EARLY DECISION PROGRAM (available for high school students only)

High achieving high school students have the opportunity to enter the University of Iowa as first year students and be directly admitted to the College of Nursing through our Early Decision Program. The College of Nursing will admit a cohort of up to 64 students who will complete two years of prerequisites and begin their study in nursing major course work in the fall sessions.

Benefits:
Early Decision students will be assigned an advisor in the College of Nursing and become engaged with our college through research, simulation, support and/or volunteerism while completing pre-requisite courses for the nursing major.  Early Decision students have the opportunity to complete the degree in four years.

Criteria:

To be considered for Early Decision, students must meet minimum GPA, ACT and course requirements (listed below), and submit essay questions that are provided to the student through a supplemental application.  The supplemental application will be emailed to all qualifying students shortly after being admitted to the University of Iowa as Nursing Interest student.  Admission is competitive, thus, meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission. All Early Decision applicant’s files go to a faculty review.

1. Minimum 28 ACT Composite score;
2. Minimum 3.8 or higher GPA;
3. Minimum 25 ACT Science Reasoning Score; and
4. No deficiencies in the minimum high school course requirements:

•     4 years of High School English
•     1 year of Biology
•     1 year of Chemistry
•     1 year of Physics (Required to begin nursing coursework in 2012)
•     4 years of the same world language, or two years of a world language combined with two years of a different world language
•     Minimum of Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry
•     3 years of Social Studies

*Applicants lacking one of the published criteria will be invited to submit an application for the Early Decision through Special Consideration. To receive a supplemental application, the student must be admitted to The University of Iowa as a Nursing Interest major. Once admitted, qualifying students will receive an email with a link to the application.  Admission is competitive, thus, meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission. All Early Decision applicant’s files go to a faculty review.

Important Dates & Deadlines:

Supplemental Application and high school transcript due: January 1
Offer of Admission: Approximately February 1
Acceptance Deadline: Two weeks after offer of admission

Please have official high school transcripts sent to:

    Office of Admissions
    The University of Iowa
    107 Calvin Hall
     Iowa City, IA 52242-1396

Wait List:
Once the 64-seat cohort is filled, remaining qualified students will be placed on a “wait list” by the Office of Admissions. Should space become available, offers will be extended to wait listed students.

Watch List:
Students who meet the criteria but do not earn a seat in the program (and choose to matriculate at Iowa as a Nursing Interest student) will be placed on a “watch list.” These students will prepare for the nursing major as if they were part of the cohort by completing prerequisites in a two-year time frame. Should a seat become available, the College of Nursing will holistically review students on the watch list and fill any vacant seats from this select group. If a seat does not become available, students on the watch list are encouraged to apply for Competitive Admission.

Additional Requirements:
Students who earn admission into the College of Nursing via the Early Decision Program are expected to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or higher and have no incidents with the law (including, but not limited to alcohol-, drug-, assault-, or fraud related offenses). Student records will be reviewed at the end of the first year at the university and at the end of each following semester. Should a student not maintain the required cumulative GPA, and/or have an incident with the law, the privilege of having a guaranteed seat in the program will be revoked. A student would still be eligible for Competitive Admission.

Definition of Early Decision (ED):
Early Decision is the application process in which students make a commitment to a first-choice institution where, if admitted, they definitely will enroll. While pursuing admission under an Early Decision plan, students may apply to other institutions, but may have only one Early Decision application pending at any time.