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Exploratory Health Sciences (EXHS)
Prior to formal admission into the upper-division Nursing program, students following the course of study to qualify for admission will be considered Exploratory Health Sciences student. Newly entering students should indicate EXHS as the major on their Common Application Form. Continuing UH Hilo students who have not done so should submit a "Change of Program" form to indicate EXHS as the major. There are no special requirements for the EXHS major. Students should seek regular advisement from their assigned nursing faculty adviser regarding academic planning.
Admission into the program is very competitive and is based on student grades in the Natural Science grades (CHEM 141 , NURS 348 , NURS 203 , BIOL 243-243L , BIOL 244-244L , BIOL 275-275L ) and TEAS scores. NS courses may be taken a maximum of 2 times. The ‘BSN Recommended Class Scheduling’ in the menu to the right maps out the courses that are required during the first 2 years, and the final 2 years while in the program.
We strongly recommend that keep in contact with your advisor to receive the latest information on the admissions process.
Upper-Division Nursing Major
Students qualify for admission into the upper division of the basic Baccalaureate Nursing Program after completing prerequisite courses. Admission is on a competitive, space-available basis.
The criteria for admission to the Nursing program are as follows:
- Timely submission of UH Hilo Common Application Form for newly entering students or "Change of Program" form for continuing students. (Designate NURH for the major.)
- Timely submission of nursing application form
- A 2.7 cumulative college grade point average (GPA)
- A 3.0 GPA for all courses listed as a Natural Science degree requirement for the BSN program
- Completion of all college prerequisite courses (Note: Nursing prerequisite classes must be passed with a "C" or better grade. Students transferring from outside the UH system must submit course descriptions for all non-nursing courses and course syllabi for nursing courses.)
- Only 16 credits of nursing prerequisite courses can be outstanding with a maximum of 8 credits and no more than 1 lab in the required natural sciences by the end of the fall semester. Current Fall enrollment will not count towards the outstanding number of credits. Please note that grades will not be accepted for courses attempted more than twice. Only the most recent grade will be used for evaluation
- Natural Sciences courses cannot be taken more than 2 times. (eff. Fall 2020)
- UH Hilo General Education (GE) courses must be completed prior to starting the BSN program. No more than 16 credits can be outstanding at the time of application to the program. These 16 credits include GE and/or BSN program prerequisites courses.
- TEAs Score will not be lower than 70%. “ATI’s best practice to follow for administering ATI TEAS retakes, to help ensure students’ best results, is to limit the number of retakes per year with remediation periods between retakes. Each student should be limited to three retakes in 1 year. The suggested remediation period is no fewer than 2 weeks to 30 days, which is an appropriate time length to remediate between attempts and follows the majority of institutions’ remediation period.” Only the TEAS tests taken within 1 year of submission of the application will be counted. Testing dates will be scheduled throughout the year prior to admissions. For more information, please contact Darren Higa after July at 932-7067; darrenhi@hawaii.edu for exam registration information and deadlines and/or check the BSN web site frequently. The TEAS test is available at UH Hilo in Fall will be required to have been completed and the formal results/score submitted along with the BSN Application by November 1 for any student wishing to be considered for acceptance to the Fall 2024 UH Hilo BSN Program. If wishing to order TEAS study materials from https://www.atitesting.com, students should specify study materials for the most recent TEAS.
CR/NC Rule
The School of Nursing has specific admission criteria when determining who is admitted into the program, and need to calculate the GPA for all natural science (NS) courses. According to the "Cr/NC" rule, all students with a C or better can opt to get a "Cr".
As we review the admissions criteria, it is necessary to assign a score for all NS courses. We cannot assign it an A or B score, if we don't know that is the grade that was earned. We do know that students must receive at least a C to get the "Cr".
Because of this, the admissions committee will assign any NS “Credit” grade the equivalent of a "C" score when calculating their GPA.
Admission Application Forms
Fall admission only: Applications to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program must be made by November 1st for Fall entry. The current application form is available in the Forms section from August to November.
TEAS Entrance Test
Students planning to apply for the UH Hilo BSN program for Fall are required to complete the pre-entry test, TEAS by the application deadline.
Registering for the TEAS
All UH Hilo School of Nursing BSN Program applicants must submit a TEAS exam result with his/her Application for the BSN Program (Application deadline Nov. 1st). Any other tests or editions of the TEAS, will not be acceptable for the admission application of the UH Hilo SON BSN Program.
- To register for the TEAS, please go to atitesting.com, create a username and password and register on the dates you wish to take. There is a limit of 30 students per exam date.
- If a student wishes to take the TEAS at another location, other than the UH Hilo SON, it will be necessary to check with ATI Testing for another possible location where the TEAS will be given. If the TEAS is taken elsewhere, besides UH Hilo SON, the student must make prior arrangements with ATI to have a copy of his/her TEAS results sent to the UH Hilo SON. There is a fee for that service.
- If you are re-taking the TEAS exam, please wait TWO exam dates from your initial test date. For instance, if the exam is offered 4 times in one month (A,B,C,D), you took exam 'A' and want to retake the exam, please sign up for exam 'D'.
If you have any questions and/or concerns please contact: