Choosing a Major for Nursing | Springfield College

Students generally complete the following requirements to apply to nursing school.

Requirements vary by program and additional prerequisite courses may be required for some courses on the list.

Common nursing program prerequisite courses

  • Bioscience 1 & 2
  • General Chemistry 1
  • Human A&P 1 & 2 (some schools accept A&P Concepts 1 & 2)
  • Microbiology
  • Statistics or Biostatistics
  • Intro to Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology (some schools require Lifespan/Human Development)
  • Intro to Nutrition

Additional nursing program requirements

  • High overall GPA
  • High GPA in science courses
  • Letters of recommendation
  • Personal statement
  • Observation hours or clinical hours
  • Community service and extracurricular activities
  • Direct-entry master’s programs may require the GRE

Additional course requirements are needed to complete the following majors:

Health Science (12 additional courses), Psychology (8 additional courses), and Sports Biology majors (11 additional courses):

For Health Science major

  • Intro to Health Care
  • Intro to Public Health
  • Intro to Health Care Ethics
  • Human Disease and Chronic Illness
  • Principles of Epidemiology
  • Concepts of Assessment in Health Care
  • Evidence-Based Health Care
  • Cultural Comp for Health Professionals
  • Senior Research Practicum
  • 4 Health Science selectives (e.g., EMT 1, EMT 2, Health Psychology, Health Law, etc.)

For Psychology major

  • Biological Basis of Behavior selective
  • Individual Differences selective
  • Social and Cultural Contexts selective
  • Applied Psychology selective
  • 2 Psych in the Larger World selectives
  • PSYC 301 – Research Methods
  • PSYC 482 – Senior Capstone Seminar

For Sports Biology major

  • General Chemistry 2
  • General Physics 1 & 2
  • Psychology of Exercise
  • Kinesiology
  • Organic Chemistry 1 & 2
  • 3 Biology selectives (e.g., Genetics, Developmental Biology, Biological Chemistry, Immunology, etc.)
  • Seminar in Biology (BIOL 482)

Resources developed by Sofija Zagarins and Melinda Fowler.

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