Guidelines for Pre-Nursing Students

You have entered Birmingham-Southern College for the purpose of preparing yourself for entering the Masters of Science in Nursing Program (MSN) at Vanderbilt University. You should begin early to give careful consideration to the entire pre-professional program, since your success during this period will determine whether or not you will be accepted into the Masters program. Your admission to the Vanderbilt Nursing Program will be based upon four criteria.

1. Score on the Millers Analogy Test (MAT) or the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) verbal and quantitative section.
2. Your course study and your grade point average.
3. Letters of evaluation from the Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) and others.
4. Completion of an interview survey conducted by the Vanderbilt School of Nursing.

1. Course of Study

Students entering Birmingham-Southern College with the intention of earning the Masters of Science in Nursing degree from Vanderbilt University have two courses of study available to them. They may choose to complete a Bachelors degree from Birmingham-Southern College prior to entering the professional program at Vanderbilt University or they may choose to participate in the 3-2 Bridge Program.

If you have selected the first option, the major may be any of the disciplines represented at the College, or it may be interdisciplinary or individualized. In addition to completing the requirements of the major and the general education requirements of the College, you must also complete the pre-requisites of Vanderbilt University. Pre-requisites of Vanderbilt University include three units of social sciences, two units of English or literature, human growth and development, human anatomy, human physiology, microbiology, statistics, and nutrition. Strongly recommended are chemistry and computer science.

If you choose to participate in the 3-2 Bridge Program, you must major in either Biology/Pre-nursing or Biology-Psychology/Pre-nursing. Completion of either of these majors within the three-year period requires very careful scheduling of courses.

A tentative 3-year schedule for the Biology/Pre-nursing major follows:

• FALL 1st year SPRING
  • BI 105 (Populations and Ecosystem) BI 115 (Organismal Biology)
  • PY 101 (Intro to Psychology) Arts/Humanities
  • Foreign Language 1 Foreign Language 2
  • EH 102 Elective
• Summer
  • CH 121-122 (general chemistry)
• FALL 2nd year SPRING
  • BI 125 (Cell/Molecular Biology) BI 303 (Physiology)
  • MA 207 (Statistics) Literature
  • PY 214 (Dev Psychology) Social Science
  • Arts/Humanities History
• SUMMER
  • Human Anatomy
  • Nutrition
• FALL 3rd year SPRING
  • BI 301 (Genetics) BI elective
  • BI 304 (Microbiology) RE/PL
  • Elective (CS rec) Arts
  • Social Science Elective

   

A tentative 3-year schedule for the Biology-Psychology/Pre-nursing major follows:

• FALL 1st year SPRING
  • BI 105 BI 115
  • PY 101 PY elective
  • EH 102 or 103 History
  • Foreign Language
• SUMMER
  • CH 121-122
• FALL 2nd SPRING
  • BI 125 BI 303
  • PY 204 PY elective
  • Arts Arts/Humanities
  • Elective Social Science
• SUMMER
  • Human Anatomy
  • Nutrition
• FALL 3rd SPRING
  • Elective Religion/Philosophy
  • PY 214 PY 312
  • Literature BI elective
  • BI 304 Arts/Humanities

Students participating in the 3-2 Bridge Program must complete the nursing degree at Vanderbilt University in order to receive their degree from Birmingham-Southern College. Students who do not complete the degree requirements at Vanderbilt University will not receive a degree from Birmingham-Southern College unless they return to the College and complete the requirements for another major as well as any remaining graduation requirements.

Other than perhaps a more carefully planned course of study, your activities during your first and second year will be much the same as those of other students. Take part in extracurricular activities. Become an active participant in some phase of the College community other than academics. Treat your coursework seriously. Develop good study habits along with the habit of regular course attendance. Give each course your best effort. Reading speed and comprehension are important. To help develop these skills, you should read as broadly as possible on a continuing basis. Remember that the academic record you make in the first two years will be the record reviewed by the admission committee at Vanderbilt.

APPLICATION PROCESS

1. At the beginning of the spring term of the sophomore year (if a 3-2 student) or the junior year (if a 4-2 student), obtain a Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) application from the Science-Math Division Secretary's office and return the completed form to the secretary by May 15.
2. Obtain an application form and interview survey from Vanderbilt University, complete all components and return the completed form to Vanderbilt by August 1. A non-refundable application fee must accompany the application form.
3. Complete either the Graduate Record Exam or the Millers Analogy Test and have the scores sent to Vanderbilt University.
4. Have each college/university you have attended send directly to Vanderbilt an official copy of your transcript.
5. Once the Division Secretary has received the completed HPAC application materials, the Committee will meet, discuss your folder and decide on a level of recommendation. The review process takes place in the late spring and early fall, and results in a letter of evaluation for each student. The letters of evaluation point out both strengths and weaknesses of students. (For example, if you are late in meeting deadlines, procrastination might be mentioned). These are not simple letters of praise, but in all cases represent the Committee's considered and honest evaluation of you at the time of application and as a future professional. The levels of recommendation are:

1. Highest recommendation
2. Strongly recommend
3. Recommend
4. Recommend with reservation
5. Not recommend

Section 438 of the General Education Provision Act, (PL93-380) as amended in 1974,

commonly known as the "Buckley Amendment," guarantees the privacy of student records and right of access to them under certain stipulations and exceptions. All records received by HPAC remain confidential. Under the law, the student may or may not waive his or her right of access to records supplied or caused to be supplied to or by the HPAC. The Committee will process all records in accordance with the option selected by the student. The waiver is not a condition for Committee evaluation.

1. You should contact 1-2 other persons to also write letters of recommendation. Particularly valuable in these recommendations are comments/evaluations of your work ethic, diligence and aptitude for a nursing career.
2. Complete the Vanderbilt interview form.

Vanderbilt University reviews applications once they are completed. The School has a rolling admission process rather than a fixed deadline. The review process of completed applications begins early fall, so it is to your definite advantage to have the completed application to Vanderbilt no later than September 1.