Degree Programs: MEPN - Admission Requirements

Application Deadline for all applicants, including international applicants: October 15. APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER OCTOBER 15 WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR ADMISSION.

Please note: GRE scores are no longer required to apply for School of Nursing Master's programs, including MEPN.

Admission Criteria

• admissibility to the University of Washington Graduate School. You must apply to the UW Graduate Admissions Office as well as to the UW School of Nursing (2 separate applications). MEPN applicants must apply to a specific Master of Nursing focal area at time of application, and have the option of specifying a first and second choice of Master of Nursing focal area;
  
  
• meeting the Essential Qualifications for Master's Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN) Candidates consisting of:
  
  Essential Qualifications of Candidates for Undergraduate & Pre-Licensure MEPN
  Admission and Continuance
  and
  Essential Behaviors for Admission, Continuation, and Graduation for UW Seattle, Bothell, and Tacoma Masters Students, Including UW Seattle Post-Licensed MEPN Students, and UW Tacoma BSN Students;
  
  
• a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the last 90 graded quarter credits by date of enrollment;
  
  
• a cumulative GPA for all college level work of 3.0 or better;
  
  
• completion of required prerequisite courses, including:
  
  • completion of the following Natural World courses: Chemistry series (2 or 3 courses see * below), Anatomy, Physiology, Nutrition, and Microbiology (a Microbiology lab is required; if not included in your General Microbiology course you must take a separate lab course), with a minimum grade of 3.0 in each. 3 of these courses must be completed at time of application. A 4th course must be completed by the end of the Fall Quarter (i.e. if you applying for Summer 2005 admission, the fourth course must be completed by the end of Fall Quarter 2004) and all Natural World prerequisite courses must be completed before enrollment, with at least a 3.0 grade in each;
    
    Effective Autumn 2003 the UW Chemistry 2-quarter series CHEM 120 (General Chemistry) and 220 (Organic Chemistry) was expanded into a 3-quarter series CHEM 120, 220 and 221 (5 credits each), allowing more time for focus on both General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry . This change brings the total number of Natural World courses for UW students to 9 (and total credits to 33). Effective for Autumn 2005 admission to the MEPN, all UW students must have completed this 3 quarter series. IMPORTANT CORRECTION: For the foreseeable future the requirement for Non-UW students WILL CONTINUE to be one quarter of General Chemistry AND one quarter of Organic Chemistry only.
    
    
  • completion of a 5-credit course in Life Span Growth & Development with a grade of at least 3.0. Course must be completed before enrollment;
    
    
  • a 3-quarter credit basic course in descriptive and inferential statistics with a grade of at least 3.0. (Click here for a list of Approved Statistics Courses at both schools in Washington State and in other states and some other countries). Course must be completed before enrollment;
    
    
  For more details about prerequisite courses, including recommended UW courses and how to determine if a courses or courses taken at another school are equivalent click here.
  
  
• International Applicants, as well as Immigrants to the U.S. and U.S. Permanent Residents, whose native language is not English, and who have not received a Bachelor’s degree or higher in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand or the United Kingdom, must show proficiency in English speaking as well as listening, writing and reading.  Required are ONE of the following:
  
  
  1. If you take the new TOEFLiBT exam you are required to have a minimum combined score for the listening, writing and reading sections of 70, PLUS a speaking section score of 28 or higher.
     
     
  2. The other option is a combination of  a TOEFL, TOEFLC, IELTS (International English Language Testing System) or a MLT (Michigan Language Test)* reading/writing/listening test score (Category 1)
     AND
     Either a TSE (International Test of Spoken English) or a SPEAK (Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit)*  spoken English exam score (Category 2)

     Submit one score from each category below:
     Category 1--Submit one score from one of the reading/writing/listening exams
                             Minimum required score
     TOEFL          score of 580 or higher,
     TOEFLC        score of 237 or higher
     IELTS            score of 7.0 or higher
     MLT*               score of 90

     Category 2--Submit one score from one of these spoken English exam
                             Minimum required score
     TSE                 score of 55 or greater
     SPEAK*            score of 230 or greater

     *The MLT and the SPEAK exams must be taken at the University of Washington through the Testing Center at the Office of Educational Assessment.  The MLT exam may be taken before applying to the UW.  To qualify to take the SPEAK exam you must have already applied to the UW Graduate School.

  Test scores must be less than 2 years old from the test date. English proficiency scores should be sent to the UW Graduate School and photocopies of score reports you receive included with the School of Nursing MEPN application. The School of Nursing English proficiency requirement for admission may differ from that of other graduate programs at the University of Washington, and was established to ensure students' success in this graduate program and in clinical settings. More information for international applicants applying to MEPN is under International Applicants.
  
  

• Resume - The resume should not exceed two (2) pages. In this document, please briefly list/describe, your experience in the following areas:
  
  • Health care
  • Involvement with community and service organizations such as Peace Corps, Red Cross, United Way, American Heart Association, etc.
    
  • Leadership/teaching involving independent decision-making and problem- solving
    
  • Training, licenses, and/or certificates related to health care, if applicable
    
  • Living abroad or interacting with people and cultures different from your own
    
  • Multilingual ability, if applicable
    
  • Involvement in research
  
  
• three (3) letters of reference consisting of one (1) health care reference, one (1) academic reference and one (1) character reference (cannot be completed by a family member). School of Nursing forms for each of these reference letters must be used and will be provided with the online School of Nursing application form;
  
  
• goal statement relevant to applying to the MEPN program and to applying to the Master of Nursing focal area you have selected. You will be asked in the School of Nursing MEPN application to respond to specific questions when preparing your goal statement. If you choose to have a 1st and 2nd choice of Master's focal areas, you must submit a separate goal statement for each one. MEPN applicants are eligible to apply to any of the Master of Nursing focal areas, with the exception of Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner ;
  
  
• Submission of Criminal History/Background Check. You are advised to begin the required background check process while in the process of completing and submitting your applications forms. The School must have the background results before your application can be processed.
  
  
• one official transcript from each collegiate institution you have attended. These should be submitted with the School of Nursing application, If you are subsequently admitted to the UW Graduate School you will be asked at that time to submit an additional official transcript from each collegiate institution to Graduate Admissions. There are exceptions to this procedure, if: 1) you are an international applicant-must submit one official transcript from each collegiate institution attended to Graduate Admissions at time of application or 2) are not an international applicant but have attended collegiate institutions in other countries-must submit one official transcript from each collegiate institution attended outside the U.S. to Graduate Admissions at time of application.
  
  
• School of Nursing interview(s). Applicants who are considered competitive for MEPN after an initial review will be invited for group interviews with MEPN Admissions Committee members, the purpose of which is to determine if the applicant : 1) is a potential match for the profession of nursing, 2) is a match for the Master of Nursing focal area(s) they have applied to, 3) demonstrates breadth of understanding, 4) is an effective and sensitive communicator, and 5) demonstrates emotional maturity, insight, sound judgment, and critical thinking skills. Invitations for the group interviews will be sent out no later than December 15, and interviews will be scheduled for the first week in January.
  
  Several focal areas require individual interviews IN ADDITION TO the MEPN Committee group interviews and selected applicants to those focal areas will be contacted directly to arrange the additional interview.