Admission Requirements & Licensure

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To be considered for admission into the BSN-to-DNP Nurse Anesthesia Program the applicant must fulfill the following requirements:

• Bachelor of Science or Master of Science in Nursing from a fully accredited, National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission or the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, college, or university in the United States. BSN must have been completed at the time of application. The didactic portion of the BSN or MSN program may not be a pass or fail-graded program.
• Cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 3.0 or better (where A = 4.0). To be competitive, a GPA overall of 3.2 is strongly encouraged. The didactic portion of the BSN or MSN program may not be a pass or fail-graded program.
  Completion of the Graduate Record Examination (verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing sections) within the past five years. An analytical score of at least 3.0 on the GRE is required.
• Must be employed full-time as a licensed RN, in an area of intensive care nursing for at least one year (preferably 2 years) at the time of application.
  Completion of an approved graduate statistics course achieving a grade of B or better. This course may be taken after admission to the program in the fall, online from USM or another accredited university. The course needs to be a 600-level course or higher. If you have taken graduate 600 or 6000 level statistics, the course must have been completed within the past 5 years and may not a pass or fail grade.
• A current, valid unencumbered license to practice nursing in any state with eligibility for licensure in Mississippi is required.  A Mississippi license or acceptable compact state license must be provided by Dec. 1st of the application year if accepted into the program. 
  CCRN Certification
• A Mississippi RN license is not required at the time of application. Enrolled students must possess and submit a valid, unencumbered MS RN license prior to admission in January by December 1st and at all times during the program. A compact license accepted by the Mississippi
• Applicants must be currently working full-time as a licensed registered nurse in an area of intensive care nursing (ICU, CVICU, SICU, Neurosurgical ICU, MICU, PICU, Trauma Burn, etc.).  
• At least one (two years preferred) at the time of application is required. Level III neonatal and pediatric ICU experience is accepted; however, additional part-time adult experience is highly encouraged and is typically needed to supplement experience.
• GRE - is a required exam for interview selection and admission. A competitive applicant should have a GRE score of:
  • 300 or higher (on the 130-170 scale) when combining the verbal and quantitative scores. Competition for admission is strong. A score of approximately 150 in each verbal and quantitative and a 4.0 analytical will be competitive.
  • Analytical Writing Score of 4.0 or higher, a lower analytical score may be accepted.
  • We recommend retaking the exam until you achieve your desired score.