How to Apply

Admission to the DNP program is necessarily a selective process. Meeting the posted criteria does not ensure admission. The Admissions Committee considers a myriad of factors including the quality of performance in previous undergraduate and graduate study (as applicable), success in previous employment and related experiences, and personal qualifications including suitability for advanced study. The Committee weighs each applicant’s accomplishments and potential for success in the program. Diversity in scholarly interests is desired. Using an objective review procedure, the Admissions Committee recommends selected candidates to the Dean of The Graduate School.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing is committed to equality of educational opportunity and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, national origin, age, religion, sexual preference, or handicap.

To start your application, go to applynow.unc.edu and create an account. After establishing your Apply Now account, start a new application and select “Master’s or Doctorate Degree”.
Please be sure to select the correct application for your program of interest. For BSN-DNP NP Options applicants:

1. 1. Under “Select a Major” choose Nursing Practice Online
   2. Next, under “Select a Degree” choose Doctor of Nursing Practice
   3. Under “Term of Entry” select Fall 2026
   4. Finally, under “Nursing Advanced Practice Areas” select the APA of your interest (Adult-Gerontology NP, Family NP, etc).

Students may apply to only one program and one specialty per application cycle at UNC Chapel Hill School of Nursing.

One unofficial transcript from each university attended must be uploaded within the application. All unofficial transcripts must be uploaded to your application in order for your application to be reviewed.

Please do not mail transcripts as part of your admission application; we only accept unofficial uploads for application evaluation. If you are offered admission, one official transcript for each university attended will be required prior to registration.

• All applicants must be admissible to all previously attended colleges/universities.
  • If you have been declared academically ineligible and as such are unable to return to any previous institutions, you must contact that institution and seek documentation that reinstates your eligibility or your application cannot undergo review. Copies of all correspondence regarding your reinstatement request must be submitted in the application.
  • If your final institutional cumulative GPA is below 2.0 (on a 4.0 scale), please upload documentation of your eligibility to return to that institution with your application, under Supplemental Documents.

The Professional Statement offers the Admission Committee insight into your professional goals and graduate school expectations and helps us get to know you. Carefully follow the instructions and respond to the following prompts provided in the application.  

1. When applying to a graduate nursing program, your work experience (both paid and voluntary) should align with the advanced practice area you are pursuing and inform your readiness for the advanced practice role. Explain why you have chosen the specific advanced practice area in the DNP program. Respond to the prompt below for the program in which you are applying.  (500 word limit) 

• AGPCNP: The patient population in adult-gerontology primary care practice includes adolescents and young, middle, and older adults. Describe your work experience and how an AGPCNP impacts care in this population that focuses on wellness, preventative care, and or chronic disease management. 

• FNP: The population in primary care family practice includes newborns, infants, children, adolescents, adults, pregnant and postpartum women, and older adults. Describe how an FNP impacts care in this population that focuses on wellness, preventative care, or chronic disease management. If you are lacking nursing experience in lifespan (for instance, if you do not have pediatric nursing experience), please address how you plan to gain experience in preparation for the FNP program, or how your life/work/volunteer experience has provided you with proficiency in these areas. 

•  PMHNP: This specialty provides mental health care to individuals, families and populations across the lifespan in a wide range of clinical settings. Please discuss how your nursing experience relates to your career goals and why you have chosen this specific advanced practice area. Include in your discussion ways in which you incorporate psychiatric-mental health nursing principles in your current delivery of patient care. If you do not have nursing experience in a psychiatric-mental health setting, please address how you plan to gain experience in preparation for the PMHNP program, or how your life/work/volunteer experience has provided you with proficiency in these areas.  

• PNP-PC: The population in pediatric primary care practice includes newborns, infants, children, adolescents, and their families. Describe how a PNP impacts care in this population including screening, wellness care, preventative care, specialty care, or chronic disease management.  

2. List and describe your professional goals and how this graduate nursing program will contribute to achieving them.  (250 word limit) 

3. Provide a description of your involvement in evidence-based projects or research, including work towards an academic degree (e.g. BSN, MSN, DNP, PhD, etc) or in a clinical setting, if applicable. Activities might include, but are not limited to, managing or implementing quality improvement projects or original research and/or disseminating findings through publication in professional journals, podium or panel presentations, and poster presentations. (250 word limit) 

4. Only if applicable, identify any aspect of the UNC-CH graduate nursing program’s admission criteria for which you do not meet the minimum requirements. Provide an explanation you feel is unique to your life experience. (For example, an explanation is required if your GPA falls between 2.75 and 3.0). (250 word limit) 

In addition to your response to the prompts, please submit a scholarly interest paper for a quality-improvement project (4 pages, double-spaced, references must be written in APA format). 

A DNP prepared nurse is equipped with the knowledge and skills to improve patient outcomes, translate research into practice, and lead healthcare teams. Clearly describe a compelling nursing practice problem observed in today’s health care environment. Using published evidence, define the problem, explain its significance, and how it impacts the quality and effectiveness of nursing practice or healthcare delivery. Provide a comprehensive and well-organized review of current scholarly literature that supports the significance of the problem. Your review should demonstrate your ability to summarize evidence from peer-reviewed sources. 

Three letters of recommendation are required. After providing information for your recommender, they will receive an email request for recommendation and must upload the letter into the application by the application deadline. If they have difficulty uploading the letter, recommenders may email their letter to nursing@unc.edu.

