Nursing Program Admission Selection Critieria
Once you have met the conditions of eligibility, your application can be considered for the nursing program. Every eligible applicant is assigned an admission score which is based 80% on your ACT scores and 20% on your cumulative GPA. If you have not completed any college-level coursework, then your admission score will be based 90% on your ACT scores and 10% on your high school GPA. You will also have bonus points added to your admission score if you have successfully passed Anatomy & Physiology I or II within the past five years. Additional points may also be added for recent prior experience in health care related field. All eligible applicants are then ranked according to their admission scores, and the top 80 applicants are accepted into the program. Because of this competitive ranking system, there are no minimum ACT or GPA numbers which will guarantee acceptance. If accepted into the nursing program, you will be required to comply with other program-specific requirements.
Nursing Application
You must turn in a Nursing Program Admission Application form by the correct deadline for the semester you want to begin the nursing program. If you want to begin the program in a Fall semester, the application deadline is February 1. If you want to begin the program in a Spring semester, the application deadline is August 1. In order for every applicant to have an equal chance of being accepted, we do not keep a waiting list for the nursing program. This means that if you are not accepted into the program, you must reapply to be considered for the next enrollment period.
The deadlines are different if you are an LPN applying for the LPN-RN Career Mobility Option program. If you want to begin the program in a Summer semester, the application deadline is February 1. If you want to begin the program in a Fall semester, the application deadline is May 1.
ACT Exam
You must provide current ACT scores as part of your nursing application. ACT scores are only considered valid for a three-year period, so if you have not taken the exam within the last three years you will need to take it again in order to have a complete application. If you would like to take the residual ACT exam here at Jackson State, you can check Option B in the ACT Testing Requirement section of the Admission Application form. (The residual exam is the same as the national exam except that your ACT scores will "reside" here at Jackson State and cannot be sent to any other institution.) We will schedule nursing applicant ACT testing dates after the application deadline and will contact you by mail when it is time to register for the exam. If you have taken the ACT exam within the last three years and need to have your scores sent to Jackson State, you can request this by going to www.act.org. Because of the way the admission score is calculated, your ACT score must be a 19 or better in order to generate points toward being accepted. We recommend that you prepare for the ACT exam using an ACT preparation guidebook or by taking the ACT prep course offered through the Continuing Education Department here at Jackson State.
Cumulative GPA
You must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or greater to be considered for the nursing program. Your cumulative GPA is calculated from all college-level coursework you have completed from all colleges you have attended. Your cumulative GPA does not include any remedial or developmental coursework. If you have only attended Jackson State, your cumulative GPA will be listed on the "U HE Cum" line at the end of your transcript (not the "UJ HE Cum" line).
| ACT Comp Score | Points |
|---|---|
| Less than 19 | = 0 Points |
| 19 | = 2 Points |
| 20-21 | = 3 Points |
| 22-23 | = 4 Points |
| 24+ | = 5 Points |
| GPAPoints | Points |
|---|---|
| Less than 2.5 | = 0 Points |
| 2.5-2.9 | = 2 Points |
| 20-21 | = 3 Points |
| 3.0-3.4 | = 4 Points |
| 3.5-4.0 | = 5 Points |