Students who apply to Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) may only apply to one academic program per academic term. Below are a list of policies for admission to our programs.
Before an admitted student can enroll at the School, all prerequisite coursework must be completed at a regionally accredited college or university with a grade of B- or higher (for the MSN Entry into Nursing Track) or with a grade of B or higher (for the MSN Specialty Tracks and DNP). No exceptions will be made.
Learn more about Online Prerequisites for Health Professions at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing by clicking here.
Applications are processed and files managed through the School of Nursing’s Office of Admissions. Admission decisions are made by admissions committees. All admission decisions rendered are final and cannot be appealed. Applicants who are offered admission can expect to receive notification of their decision by email and mail. Applicants will have a deadline by which to accept and deposit or decline the offer of admission using an online response form. For most programs, the response deadline is within three weeks of admission. Only letters or email sent directly from the Office of Admissions may be considered official notifications of admission. Be sure to keep your email and mailing address current by emailing the Office of Admissions at [email protected] with the subject line, “Applicant Address Update.” The School of Nursing offers admission with the expectation that students will enroll in courses in the semester for which they are admitted, unless a deferral is granted (see below).
Due to the large volume of applications, staff cannot provide individual explanations to those who are not admitted.
For some programs, admitted students may request to defer admission for up to one year from the semester for which they were admitted. Admitted students cannot defer admission once they have registered for a course in the School of Nursing. Financial aid and tuition support are not automatically deferred. For questions regarding deferrals, please contact the Office of Admissions at [email protected]. If you wish to defer your attendance, you must submit a written request and explanation either by email or within your admissions offer response and it is reviewed by the Director of Admissions. Only students who have paid the non-refundable enrollment deposit may seek a deferral. Deferral request decisions are formally communicated by the Director of Admissions to the student via email.
Each year, a number of applicants may be placed on a wait list for admission to each program. Students on this list are notified if and when seats become available in the entering cohort. Final notifications for wait list applicants are sent as soon as space becomes available. The majority of applicants are generally notified at least one month prior to the start of the program. Rankings within the wait list for each program are not disclosed, and there is no guarantee that candidates will be offered a seat in the entering cohort. Wait list candidacies are not held over for the following year, nor is special consideration given to those students if they choose to reapply in a future year.
Students who leave the School in good standing may be considered for readmission. The student must complete the application process. Students will be notified in writing by the Director of Admissions of their readmission status.
We will make every attempt to notify applicants of missing documents, however you are responsible to ensure all required documents are received by the Office of Admission and your admissions file is complete. The Admissions Committee(s) reserve the right to request additional information from an applicant, including an interview. Submitted applications and documents become the property of Johns Hopkins University and will not be returned.
If Johns Hopkins University receives false, fraudulent, deceitful, or misrepresented information that is material to student admissions as part of your application or application process, you are subject to sanctions, including denial or revocation of admission and revocation of any credits or degree(s) earned at Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins University will notate the sanctions imposed on your transcript, and may notify any institution where you seek or intend to enroll, or are enrolled in the future, of the sanctions imposed.
Applicants are welcome to reapply to the School. Reapplications are treated as new applications for purposes of evaluation, and are considered without reference to the initial admissions decision. All application materials must be submitted anew for a reapplication by the published deadline. Applicants who have not been offered admission to the same academic program for three consecutive years are no longer eligible to apply.
Admitted students must send a $500 enrollment deposit ($1,000 for the DNP Nurse Anesthesia program) to the Office of Admissions on or before the date specified in their notification letter to hold their place in the entering cohort. The enrollment deposit can be made online. Instructions are emailed to admitted students. Questions can be directed to the Office of Admissions at [email protected] or 410-955-7548.
The deposit is credited toward the student’s tuition for the first semester and is nonrefundable. Enrollment deposits cannot be waived under any circumstances.
All non-native English speakers must demonstrate English proficiency in their admissions application. English proficiency will be demonstrated by submitting an official passing TOEFL or IELTS score. For more information, visit the international students page.
