Eligibility and Application

The information below pertains only to the summer 2022 application cycle.

Transcripts will be extracted from your BSN or ABSN application portfolio. Hillman applicants do not need to resubmit any transcripts. Of interest is the applicant’s academic history since high school, and performance in science courses.

• Students must have earned a 3.3 cumulative GPA.
• Students must also have earned a GPA of 3.4 in all required upper division nursing courses. The nursing GPA of 3.4 must then be maintained until completion of the second Honors course.

Three letters of recommendation are required for each applicant. Ensure that your recommender includes the Hillman Scholars Program in Nursing Innovation Recommendation Form with their letter. At least two letters of recommendation are needed from faculty members whose classes you have taken. Choose faculty who are familiar with your intellectual ability, academic achievement, research potential, and professional commitment, and ask them to speak to these qualities. The third reference can be submitted by another faculty member or an individual who knows you sufficiently that he/she can speak to your character and ability to persevere through an intense doctoral program of study. At least one of these three individuals should hold an earned doctorate. Recommendations should be submitted with the Hillman Scholars Program in Nursing Innovation Recommendation Form* via email to hillman@unc.edu or via USPS to the Office of Student Affairs.

The PhD program at the UNC-CH School of Nursing is a research-oriented program. Each Scholar is matched with a faculty mentor from the School and/or the broader University in the first semester after admission to the Hillman Scholars Program in Nursing Innovation. Throughout the undergraduate curriculum you will be guided by your mentor to select a research topic. This process will be further influenced by work in individual courses and the Honors project.

You are asked to write and submit an integrated essay as follows. It is most important that you address each bulleted item noted and format the document accordingly. This document will serve as the foundation for your interview.

• Highlight your background, prior research experiences and professional, practical, and/or research activities that have prepared you for doctoral study.
• Describe your professional goals and how a PhD in Nursing will help you achieve them.
• Identify specific issues that you expect to face in making the transition from undergraduate to doctoral student, and how do you plan to handle them.
• Describe your personal and/or academic strengths and challenges that may impact your success in a PhD program.
• Provide a brief, referenced review of the literature about a research and/or clinical topic of interest to you that is in need of further study. Provide details about your prior work on the topic, if any, and how you might build on this earlier effort during doctoral study.
• Identify one or two School of Nursing Faculty who share common interests, and with whom you might like to work closely. Faculty may be identified by following this link and perusing faculty interests.

The essay should be approximately five double-spaced, typed pages, using no less than size 11 font with one-inch margins. Referenced works may be listed on a separate page.

This document should be current and detail your education and career path, explaining any gaps in employment or study greater than one year. Please review the CV template provided and make sure that your CV includes all relevant information outlined in the template.

Choose the best sample of your written work for submission. Documents may include a course paper, a completed research project, a published or unpublished paper, or other published work.

Any applicant who submits all application documents by the deadline, meets the minimum GPA requirements, and is a current or newly admitted student in the undergraduate nursing program will be interviewed by the Hillman Admissions Committee in person or virtually depending on the applicant’s geographical location. The interview is an opportunity for both parties to clarify information submitted in the application and further explore applicants’ fit to the program. A panel of committee members conduct the interview.

A: Applicants eligible to apply to the current application cycle include students admitted to the School of Nursing in the August 2021 BSN cohort or the May 2022 ABSN cohort.

A: No. Applicants to UNC School of Nursing graduate programs are not required to submit GRE scores.

A: No, the Hillman Scholars Program is for pre-licensure students only.

A: Hillman Scholars will complete a short paper application for the Graduate School in the semester prior to moving to the PhD portion of the Program.

A: All eligible applicants will have their Hillman application reviewed by faculty committees. Select applicants will move forward for an interview

You can find them here.