First-Year College Students

You are guaranteed admission if you meet the core course requirements and at least one performance requirement. If you don't meet these requirements, we strongly encourage you to apply anyway—your admission will be determined by a committee appointed by the director of admissions, and your complete academic profile will be considered.

First-year students can apply through the Common Application or Nebraska's application.

Performance Requirements

First-Year Applicants Should:

• Have a 3.0 cumulative high school grade point average.
• Or, score 20 or higher on the ACT, writing portion not required.
• Or, score a total of 1040 or higher on the SAT Critical Reading and Math sections.
• Or, rank in the top half of high school graduating class.

Note: You are not required to submit an ACT/SAT score to be considered for admission. While not required, we encourage all first-year applicants under the age of 23 to submit an official ACT/SAT score for full scholarship consideration. We will offer you the best scholarship award possible based on either your GPA alone or the combination of your GPA and highest composite ACT/SAT score.

Core Course Requirements

There are 16 units of academic courses required for admission. A unit is one year of high school study or a semester/quarter of college coursework.

High School Classes

Ways to Meet Admission Requirements

If you are missing courses required for admission, there are ways to remove deficiencies before you enroll.

Core Courses

• 1 unit of Algebra I.
• 1 unit of Algebra II.
• 1 unit of Geometry.
• 1 unit that builds on knowledge and concepts learned in Algebra II.

• 1 unit drawn from American and/or world history.
• 1 unit drawn from history, American government and/or geography.
• 1 unit drawn from any social science discipline.

Both units must be in the same language. Students who are unable to take 2 years of world language in high school may still qualify for admission.

Note: Some University of Nebraska–Lincoln degree programs require the equivalent of 4 years of high school world language in the same language in order to graduate.

College-Specific Course Requirements

All colleges at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln require students to meet the minimum core course and performance admission requirements (as listed above).

Some colleges have additional requirements that students must meet to be admitted to their requested college. If you do not meet the following college-specific requirements, you can still be admitted through the Explore Center.

You will be advised by the Explore Center until you meet the college-specific requirements for your desired college. Once you've met your college's requirements, you will have the opportunity to transfer into the college you requested.

Colleges and Programs With Additional Course Requirements

• 1 unit of Algebra I.
• 1 unit of Algebra II.
• 1 unit of Geometry.
• 1 unit of Pre-Calc/Trig OR 1 unit of Calc/Advanced Math.

• ACT composite score of 22 or higher.
• OR an SAT combined score of 1110 or higher.
• Graduate in the upper 25% of your high school class.
• OR have a cumulative high school GPA of 3.2.

• 1 unit of Algebra I.
• 1 unit of Algebra II.
• 1 unit of Geometry.
• 1 unit of Pre-Calc/Trig OR 1 unit of Calc/Advanced Math.

• 1 unit of chemistry.
• 1 unit of physics.
• 1 unit of biology and/or earth sciences.

• ACT composite score of 24 or higher
• OR an SAT combined score of 1180 or higher
• OR 24 ACT math sub-score
• OR 580 SAT math score
• OR cumulative high school GPA of 3.5.

Audition and/or Portfolio Requirements

• Audition requirements.
• View audition dates by major/minor.
• Schedule an audition.

Colleges Without Additional Course Requirements

The colleges below do not have additional requirements beyond core course and performance requirements.

• College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources
• College of Arts & Sciences
• College of Education & Human Sciences
• College of Journalism & Mass Communications

Transcript

You will self-report your academic record when completing your application for admission. Use an unofficial transcript to fill in your information.

ACT/SAT

Note: You are not required to submit an ACT/SAT score to be considered for admission. While not required, all first-year applicants under the age of 23 are encouraged to submit an official ACT/SAT score for full scholarship consideration. We will offer you the best scholarship award possible based on either your GPA alone or the combination of your GPA and highest composite ACT/SAT score.

After you've taken the ACT/SAT, submit a request to the testing institution to send us your official scores. Our codes are the following:

Application Deadlines

Any application received after the published deadline may be placed on a waitlist. The Admissions Committee will prioritize the waitlist based upon candidates that meet Nebraska's assured admission requirements.

Note: There is no guarantee of admission for waitlist applicants.

Application Fee

There is a $45 application fee payable with a credit card or a check. If you participate in the free/reduced lunch program or are a military service member, military spouse or military dependent, you may request to waive this fee at the end of the application. Make the check payable to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and put the applicant's full name on the memo line.

Note: You do not need to pay the $45 admission fee if you have applied for undergraduate admission at UNK or UNO within the last year and submitted an application fee to either of those campuses.

Supplemental Scholarship Application

To be considered for departmental, leadership and service scholarships, you must submit the supplemental Scholarship Application.

Admissions Committee

Per Admissions Office Procedures Manual in Accordance with RP- 5.2.1-4b—an Admissions Committee may admit students who do not meet the Board of Regents assured admission requirements for full admission. These decisions are based upon a holistic review of an individual applicant's student record including but not limited to academic achievement (GPA, academic courses, class rank, standardized test scores), high school course availability, recommendation letters, and retention services. The Admissions Committee will utilize this information through the holistic review process to determine whether there are other indicia in the record that would contribute to the applicant's academic success at the University. The Office of Admissions has three committees that perform the above-described work: First-Year college students; Transfer/International and Special Circumstances.

The Special Circumstances Committee will holistically review applicants with special merit that are required to participate in intrusive and successful retention programs such as, but not limited to, Nebraska College Preparatory Academy, William H. Thompson Scholars, and Nebraska Athletics Support Services. The director of admissions must approve retention programs to be considered for the Special Circumstances Committee. Members of this committee will be appointed by the director of admissions.

Admission Based Upon Special Talents

In Accordance with RP- 5.2.1-4b, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln may admit students with special talents who do not meet the Board of Regents assured admission requirements for full admission. Prospective students who do not meet assured admission requirements and who can provide evidence of special talents, such as outstanding artistic skills, unique educational experience or remarkable career achievements can be considered for admission with executive-level sponsorship. Each academic college and the Athletic Department are permitted to recommend no more than 15 special talent appeals to the director of admissions each term. To be considered for admission based on special talent, an applicant must:

• Identify an executive sponsor (executive-level sponsors are considered a college dean, associate dean, the athletic director or associate athletic director):
  • The executive sponsor must write a letter of reference to the director of admissions which details the prospective student’s special talent, explains why the sponsor believes the student is deserving of admission and provides specifics regarding how the unit will academically ensure the student’s success;
  • If the prospective student requests admission based upon special talents prior to applying for admission, the executive sponsor’s reference letter should be accompanied with unofficial of transcripts, standardized test scores, and English proficiency scores (for all international students or students for whom English is a second language);
    • In this case, the director of admissions will review the unofficial documents and executive sponsor’s reference letter and will make a provisional admissions decision—pending the student’s formal application for admission and submission of official documents by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s established admissions deadlines;
    • The executive sponsor should include the prospective student’s birth date and NUID number in the letter;
    • The director of admissions will review the prospective student’s academic file and notify the applicant and executive sponsor of the admission decision.

    Revocation of Admission and/or Degree

    Admission to or a degree awarded from the University may be revoked for: Fraud; misrepresentation; violation of university standards in obtaining the degree; serious violation committed by an applicant or student prior to course enrollment, matriculation, or graduation; or other significant infractions endangering the safety and/or well-being of the university community.

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