entry into the WKU nursing program. Essentially, after you meet the pre-requisites for nursing (see below) end are admitted, you graduate with a BS in nursing in 4 semesters.

 

Nursing Pre-requisites for Second Degree Students (those who have completed a prior BS or BS degree)
Biology 131 (Anatomy and Physiology I )
Biology 231 (Anatomy and Physiology II )
Biology 207/208 (Microbiology and lab)
Chemistry 109
Math 116
Psychology 100 (general psychology)
Psychology 109 (developmental psychology)
CFS 111 (Human Nutrition)
Sociology 100 (intro course)
Econ 150 or 202 (Intro to Economics)
Philosophy 320 or 322 (Medical Ethics)
3 credits of undergraduate statistics  (Math 203 or Econ 206 or Social Work 344 or Soc 300 or Psy 201)

I took some classes a long time ago or for another major, and did not do very well. Now I want to apply for nursing, but even though my current grades are very good, my overall GPA is below 2.75. Is there any way to not count old classes in my GPA?

WKU has program called academic renewal, which prevents older coursework from counting towards your overall GPA. However, there are certain requirements that must be met.  The Academic Renewal policy can be viewed at: http://www.wku.edu/coursecatalog/index.php?subcategoryid=75    However, you should note that the academic renewal program does not apply to persons who have a prior degree. At this time there is no mechanism to change the GPA of someone who has graduated with an AD or a BS degree.  If you want to take advantage of the WKU academic renewal program, you must petition the Registrar in writing to request academic renewal, indicating whether one semester or all previous coursework is to be voided. No student may declare academic renewal more than once.