Second-Year Enrollment
Program overview
Second-Year Enrollment is for students who want to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), but were not admitted to the program through direct enrollment. During the first year, students complete the BSN program's prerequisite requirements, and then apply for admission to the BSN program.
To be considered for admissions, applicants must meet the following minimum eligibility requirements.
This GPA is calculated on a 4.0 scale. It will include all graded undergraduate and graduate college coursework, including college credit earned while in high school, completed by the transcript deadline.
Applicants must complete at least 30 undergraduate college credit hours by the transcript deadline. Any transferred college credit, credit earned during high school, credit earned through Advanced Placement testing and graduate credit will all be included in this total.
Applicants must be 18 years of age by Oct. 1 of the Autumn semester of their first year in the BSN program.
Applicants must complete the seven prerequisite courses by the transcript deadline of May 18, 2026. No exceptions can be made to this deadline.
- If AP scores are being used to fulfill a prerequisite, scores are due to the university no later than July 31, 2026. Admission decisions may be delayed if using AP scores.
- Transfer credit must be direct equivalent to an Ohio State course. Refer to Transferology to look for direct equivalent courses.
- For undergraduate students that have completed coursework in 2020 and in the Spring and Summer of 2021, visit our pass/no pass policy for more information on the Pass/No Pass and Emergency Pass policies.
Biology*: must include a laboratory component
- BIOLOGY 1101, BIOLOGY 1102, BIOLOGY 1110, BIOLOGY 1113 or BIOLOGY 1114 *1113
- Biological Sciences: Energy Transfer and Development will fulfill this requirement
Chemistry: must include a laboratory component
- CHEM 1110, 1206 and 1208, 1210, 1220, 1610, 1620, 1910H, 1920H, 2510, 2520, 2610, 2620, 2910H, BIO CHEM 2210
- If 1206 or 1208 are taken, both must both be completed to fulfill the Chemistry prerequisite.
- Chemistry courses may have certain entrance requirements such as ACT/SAT scores, and/or math placement scores. If a student receives a score of “S” or “T” on the university math placement test, they must complete remedial Math 1050 and/or Math 1075. A student needing to complete remedial math course(s) will not be eligible to apply to the nursing major by the end of their first year at Ohio State. This will delay the student’s time to graduate.
Human Anatomy: must include a laboratory component
- ANATOMY 2300, ANATOMY 3300 or EEOB 2511 (EEOB 2510 is no longer being offered)
Human Physiology
- EEOB 2520, PHR 3100, PHYSIO 3101, PHYSIO 3102 or PHYSIO 3200
English Composition
- ENGLISH 1110
Psychology
- PSYCH 1100
Sociology
- RURLSOC 1500, SOCIOL 1101 or SOCIOL 1102
Prerequisite courses taken at other institutions must be direct equivalents to the Ohio State courses listed above in order to meet corresponding prerequisite requirements. To determine if a course completed at another institution will transfer as a direct equivalent, you can refer to Transferology, a resource containing transfer information for courses offered at colleges or universities. You can also review the transfer credit charts. If you are unable to locate your courses through these two resources, email the Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions to request assistance with evaluating your courses.
All prerequisite courses completed at other institutions are reviewed by the Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions. The College of Nursing is not involved in these determinations. You are responsible for verifying that all the prerequisite courses taken (or planned) satisfy prerequisite requirements.
The following are other important aspects of completing prerequisite courses outside of Ohio State:
- Students taking prerequisite courses at institutions that do not award grades on a +/- scale must earn a grade of B or higher in each of the prerequisite courses to be eligible for admission.
- General (GEN), special (SPL), or technical (TECH) credit will not satisfy prerequisite requirements.
- The "To-Do List" in your applicant center will alert you if a transfer course is not considered a direct equivalent or you have other deficiencies related to your prerequisites. The College of Nursing will not inform you of any unfulfilled prerequisite courses or incomplete requirements.
- It is important to include all current and planned transfer coursework in the prerequisite summary on the BSN application.
- If you are required to have any of your prerequisite courses reevaluated, you will need to contact the corresponding Transfer Credit Coordinator. It is critical that you communicate the results of the reevaluation to the College of Nursing prior to the May admission requirements deadline. Results of the reevaluation should be emailed to nursing@osu.edu.
- You will not be considered for admission if coursework does not meet the required direct equivalencies or if you do not meet all other admissions requirements.
Questions or concerns regarding your transfer prerequisite coursework should be directed to the Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions at 614-292-9444 or gpadmissions@osu.edu.
