Frequently Asked Questions

Students can reapply as many times as they want, there is no penalty. Kelsey Nelson, from Boise State Career Services, is available to meet with students that want to explore other health studies majors, and students can also meet with someone from AASC- they will advise on a broader spectrum. Advisors and students will create backup plans should students not get into the program. Below are a few alternative options for students who did not get admitted into the nursing program:

We are happy to announce a very special opportunity between the School of Nursing at Boise State and the Nursing & Health Sciences Division of Lewis-Clark State College. With the permission of our applicants, we will forward the contact information to students who are qualified but not accepted to the School of Nursing to LCSC. LCSC nursing applications are submitted online at www.NursingCAS.org. Contact information is NOT sufficient for application.  Interested students should follow up with LCSC for additional details at NHS@lcsc.edu.

One option for students not admitted to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is to seek admission to an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program. Boise State has agreements with all Idaho community colleges that allow ADN nursing students to dual enroll in the online RN-BS program at Boise State. This option allows students to work simultaneously toward an ADN and a bachelor of science nursing degree. Learn more about RN-BS Dual Enrollment.

An alternative path to complete a nursing degree is to complete a degree in another major, and then apply to an accelerated bachelor’s degree nursing program. Boise State does not offer this option, but a 12-month accelerated program is available at Idaho State University. View ISU Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program.

The program admits 80 students in the fall and 80 students in the spring.  The number of applicants averages 220 per admit cycle.

The School of Nursing mostly looks at admission GPA (Chem, Nutrition, two semesters of Anatomy, and Statistics): needs to be above a 3.0 in order to apply. Excessive repeats of these courses may also impact your acceptance. Applicant’s cumulative college GPA needs to be above 2.5.

The average completion rate is consistently above 90%, which is above the national average.

The program is five semesters with summers off, or about 2.5 years.

Please take a look at our Transfer Equivalency System (TES). This will help you decipher which classes will transfer into Boise State. If you need further clarification, please contact a pre-nursing advisor.

No, but students can use summers to work on minors or to study abroad. (25-33% of nursing majors work on minors, but not all finish them).

If you plan to start in the spring, then you should apply to Boise State in the previous fall. If you plan to start in the fall, then you should apply to Boise State in the previous spring. Once you have been admitted to Boise State, completed all of the pre-requisites, and are in courses that may be in progress upon applying, then you will apply to the program. Please see the program application deadlines.

Grades and the interview portion have the biggest impact on the application. Preference is given to students currently enrolled at Boise State and Idaho residents.

While having these credentials will not directly impact your application, the experience gained from these areas may be helpful when answering interview questions.

Pre-nursing students are advised through the College of Health Science Advising Office. Once admitted to the Nursing program you will be assigned a nursing program advisor. 

Possibly, it depends on the License Portability laws in that state.

No. This is a general degree that wants to get you licensed and employed.

Look at the packet of information you were given by your regional recruiter. Contact Josh Wilkins (joshwilkins@boisestate.edu).  Residency is driven by employment, domicile, and tax information. Here is general information on Idaho Residency.

FERPA does not permit the advisor from discussing a student’s information with anyone besides the student. We are not able to discuss grades in front of the student’s parents. What we can do is talk in hypotheticals and leave any and all real grades out of the conversation. Or we can get a form that waives the right.

We recommend finding an opportunity to talk with or observe other nurses to see if nursing is the right fit for you.

If you plan to start in the spring, then you should apply to Boise State in the previous fall. If you plan to start in the fall, then you should apply to Boise State in the previous spring. Once you have been admitted to Boise State, completed all of the pre-requisites, and are in courses that may be in progress upon applying, then you will apply to the program. Please see the program application deadlines.