Application Tips & Tutorials

You must report all institutions attended, regardless of their relevance to the programs you are applying to. Failure to report an institution may cause delays in the processing of your application. Detailed information is available in the Applicant Help Center. 

Your selected programs may have different requirements for transcript entry. For example, some programs may require that you enter all of your coursework, some may require that you enter only prerequisite coursework, and others might not require that you enter any coursework. To view each program's transcript requirements, scroll down to the Program Requirements section of the application's Transcript Entry page. Detailed information, including instructions for Full Transcript Entry and Prerequisites Transcript Entry, is available in the Applicant Help Center.

Note: If you don’t want to enter all your coursework yourself when applying to programs requiring Full Transcript Entry, you can use NursingCAS’ optional Professional Transcript Entry (PTE) service. With PTE, trained specialists can enter your transcript information for you for an additional fee. This service is only available for completed coursework from accredited schools. Learn more about this service.

After reporting institutions in the Colleges Attended tab under the Academic History section of your application, you can view the transcript requirements for each program to which you are applying. Please note that some programs may require you to send official transcripts to NursingCAS, while others may accept unofficial transcripts, and some may require no transcripts at all. To view your program’s requirements, review the Transcript Requirements details on the right-hand side of the Colleges and Universities Attended section of your application. Detailed information on sending transcripts is available in the Applicant Help Center.

How to Request International Transcript Evaluations:

International applicants should request that their transcripts be assessed and sent from one of the approved foreign transcript evaluation vendors. Applicants should contact a foreign transcript evaluation service as early in the application process as possible.

Please do not send foreign transcripts to NursingCAS, including those translated or printed in English, as they will be discarded. Detailed information is available in the Applicant Help Center.

References (sometimes called Letters of Evaluation, Letters of Reference, or Letters of Recommendation) are submitted by the references themselves; they cannot be completed or submitted by the applicant or another party on behalf of the reference. We are not responsible for verifying references’ identities. If a discrepancy is found, we reserve the right to contact the appropriate individuals to investigate and to share the discrepancy with all programs.

Before getting started, consider the following:

• All references are submitted electronically by references using Liaison Letters, our Recommender Portal.
• Research each program's requirements. You should determine whether your programs have specific requirements regarding reference roles or relationships before listing references on your application. Many programs have strict guidelines and completed references cannot be removed or replaced.
• Choose your references early in the application process to ensure they have adequate time to submit your reference.

• Prepare your references. Once you choose your references, be sure to inform them about the process and that they will be completing the reference electronically. We recommend getting their preferred email address and asking that they monitor that inbox for your reference request (which will come from support@nursingcas.myliaison.com), including any junk or spam folders. 

  Detailed information on submitting References is available in the Applicant Help Center.

   

GRE: Some programs may have a GRE requirement. Official GRE scores are submitted electronically to NursingCAS directly from Educational Testing Services (ETS) using a special NursingCAS GRE code that is different for each program and different from the school’s regular GRE code. Schools can only see scores that are sent with their code. Review the list of NursingCAS GRE Codes for your program, if applicable. If your program is not on this list, review their homepage instructions in the Program Materials section or contact them directly to determine how you should report your scores. Paper copies are not accepted.

Official GRE scores from ETS can be received by NursingCAS at any point during the application cycle, even after your application is submitted or verified; however, some programs may have a deadline by which they want your scores posted. Once your official GRE scores are attached to your application, they cannot be removed.

Please read the full instructions regarding GRE scores before submitting your application.

TOEFL: Some programs may have a TOEFL requirement for non-native English speakers. Official TOEFL iBT and TOEFL iBT Home Edition scores are both accepted. Submit your scores electronically to NursingCAS directly from Educational Testing Services (ETS) using TOEFL code #B506. Paper copies are not accepted.

Official TOEFL scores from ETS can be received by NursingCAS at any point during the application cycle, even after your application is submitted; however, some programs may have a deadline by which they want your scores posted. Once your official TOEFL scores are attached to your application, they cannot be removed.

Please read the full instructions regarding TOEFL scores before submitting your application.

Before you submit your application, be aware of the following:

• You can make limited changes after you submit your application. You can add new items to certain areas of the Academic History, Supporting Information, and Program Materials sections (e.g., test scores, experiences, optional documents), where applicable, but you cannot edit existing entries. You can also update references with “new” or “in-progress” statuses and select additional programs to apply to. All other sections are read-only.
• You can submit your application before your transcripts and references are received. Please note, however, that we will not review your application until all of your transcripts, payments, and references are received.
• Do not wait until the last minute. You can submit your application up until 11:59 pm ET on your program’s deadline date; however, ensure you allow for time to complete the required payment section. You must click Submit and complete the final payment information before the deadline to guarantee your submission is accepted. Additionally, be aware that during our busiest times, you may experience page loading delays, and these may occur outside of customer service’s hours of operation. We cannot grant deadline extensions if you miss your deadline; contact your programs directly for more information.

Additional details and requirements on submitting your application are available in the Applicant Help Center.

After submitting your NursingCAS application, you can make limited changes to the application and materials during Academic Update periods.

Academic Update allows you to update planned or in-progress coursework that you completed since your application was originally verified. Academic Update is an optional process; check with your programs to determine if they require it. During the Academic Update window, you can also enter new planned/in-progress coursework for the upcoming term (s). There are three Academic Update windows during each application cycle. 

Detailed information on Academic Update is available in the Applicant Help Center.

Applicants are responsible for monitoring the status of their NursingCAS application. Notifications are not sent for missing items. To help you keep track of your application and all materials, click Check Status at the top of your NursingCAS application dashboard. Detailed information on checking your NursingCAS notifications and status is available in the Applicant Help Center.