Current Ohio State students should run a Degree Audit Report (DARs) through Buckeye Link to verify the completion of their prerequisite courses. This includes applicants who recently transferred to Ohio State and students with Advanced Placement or Post Secondary/College Credit Plus coursework. If scores or transfer coursework do not appear on your DARs, you will need to submit official scores and official transcripts to the Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions.
Students who have completed any bachelor’s-level nursing coursework at an ACEN, CCNE or CNEA accredited BSN program are eligible to apply to Ohio State’s BSN program as a transfer student. Transfer students apply during the regular application period detailed in the section above and will follow the same admission decision timeline provided in the section below.
Students enrolled in pre-nursing programs at other institutions are not eligible to apply through the transfer BSN process, but can apply through the Traditional BSN process or can apply to the university as a transfer student to enter the College of Nursing’s Pre-Nursing program.
Schedule with one of our academic advisors for a personal 1:1 meeting to review your transfer credits and answer your questions.
- BSN transfer applicants must meet the Ohio State traditional BSN program’s admission requirements to be considered for admission. To apply to the BSN program as a BSN transfer applicant, you must complete all steps of the traditional BSN program’s application process detailed. All application requirements must be completed by the corresponding deadlines.
- Answer the BSN transfer applicant questions located within the application. These questions include identifying as a BSN transfer applicant, listing all current, previously completed and planned nursing coursework, as well as grades earned in those courses.
- If you do not complete the BSN transfer applicant questions in the application, nursing course work completed at another institution will not be evaluated for transfer credit. Non-nursing specific coursework can still be considered for transfer to meet university and General Education requirements.
Applying and being admitted to the BSN program also counts as applying and being admitted to The Ohio State University as a general undergraduate student for the Autumn semester. Likewise, not being admitted to the BSN program will also result in not being admitted as a student to Ohio State. If a transfer student wishes to attend Ohio State regardless of their admission to the BSN program or they wish to complete non-nursing coursework at Ohio State prior to the Autumn semester, they should also complete the University’s transfer student application process in addition to the BSN application process.
Nursing transfer credit will only be evaluated after an offer of admission to the BSN program has been made. The evaluation process is outlined below so you may begin preparing the required materials in advance.
Transfer applicants will be contacted by the College of Nursing via email after they have been notified of their offer of admission. This email will contain instructions on how to submit their specific nursing coursework documentation and will be sent to the email address the student included on their BSN application. Admitted BSN transfer applicants will be required to provide a course syllabus for each nursing-specific course they are requesting to have transferred.
- A syllabus is a document that outlines the expectations for the course, along with the topics that will be taught, grading scale, and expected outcomes from the course. Please reach out to the institution you attended to request a copy of course syllabi.
- Only nursing courses completed at the bachelor’s level with a C+ or greater can be considered for transfer into the BSN program.
Applicants will have until July 1 to submit documentation. We recommend collecting all course syllabi in advance.
- If required documentation is not submitted by the deadline, previously completed nursing coursework cannot be considered for transfer. The student will retain their offer of admission and be required to complete all nursing-specific courses to earn a BSN degree from Ohio State.
- Non-nursing specific coursework can still be considered for transfer to meet university and General Education requirements through the university level transfer process.
By mid-July, the results of the nursing coursework transfer credit evaluation will be shared with BSN transfer students via email. These results will be sent to the email address the student included on their BSN application. Once the results of the nursing coursework evaluation have been shared, BSN transfer students will have 1 week to accept the offer of admission.
Allow up to five business days for the status of materials to be updated on the application center.
February 1
The application and all required materials must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET.
You can track the status of your application materials through your applicant center. Your application status will show "pending" until a decision is posted. You are encouraged to check your application status regularly until a decision is posted, as the status of checklist items for specific application materials can change at any time.
Official transcripts for test scores and/or AP exams completed outside Ohio State must be received by the Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions. All official transcripts should include grades for classes completed by the transcript deadline, including any prerequisite courses.
Mid-June
You will be notified of your application decision through the applicant center and by email from the Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions.
Two weeks post decision
If admitted, you will have two weeks after the decision notification to accept your offer online.
Newly admitted students to the university will be required to pay a $100 acceptance fee. This acceptance fee is not required for current Ohio State students.
FAQ
The highest grade will be considered.
AP credit is neutral to determining the GPA.
Yes. Applicants who are enrolled as pre-nursing majors at Ohio State, to include regional campuses, by the first Friday of the spring semester, will be given priority consideration for the remaining available seats. Transfer students and those who have not declared the pre-nursing major will be considered thereafter.
The number of seats available will fluctuate yearly based on the number of direct enrollment students that accept admission to the program, meet the progression policy, and stay in the major.
Yes, if you qualify for the pre-nursing major, you can do the major request change. Students need to be active Ohio State pre-nursing students by the first Friday of Spring semester.