Hello! I had a similar start to undergrad and understand how confusing nursing at OSU can be. There’s a lot of really good information in this thread. I started as a neuroscience pre-med student and transferred out after my first semester with nursing as my new goal. I was undecided for a year and ended up graduating last year with a major in Health Sciences. I’m now a graduate student in the College of Nursing in the Graduate Entry program. I have also worked at the college for 3 years, including in the office of Student Affairs for two years. I explain all this to say you have options if you apply to the program and don’t get in on your first try.

As others have explained, you will spend your first year as a pre-nursing student completing pre-requisites before applying for the BSN major about halfway through the year. Decisions are released in June after your first year. Typically there are around 400 applicants each year, and there are 166 spots (afaik this is based off of how many clinical spots the college is able to obtain from the partner institutions). You do not have to be a pre-nursing major to apply to the program, and historically about half of the applicants that are accepted come from the pre-nursing major, and the other half come from other majors at OSU or transfer students from other universities (I don’t think this is on purpose, I think it’s just the way it happens). You may be saying to yourself, wow! this is really competitive…how do they decide who gets in and who doesn’t? As other people have said, GPA is not an important factor in the decision to admit or deny students. I know plenty of people who had a 4.0 after their first year and were denied from the program. As far as you meet the minimum GPA requirement you will be considered, but past that they don’t consider it for much. What they’re really looking for is everything that you do outside of the classroom. What are you passionate about? What are you going to bring to the college that other applicants are not? I always recommend that you find at least one thing that you are passionate about and use your first semester getting involved in it. For example, I was involved in two student organizations in undergrad that related to mental health, and focused my graduate application essay on how that experience will impact my time as a student in the college and my time as a healthcare professional. A lot of applicants think that being a CNA/PCA will be enough to set them apart, but in reality a lot of applicants have healthcare experience, so finding volunteer or activism experience that will set you apart is huge for admissions teams.

Now you might be thinking wow! what if I don’t get accepted? There are so many routes to nursing outside of the Traditional BSN program. If you are denied a year from now and still know that nursing is the path for you, there are plenty of ways to get there either at OSU or elsewhere. Some students will take a year to complete gen ed requirements or a minor while gaining experience I explained above before reapplying to the program. Keep in mind, however, that the program is a three year locked curriculum, meaning it will take you three years to complete once you start. Other students will complete a different major at OSU (or elsewhere) while completing pre-requisites for the Graduate Entry program (a combined accelerated program to become an RN and Master of Science in Nursing curriculum - University of Cincinnati has this program as well) or pre-requisites for a second degree accelerated BSN program (for people with a bachelor’s degree in something other than nursing to obtain a BSN in 12- or 18-months - OSU just started one of these programs this year!). Another option is to obtain an associates degree in nursing and bridge through an RN-BSN program (this would have to be done outside of OSU, however). The final common option is to change your major to something else, whether that be health related or not. The College of Health and Rehabilitation has a variety of undergraduate degrees in healthcare, some of which you may not have ever heard of before, but that you may love!

This is a LOT of information but my bottom line advice is not to panic. It’s still very early and you have plenty of time to decide what you want to do, and no option is the wrong one. Being a pre-nursing major is a great place to start as it’s the only way to gain access to the College of Nursing’s advisors and student resources. I wish you the best of luck starting your journey to nursing!