Pre-Nursing Roadmap

Start your journey to becoming a healthcare professional.

Nurses promote health, prevent disease, and help patients cope with illness. Nurses are hands-on healthcare professionals who provide focused and highly personalized care. The field has a wide range of career opportunities, ranging from entry-level practitioner to doctoral-level researcher.

Pre-Nursing Roadmap at UNL

Nursing School Prerequisites

There are only a few BSN programs in Nebraska that require coursework to be completed prior to acceptance. For all other BSN programs, requirements can be completed within the BSN program.

Typical Nursing School Requirements

Biological Sciences (pre-requisite for Microbiology and Physiology at UNL) - 1 course

Microbiology – 1 course

Human Anatomy - 1 course

Physiology - 1 course

Chemistry – 1 course

Ethics - 1 semester

Human Growth & Development - 1 course

College Algebra or Higher – 1 course

Nutrition – 1 course

Intro to Psychology - 1 course

Intro to Sociology - 1 course

English Composition – 2 courses

Statistics – 1 course

Electives – 4 courses

What to Take at University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Some classes require prerequisites. Meet with an advisor for help planning your courses to ensure you're on track to finish your prerequisites in 2-years.

Biological Sciences - BIOS 101/101L or BIOS 110/110L or LIFE 120/120L

Microbiology – BIOS 111 or 312/314*

Human Anatomy – BIOS 214

Physiology with lab – BIOS 213/213L

Ethics - PHIL 106 or 213

General Chemistry – CHEM 105A/L or 109A/L*

Human Growth & Development – CYAF 160 or PSYC 289*

College Algebra or Higher – MATH 101 or higher (MATH 203 does not count)

Nutrition – NUTR 250

Intro to Psychology - PSYC 181

Intro to Sociology - SOCI 101

English Composition – ENGL 150, 151, 254, or 354

Statistics – STAT 218 or EDPS 459 (PSYC 350 does not count)

Electives – See list below.

Elective Course Options

Humanities elective – 1 course: AHIS 101, 102; ANTH 130; CERM 131; CLAS 180; COMM 101, 209, 286; DANC 159; DRAW 101, 201; ENGL All courses accepted except ESL or composition; HIST 113, 130, 131, 209, 210, 211; MUNM 171, 201, 276G, 280, 286, 287, 387; PHIL 101, 110, 116, 211; PHOT 161; RELG 108, 150; THEA 112G, 114; TMFD 121

Culture, Race, Ethnicity, Gender elective – 1 course: ANTH 110, 130, 212; COMM 311; ENGL 212, 215, 244, 245; ETHN 100, 150, 171, 200, 201, 203, 206; GEOG 140; GERO 200, 469; HIST 115, 120, 121, 150, 171, 180, 181; JOMC 222; MUNM 280; NUTR 253; PHIL 218; POLS 160, 238; PSYC 316, 330; SOCI 200, 217; WMNS 101, 201, 204; Language Departments (ARAB, CHIN, FREN, GERM, GREK, JAPN, LATN, RUSS, SPAN, SLPA)

Family & Human Behavior elective – 1 course: ALEC 102, 202; COMM 210; CYAF 222, 280, 285; ENGR 100; GERO 200, 307; POLS 261; PSYC 263, 273, 288, 365, 368, 387, 380; SOCI 226, 353; TMFD 123

Political Science & Social Organization elective – 1 course: AECN 141; SCIL 101; COMM 220; CRIM 101; ECON 200, 211, 212; HIST 110, 111, 112, 114, 115, 120, 121, 180; POLS 100, 104, 108, 160, 221, 225; SOCI 180, 209, 252; SPED 201

Suggested Sequencing

Semester 1 English Comp I General Biology Psychology Math	Semester 2 English Comp II Microbiology* Chemistry* Statistics
Summer Session Sociology Ethics
Semester 3 Physiology* Human G & D Humanities elective Cul/Race/Eth elective	Semester 4 Anatomy* Nutrition Fam/Human Bhv elective Pols Sci elective

*Recommended science sequencing; all other courses can be taken during any semester and in any order.

The above course recommendations fulfill the requirements for UNMC’s BSN program. The above courses may also be required or transfer to other nursing programs. Students who are considering nursing schools other than UNMC or outside of Nebraska are encouraged to contact those schools for a list of entrance requirements. Meet with an advisor for more help.

Other Notes:

GPA: Courses lower than a C will not be accepted by UNMC’s nursing program.
AP/IB Credit: Up to 12 hours of P/NP, AP, IB, and CLEP can be accepted by UNMC, however, this credit will not be accepted by UNMC in the following areas: Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry, Nutrition, Statistics, Microbiology, and Math.
*Courses with an asterisk have pre-requisites. Talk to an advisor for more information.

Application and Admission Tips for Nursing School

The application process is competitive, and therefore students are highly encouraged to apply to multiple nursing programs. Some programs (such as UNMC) will use a centralized application called NursingCAS for their application process while others may use an application directly on their website.

Students applying to UNMC must have at least 12 prerequisite classes complete at the time of application. The due dates are January 15th for Fall admission and July 1st (priority due date) for Spring admission. It is beneficial for nursing school applicants to have submitted this application on NursingCAS by the end of December to ensure that UNMC will receive the application and all application materials by January 15th.