Application Materials
Submission of the following application materials is required by the published deadline. The Graduate School’s minimum requirements for admission to the Ph.D. program are explained where appropriate.
- Transcripts of Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Two official transcripts must be submitted from each college/university attended since high school. Competitive applicants will present a grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) in the major courses of their undergraduate nursing program. Applicants with a master's degree in nursing are expected to have earned a 3.5 cumulative grade point average in graduate coursework.
- Graduate Record Examination (GRE): The GRE must be taken within five years of application. To ensure scores reach the school by the application deadline, applicants should take the GRE no later than six weeks prior to the deadline. Competitive applicants will achieve a combined verbal and quantitative score of at least 1000. Applicants who hold an earned professional doctorate in a field other than nursing may request a waiver of the GRE.
- Letters of Recommendation:Three letters of reference are required. Favorable recommendations should be submitted by at least three academicians or researchers familiar with your intellectual ability, academic achievement, research potential, and professional commitment. At least one of these individuals should hold an earned doctorate. Additional references from employers may be submitted.
Recommendations may be submitted online or using the traditional method. The application asks the applicants to list the name and email address of all selected recommenders. The application system will then send the recommender a standard message requesting a letter of reference for the applicant. The recommender may either create the reference and return it via email to the application system as instructed, or send the letter via USPS to the School. If the latter method is chosen, the reference letter may only be submitted on the form provided in the Graduate School application with each reference submitted separately in a sealed envelope bearing the recommender's signature across the back flap.
- Statement of Goals and Research Interests : You are asked to write a two-part essay as follows. It is most important that you address each bulleted item noted and format the document as requested.
In part 1, tell the Admissions Committee about your background:
- How has your educational background prepared you for doctoral study? (As part of your response, please itemize here which of your courses offered content on theory, research design, and statistics, and which courses included didactic content of clinical work).
- What personal and/or academic strengths and weaknesses do you have that may affect your doctoral studies?
- What particular experiences in the professional, clinical, leadership, or research realms have prepared you for doctoral study?
- What are the issues you expect to face in making the transition to doctoral study, and how do you plan to handle them?
- How will having a PhD impact your career path?
In part 2, discuss your research interests. Provide a brief, referenced review of the literature about your research topic that supports the area as one in need of further study. Provide detail concerning your prior work on the topic, if you have any, and how you plan to build on this earlier effort during doctoral study. The doctoral program at this School of Nursing is a research-oriented program. Selecting a research topic is something you need to do prior to entering the program. You may change, modify or enlarge your topic during your study, but having a research idea is the first step toward a successful doctoral education.
Additionally, please identify who among the School of Nursing faculty seems to you to be a good match for your research interests. A listing of Doctoral Faculty is available on the School’s web site.
Each
part of the essay should be
approximately two double-spaced, typed pages. Please include references on a
separate page.
- A copy of your current Curriculum Vitae or Resume. This document should detail your career path, explaining any gap in employment greater than one year.
- Manuscript Examples of
Scholarly Work for Which you are First or Second Author: First authorship is preferred. Manuscripts may include a published paper, unpublished paper, a completed research project, or a thesis. Submission of one full-length manuscript or report of completed or ongoing research is encouraged. Additionally, a course paper is acceptable. If these are not available, a 2-5 page paper examining a clinical problem or issue critical to the profession may be submitted. Manuscripts will be evaluated on the importance of the topic, the appropriateness of the approach taken, flow, clarity, and correct use.
- The Doctoral Executive Committee is implementing new standards for the content and recency of graduate level statistics courses. Additional details will follow. Until posted at this site, please contact the Office of Admissions and Student Services for details (919.966.4260)
INTERVIEW
All applicants are interviewed by a doctoral faculty member. The interview is conducted in person or by telephone depending on the applicant's geographical location. The interview is an opportunity for both parties to clarify information submitted in the application portfolio and further explore applicant fit to the program.
