Admission Guidelines

Applications are accepted by both the Graduate School and the College of Nursing.  We encourage applicants to have all materials submitted for review by January 2nd.  Acceptance into the program occurs as completed applications are submitted and reviewed. 

All qualified applicants who have completed the application process and interviewed will be considered on a first come, first served basis to fill the slots open annually for new doctoral students.  Admission to the Nursing PhD Program is also a prerequisite for many loans and scholarships.

Applicants must:

¡        Hold current unencumbered licensure as a registered nurse.

¡        Hold a master’s degree in nursing from an NLNAC or CCNE accredited program and show documentation of a minimum GPA of 3.65 in all course work for the master's degree. (Applicants desiring admission with only a BSN or with a master's degree in another field will be considered. If admitted, these students will be required to complete selected prerequisite course work in nursing.)

¡        Present a cumulative Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score, taken within the past 5 years.  We expect a minimum of 450  on both the verbal and quantitative scales, and prefer a total of 1000.

¡        Provide documentation of TOEFL test scores. If English is not the applicant’s first language. A TOEFL  score of at least 550 on the paper-based or at least 213 on computer-based exam is required. As of  2006, a minimum score of 20 in each section of the iBT is required. The exam must have been taken  within the last two (2) calendar years of admission. Only TOEFL test scores received directly from ETS  will be accepted as valid. Testing information is available at http://etsis4.ets.org/tcenter/cbtdmlst.cfm

¡        Complete the application process of both the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Graduate School and the College of Nursing. (During this process, all *official transcripts must be sent to the Graduate School.)

¡        Write a short essay on a selected topic at the time of interview.

¡        Submit written response to questions regarding educational goals, research interests, and desired research career.

¡        Submit an example of scholarly written work.

¡        Interview with graduate faculty members.

* Please note: If you have undergraduate or master's transcripts with another name other than the name under which you are applying to the program, please indicate both your current name and your previous name(s) to the UAMS Graduate School Office. Otherwise the application process will be delayed until you have relayed this information.