BSN Admission
Freshman
Freshman cannot be admitted to San Francisco State University as a nursing major. They instead can be admitted as Pre-Nursing students or to an alternate major. Please note:
- The Pre-Nursing designation does not guarantee admission into the nursing major.
- These students must work closely with counselors in the university Undergraduate Advising Center or the College of Health and Social Sciences Student Resource Center regarding schedule planning for prerequisite coursework. It is important for freshman to seek advisement beginning their first semester to remain on track for submitting an application to the nursing major, ideally, during the fall semester of sophomore year.
Current SF State Students
SF State students who have earned 96 or more units may not apply to an impacted major. The School of Nursing is complying with this policy. Please visit the university policy for details. We encourage students who are affected by the policy to graduate from the university under an alternate major and then apply to one of our entry level master's programs.
All prospective transfer students must be admissible to SF State in accordance with existing criteria as stated in the Undergraduate Admissions Requirements section of the University Bulletin.
Eligibility Requirements
The following requirements must be met to be eligible to apply:
- Residency
Must be a California resident or be eligible for in-state tuition. - Minimum Grade Point Average
Prerequisite GPA must be 3.0 or higher at the time of School of Nursing supplemental application. Please see the footnote. - Score 78 or higher on the ATI TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills) within three attempts. Online remote proctored test during pandemic is acceptable.
Prerequisite Coursework
Must complete all prerequisite courses below from an accredited College or University by the time of NursingCas application submission.
Course Title | Description | SF State Course Number |
| Human Anatomy with Lab * | Human Anatomy w/Lab; or Part 1 of a combined Anatomy & Physiology series. | BIOL 220 (4 semester units) |
| Human Physiology with Lab * | Human Physiology w/Lab; or Part 2 of a combined Anatomy & Physiology course series. | BIOL 212/ 213 (4 semester units) |
| Survey of Chemistry with Lab * | General, inorganic, organic, or integrated (any combination of general, organic, or biochemistry) chemistry courses are acceptable | CHEM 101/ 102 (4 semester units) |
| General Microbiology with Lab * | A Microbiology and corresponding laboratory course | BIOL 210/ 211 (4 semester units) |
| Written Communication *** | Freshman or Sophomore Composition course; Area A2 at CA community colleges. | (Please refer to SF State Bulletin) |
| Oral Communication *** | A course in public speaking, interpersonal communication. Includes skill development in listening, speech preparation, and oral presentation; Area A1 at CA community colleges. | (Please refer to SF State Bulletin) |
| Critical Thinking *** | A course in logic, argumentation, or debate. This includes Advanced Composition courses which include writing reasoned discourse and providing evaluation of arguments. Area A3 at CA community colleges; ENG 3, Writing II, WR3RC or equivalent at many UCs. | (Please refer to SF State Bulletin) |
| Statistics ** | Statistics. Business Stats or Psych Stats are also acceptable. | Math 124 (3 semester units) |
* Science courses must be taken for a letter grade of C or better within the last seven years. Prerequisite GPA will count these four science courses along with statistics.
** SF State Metro students can use AU 116/117 to satisfy the statistic prerequisite
*** These three courses are also university transfer requirements. Transfer students should contact SF State Student Outreach Services office to confirm these courses meet the university transfer requirements. If they meet the requirement, they do not need to be included on NursingCAS application. Prerequisite GPA will not count these courses but they are still required for admission.
- Please consult Assist to determine comparable or articulated coursework taken at California community colleges or CSUs. If the course in question was taken at institutions other than California community colleges, please go here.
- Repeating a prerequisite course is acceptable and applicants can choose the course with the higher grade to fulfill the prerequisite on NursingCAS application.
Supplemental Criteria
These documents are optional, but highly recommended. Please note that volunteer experience will get points only if it's more than 120 hours. In addition, Letter of verification needs to be on letterhead from organization(s):
- Veteran or active duty military status.
- Letter of verification for health related work or volunteer experiences. Please use this health related work letter template or volunteer experience template.
- Letter of verification for Service to Underserved Community or volunteer experiences. Please use this service to underserved community template or underserved community volunteer experience template.
- Letter of verification for multi-linguistic fluency within health-related or service to underserved community experiences.
Courses required for RN licensure in California
While not required for admission, prospective students should be aware that the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) requires students to have completed a minimum of 16 semester units comprising natural sciences, behavioral, and social sciences. To complement the anatomy, physiology, and microbiology prerequisites, students should plan to complete a General Psychology or Developmental Psychology course prior to taking NURS 328 Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Theory and Practicum and any additional behavioral or social science course, as needed to fulfill the BRN's requirement.
Note: These courses may also satisfy GE requirements.
Pre-Licensure Course Credit By Examination
Applicants for credit by examination will be held to all existing BSN program requirements, including admission requirements, prerequisite courses, supporting courses, courses in the major, and graduation requirements. Information on the awarding of course credit for previous education or other acquired knowledge, including military education, and experience can be found in Nursing Student Handbook.