Three current letters of recommendation from persons qualified to evaluate your academic and professional qualifications are required.

• One letter must be from your current immediate supervisor in a healthcare setting who can speak to your professional, academic and leadership qualifications.
• Two additional recommendations are required from individuals who are familiar with your academic achievement and who can address your potential for success in this particular academic setting. If you attended a nursing program in the past five years, one letter from a faculty member with an earned graduate degree (master’s or doctorate) whose class you have taken and who can speak to your professional, academic and leadership qualifications and strengths is preferred. If you have been out of school for more than 5 years, letters from other individuals who can address your achievement and potential are required. Letters from relatives, family friends, clients/patients, or religious/spiritual leaders will not be accepted.

• We don’t interview every applicant, but if we seek clarification on any part of your application, we may contact you for an interview.
• If you’re an international applicant and English is your second language, you will be interviewed.

We welcome international applicants to our DNP program. We strongly recommend that international applicants have clinical experience in the United States and have a thorough understanding of the US healthcare system. It is essential that you be fluent in English. Presently, the University (including the School of Nursing) does not offer English as a Second Language programs or an English language institute.

For this reason, candidates interested in attending the School of Nursing must be able to understand rapid, idiomatic English as spoken in lectures, group discussions, and clinical settings by individuals of widely varying accents. Students from non-English-speaking countries must be able to communicate quickly and clearly in spoken and written English.

Transcripts:

• International students must provide a full credit evaluation of all courses completed at a foreign institution through World Education Services, Inc. (WES) or Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
  • NOTE: As part of the transcript submission, degree credentials are also reviewed by the Graduate School. Assessment of a foreign degree, including those conferred from institutions participating in the Bologna Accord, is based upon the characteristics of a national system of education, the type of institution attended, its accreditation and the level of studies completed. The following guidelines indicate the level of study expected of international applicants prior to graduate enrollment:
    • British patterned education bachelor’s degree with honours
    • French patterned education degree of diplme requiring four years of post baccalauréat study
    • Germany university Diplom Applicants with very strong academic records may be considered if they have completed the Staatsexamen, a bachelor’s degree after a 13-year Abitur, or at least one year of full-time study beyond Vorprfung, Zwichenprfung, Vordiplom, or any other bachelor’s degree
    • Other European countries: university degree requiring a minimum of four years of study
    • Canada university degree requiring a minimum of four years of study
    • Latin America university degree requiring a minimum of four years of study
    • India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal bachelor’s degree in engineering or medicine; master’s degree in all other fields
    • Philippines five-year bachelor’s degree or four-year bachelor’s degree plus one year of graduate course work
    • Other Asian countries: university degree requiring a minimum of four years of study

TOEFL or IELTS:

The School of Nursing DNP program requires a higher level of English proficiency than The Graduate School due to the clinical requirements. Applicants are required to enter their TOEFL/IELTS test information including the date the test was taken and scores in their application. The UNC supplemental application requires official scores reported directly from ETS and/or IELTS. Standardized test scores must be official and are reportable for a period of two years from the date of the exam. Exam results more than two years old cannot be considered. The UNC Graduate School Institution Code is 5816 (no department code). International applicants must achieve a minimum total score of 575 (with a minimum of 50 in each section) on the written version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or minimum of 90 on the internet-based test with the following minimum section requirements: Reading, 21; Listening, 22; Speaking, 25; Writing, 22. Standardized test scores that are submitted to this institution are kept on file for only one year. Refer to The Graduate School for more information.

This is not a requirement of applicants who are residents of a country where English is the sole official language of instruction or if applicants hold a degree from an accredited United States institution of higher education.

Meeting the minimum total score on TOEFL does not guarantee admission to the School of Nursing. Admission decisions are made on the basis of multiple factors including: scholastic performance; English proficiency; essays; letters of recommendation; the appropriateness of the requested advanced practice area to the applicant’s goals and clinical experiences; and verification of financial support to ensure proper visa status. A score of 8 is required on IELTS which is higher than The Graduate School requirement.

Letters of Recommendation: You must submit 3 letters of recommendation with the same requirements as those referenced in the above.

Interview: An interview is required of all international applicants who are non-native English speakers. The interview (personal, telephone, Skype) will be conducted by faculty who teach in the candidate’s clinical area of interest. The interview has two distinct foci: part one will focus on information provided in the application materials (for example, essay and future goals); the second part will evaluate the interviewee’s English proficiency.

Additional resources for international applicants:

UNC Global International Student and Scholar Services
North Carolina Board of Nursing

A $95 application fee to the UNC Graduate School is required for your application. Please submit your fee with your application.

Apply Now

• You may check the status of your application by logging on to your application status page. Check your application carefully to ensure no required items are missing. The Admissions Committee will only review completed applications.
• If information outside of the application documentation is required, the School will contact you directly.
• Notification of Decision: The School of Nursing and the Dean of the Graduate school will notify you with a decision as soon as decisions are made. If your address changes during this time, please update it in the “Update Profile” section of the application.
• After acceptance: If accepted, you’ll be asked to pay a $250 deposit and submit official transcripts to the UNC Graduate School. Instructions on how to do so will be included in your acceptance letter. If you’re seeking residency for tuition purposes, apply at this site.