Any USC Columbia student interested in changing their major to nursing (pre-nursing) must participate in the following change of major process and meet minimum academic requirements for consideration. Acceptance into pre-nursing does not guarantee acceptance into upper division. A separate application is required for consideration for admission into upper division. Students accepted as a change of major will receive additional information regarding when and how to apply to upper division. Switching to the pre-nursing major may extend your time to graduation or require summer coursework to maintain your original graduation timeline.
Students must meet the minimum eligibility to change their major to nursing (pre-nursing):
- A minimum Institutional GPA of 3.500.
- Complete a minimum of 12 graded credit hours at USC Columbia prior to applying to for change of major.
- No more than one below "C" grade in a BSN required science course.
- Students must earn a minimum grade of "C " in all required courses in the nursing program. Only one below "C " grade is allowed in a required science or nursing (NURS) course to remain eligible for the nursing major. Any science course that needs to be repeated must be taken within the USC system. All nursing courses that need to be repeated must be taken at USC Columbia.
- The BSN program recognizes the University grade forgiveness policy. Details on the grade forgiveness policy for the University of South Carolina can be found here.
- Required sciences in the BSN program include: BIOL 243, BIOL 243L, BIOL 244, BIOL 244L, BIOL 250, BIOL 250L, CHEM 102 (or equivalent approved in the academic bulletin), and BIOL 206.
IMPORTANT: Due to the capacity limits of the College of Nursing, meeting the minimum requirements for the change of major application does not guarantee acceptance into the nursing major (pre-nursing).
TIMELINE:
- For spring semester, all change of major applicants must submit the change of major application by October 1.
- For fall, all change of major applicants must submit the change of major application by July 1.
- For summer semesters, all change of major applicants must submit the change of major application by March 1.
- Application status notifications will be sent within 30 business days of the application close date.
ACCEPTED STUDENTS: All accepted change of major applicants must attend a change of major onboarding appointment with a pre-nursing advisor. This appointment will provide an overview of the BSN program, the BSN curriculum, the application process for upper division, and will include a one-on-one review of your existing and previous coursework as it applies to the College of Nursing degree. This appointment is required for you to schedule and attend in order to officially change your major to pre-nursing.