Getting Started (Majors Guide)

College: Nursing

(Revised Spring 2018)  

How to Explore / Get Started in the Major

Suggested General Education Courses:

Under the new guidelines students are still required to take two courses, one in U.S. Diversity and one in Global Diversity. Students entering in Fall 2018 are expected to take one of these diversity courses, either U.S. or Global, in their first year on campus.  For Fall 2018 Registration, look for courses with DU (formerly U) and DG (formerly G) to help students stay on track.  Any course labled DU will satisfy the requirement for a U.S. diversity course and any course labeled DG will satisfy the the requirement for Global diversity course. Course planning guidelines, including guidelines for students, are available at www.umass.edu/gened.


How to Declare the Major

High school students interested in the Nursing major apply directly for the major through the Undergraduate Admissions Office. Admission is extremely competitive. For the foreseeable future, only students admitted into the Nursing major will be allowed to take Nursing courses.

A very limited number of positions for current UMass students who are not Nursing majors and wish to pursue Nursing may become available each year on a space-available basis and eligible students will be notified by spring term of the freshmen year if they may change to the nursing major.

NOTE: Students who choose to pursue this extremely limited possibility must have an alternate major. All UMass students are expected to formally declare and make progress towards a major before their junior year (57 credits).

On-campus transfer applicants must have an overall University GPA of 3.0 or better for a minimum of 12 credits to be considered for transfer into the Nursing major. Anyone who wishes to apply is responsible for all prerequisite coursework needed to enter the junior year of Nursing. However, students should be aware that there is no guarantee as to the semester in which a transfer applicant may be able to enter the program.

On-campus transfer students who are accepted into the Nursing major will be offered a specific class cohort schedule depending on availability of space and the transcript analysis of the student.


Summary of Requirements for Major

The course requirements for the Nursing major can be found in the College of Nursing Undergraduate Handbook, available on the College of Nursing website at www.umass.edu/nursing.

For further information, contact:
Liz Theroux, Program Assistant
024 Skinner Hall
413-545-5096
etheroux@acad.umass.edu