Nova Southeastern University Acceptance Rate, GPA, and Admission Requirements

Nova Southeastern University announced that starting with the Fall 2026 semester (students entering fall 2026), SAT or ACT scores will be required for undergraduate admission. This is a reversal of the COVID-era test-optional policy that has been in place since 2020. Students applying for fall 2025 entry are still test-optional (scores are optional and only required for Dual Admission programs), but students applying for fall 2026 entry must submit scores. NSU cited its rising academic reputation and a desire for a more uniform holistic review process as reasons for reinstating the requirement. This is a consequential policy change that most published admissions resources have not yet caught up to: counselors advising a student on NSU without flagging this shift are giving them outdated information.

NSU's Dual Admission program reserves a seat in 30+ graduate and professional programs - including D.O., D.M.D., Pharm.D., D.P.T., M.D. (allopathic), Physician Assistant, Law, and MBA - while a student completes their undergraduate degree, and includes an annual $2,000 scholarship during the undergraduate years. Transfer students are explicitly ineligible for most health professions Dual Admission programs; only students entering NSU in the fall semester as first-time college freshmen may apply. There is no second chance at the freshman application - students who realize they want Dual Admission after enrolling may apply for the DAPES (Dual Admission Program for Enrolled Students) pathway only after completing their first year at NSU and meeting program-specific GPA floors (ranging from 3.0 to 3.8 depending on program). The window for the highest-value programs closes at freshman entry.

The Dual Admission application is not the standard NSU or Common App application - it requires a separate supplemental Premier Programs Application that must be submitted for fall entry by February 1 (some programs have February 15 deadlines; verify by program). Admission to the Dual Admission program also requires attendance at Shark Preview, NSU's exclusive admitted-student event where Dual Admission selections are made through an interview. This is not optional: students who apply for Dual Admission but do not attend Shark Preview cannot be selected. The sequence is: apply to NSU through the standard application (NSU Shark Select or Common App), submit the supplemental Premier Programs Application separately, receive general admission to NSU, and then interview at Shark Preview to be selected for the dual admission program. Missing any step forecloses the pathway.

NSU's Dual Admission Program for Enrolled Students (DAPES) opens a second window for currently enrolled NSU students who did not gain Dual Admission as incoming freshmen. Applications are accepted September 1?15 of a student's second year at NSU, after completing at least 28 NSU credits with the program's required minimum GPA (ranging from 3.0 for Health Informatics and Public Health to 3.5?3.8 for Physician Assistant and Allopathic Medicine). Transfer students from other institutions are not eligible for DAPES - only first-year NSU students who entered NSU directly from high school may apply after their first year. For a student who enrolled without Dual Admission and has maintained a strong first-year GPA, DAPES is a specific and meaningful recovery pathway that many students and counselors do not know exists.