Admission Information for Nursing Major

Please note: the below information only applies to the Nursing major. The Health Sciences major is similar to all other academic programs at Providence College and students are reviewed in the context of the entire applicant pool and students enrolled at Providence College are allowed to follow the established process to change their major to Health Sciences.

Direct Admit Nursing Program

Admission is only offered to prospective students applying for first-year admission as a full-time undergraduate day school student. If you are not admitted to the Nursing major, you will not have the opportunity to pursue a nursing degree as an undergraduate student at Providence College. Due to the limited number of spaces in the Nursing program, students admitted to Providence College as undeclared majors cannot switch into the program.  

Admission Review Process

Admission to the Nursing major is competitive. Students at Providence College are reviewed holistically, but due to the nature of the nursing program, a more thorough review occurs for students applying to the Nursing program. For the Class of 2027, offers of admission were extended to approximately 35% of nursing applicants with 50 spaces available in the class. For the Classes of 2028 and beyond, 75 seats will be available for nursing majors in each class.

Nursing Supplemental Essay

As part of our application review process for prospective nursing students, the Office of Admission invites all applicants to the nursing program to submit an additional supplemental essay. This essay is optional but provides an opportunity for students to elaborate on their interest in a career in nursing and in the Providence College School of Nursing and Health Sciences.

This supplemental essay will be available on student’s portals following the submission of their Common Application. The deadline for Providence College’s optional nursing supplemental essay is November 15 for Early Action and Early Decision I applicants, and February 1 for Regular Decision and Early Decision II students. Due to the timeline for application review, we are unable to accept submissions after these dates. The limit on responses is 150-300 words.

The prompt for the Class of 2029 is:

• Please share more about the experiences, skills, or talents that have led you to want to become a nurse, and how these will contribute to the community at Providence College and to your career as a nurse.

Choice of Major’s Impact on Admission Review

With all majors at PC, students are only considered for admission to the program that they indicate an interest in on their Common Application. For example, if a student applies as a Nursing major they will only be considered for admission to the Nursing program. Providence College does not admit students to the College but not their choice of major.

If a student applies Early Action or Early Decision I and is deferred to the Regular Decision pool, they are welcome to remain in consideration for Nursing at Regular Decision but will also have the opportunity to change their major prior to receiving further consideration if the prospect of attending Providence College is of greater importance than a particular area of study.

Admission Criteria

To best position themselves for admission, students should be prepared to have completed the following coursework during their time in high school:

• English – 4 years
• Math – 3 years minimum, 4 years preferred
• Science – 3 years minimum (biology, chemistry, and 1 other lab science), 4 years preferred. Students who have not taken a physics-based science course in high school will be required to do so as part of the core curriculum at Providence College.

As with all programs at Providence College, admission to the Nursing program is test-optional.