Prerequisite Requirements

You may have completed one or several of the required courses as a part of your non-nursing undergraduate degree.

Our Admissions reviewers ultimately determine which courses will be accepted during the application review process, but we generally look for prerequisite courses that are a minimum of 3 credits, and typically accept:

Anatomy and Physiology I & II with labs: We will also accept a stand-alone Anatomy course with a lab combined with a stand-alone Physiology course with a lab. Only human-specific Anatomy and Physiology courses will be accepted.

Microbiology with lab: This is usually called Microbiology, or may also be called Medical Microbiology or Microbiology for Healthcare Professionals.

Human Growth & Development: This is a course that covers the fundamentals of human development across the lifespan, from birth to death. Other common titles for this course are Lifespan Development or Developmental Psychology, and this is typically listed as a Psychology course.

Statistics: We typically accept any statistics course even if the course was specific to a student’s previous field of study, such as Biostatistics.

If you have questions about whether a course meets our requirements, please connect with the Admissions Office to review transcripts and plan to submit official transcripts with your application.

All prerequisite coursework must be completed at least three weeks prior to the start of the program. While we do not require completion by the application deadline, we strongly encourage applicants to complete all hard science requirements (A&P I, A&P II, and Microbiology) as it may help reviewers assess their ability to succeed in this type of foundational, science-based coursework. Some students choose to complete coursework before submitting their application to allow adequate time to complete any remaining courses and labs in the 2-3 months leading up to the program. 

At the time of application submission, students should submit all official transcripts for any prerequisite coursework completed to date. If a student is admitted to the program with outstanding prerequisite coursework, the acceptance offer will be contingent on whether they successfully complete the remaining courses. We require official transcripts as proof of successful course completion no later than three weeks before the intended start date in the program. Refer to the Academic Calendar for program start dates. 

The Center for Lifelong Learning, the School of Nursing's health care career development center, offers prerequisites online. You may complete required courses by registering as a non-matriculated student at the University of Rochester. 

If registering at other schools (must be from an accredited institution), please feel free to email the Admissions Office to check that the course description is appropriate.

If you have questions about how to complete your prerequisites, completion deadlines, or whether a past or planned course meets our requirements, please contact us at sonprovisions@urmc.rochester.edu. Our team is happy to review your situation and help guide your next steps.