The curricula of the School of Nursing requires that students engage in diverse and complex experiences directed at achieving competencies, knowledge, skills, attributes and professional values. Applicants for all academic programs, and enrolled degree and certificate-seeking students, must possess certain abilities and skills deemed essential for meeting the professional standards of accrediting agencies.
The School of Nursing is committed to diversity and to attracting and educating students who will make the population of healthcare professionals’ representative of the national population. We actively collaborate with students to develop innovative ways to ensure accessibility and create a respectful accountable culture through our confidential and specialized disability support. We are committed to excellence in accessibility; we encourage students with disabilities to disclose and seek accommodations.
The School of Nursing provides the following technical standards to inform incoming and enrolled students of the performance abilities and characteristics that are necessary to successfully complete the requirements of the nursing curriculum and provide effective and safe health care. To matriculate (enroll) the student must meet technical standards with or without reasonable accommodations and maintain related satisfactory demonstration of these standards for progression through the program. We wish to ensure that access to our facilities, programs, and services are available to students with disabilities. The university provides reasonable accommodations to students on a nondiscriminatory basis consistent with legal requirements as outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments ACT (ADAAA) of 2008, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Questions or concerns regarding these technical standards should be directed the Associate Dean for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, (410) 955-7454.
Candidates for nursing degrees or certificates must be able to meet the technical standards (listed below) with or without reasonable accommodation:
- Observation: Students must have sufficient capacity to make accurate observations and interpret them in the context of laboratory studies, medication administration and patient care activities. A student must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand. Overall, they must be able to effectively monitor, assess and respond to health needs.
- Communication: Students must accurately elicit or interpret information: medical history and other information to evaluate adequately a client or patient’s condition. Students must be able to record information clearly and accurately interpret verbal and nonverbal communication to patients and the health care team. They must be able to communicate effectively in teams. Students must be able to determine a deeper meaning or significance in what is being expressed. They also must be able to connect with others to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions. They must be able to interact effectively with the health-care team and maintain accurate clinical records on patient care.
- Clinical Skills: Students are required to possess motor skills sufficient to independently elicit information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other manually-based diagnostic procedures. Students should be able to conduct laboratory and diagnostic tests, and carry out physical assessments. Students must possess motor skills required for their specialty’s scope of practice. The student must also be able to coordinate fine and gross muscular movements to treat patients in emergency situations. Emergency situations include any circumstance requiring immediate remedy.
- Intellectual-Conceptual, Integrative, and Quantitative Abilities: Students must be able to develop and refine problem-solving skills that are critical to practice as a nurse. Students must have the ability to measure, calculate, reason, analyze and synthesize objective and subjective data and to make decisions that reflect consistent and sound clinical judgment. Students must possess good judgment in patient assessment, and the abilities to incorporate new information, comprehend three- dimensional relationships, and retain and recall pertinent information in a timely fashion. This includes decision-making in order to maintain safety and security of patients and to behave appropriately with patients, staff, students, supervisors and faculty.
- Behavioral and Social Attributes: Students must possess the physical and emotional health required for the application of their intellectual abilities and the employment of sound judgment in an appropriate and prompt manner. Students must be able to function effectively under physically taxing workloads in both classroom and clinical settings, and in times of physical and mental stress. Students must display compassion, sensitivity, and concern for others, and maintain professional integrity at all times. Students must be able to adapt to changing environments; display flexibility; accept and integrate constructive criticism and learn to function cooperatively and efficiently in the face of uncertainties inherent in clinical practice. This includes appropriately interacting with individuals, families, and groups from a variety of social, emotional, cultural, and intellectual backgrounds.
- Program Specific Requirements: In addition to the areas enumerated above, applicants and students must also possess any abilities and skills deemed essential for their particular program. These areas of enumerated skills and abilities are the minimum attributes required of applicants for admission to the specific nursing program and of students who are candidates for graduation.