Admissions Requirements

Non-Discrimination

The school will encourage an atmosphere that is respectful and supportive of every individual. This includes ensuring that all student-related actions and all employment actions be made without regard to race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, veteran status, age, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

General Admission Requirements (All Programs)

Admission to the Cardiovascular Institute is a competitive process and a limited number of applicants are accepted each year. The student should demonstrate a dependable, mature demeanor and interact well with others. The student should have a genuine desire to care for the disabled and sick and have the ability to work well under pressure. As indicated on the online application form, it is a REQUIREMENT that accepted applicants for all programs undergo a criminal background check and urinalysis drug screening prior to enrollment. The costs for the background check and drug screening will be covered by the Cardiovascular Institute. A positive drug test result and/or significant criminal history report may deny the applicant enrollment into a program.

The application process is open to applicants who currently meet, or fully expect to meet, all of the minimum admissions requirements at least 7 days before the first day of school in order to allow time for formal enrollment into the program. Applicants who have been offered a seat in a class but failed to fulfill the minimum admissions requirement within the 7-day window will lose their seat in the class.

Please note that there are additional admissions requirements for each CVI program. Please see the section, Program-Specific Admissions Requirements.

General Admission Requirements (All Programs)

1. 18 years of age or older

2. Proof of United States citizenship or permanent residency status.

Please note: The Cardiovascular Institute is not a college or university, which are degree-conferring educational institutions, and therefore cannot sponsor Student Visa Applications. All applicants to the Cardiovascular Institute must either be a United States citizen or have obtained Permanent Residency status in the United States.

3. Minimum education requirements and other requirements as specified in the “Program-Specific Admissions Requirements” section.

Foreign Transcripts: Foreign transcripts will be accepted, but only when converted through the World Education Services (www.wes.org) degree conversion service. The Degree Conversion Report from WES must state the equivalency of the converted degree to meet the minimum standards listed above for each program.

Importantly, irrespective of the resulting degree conversion, all prerequisite coursework must be completed from an accredited college or university in the United States.

4. Possess the physical and mental qualities required to work in the profession. See section on “Physical, Communication, Mobility, Tactical, Hearing, and Visual Demands”.

5. Provide proof of current immunizations and negative TB test. Immunizations must be current prior to school start.

6. Proof of current health insurance (requirement for clinical affiliates)

7. Provide this list of immunizations to your Primary Care Provider (PCP):

  • 2 Mumps, measles, rubella (MMR) vaccines or positive titers

  • 2 Varicella (Chicken Pox) vaccines or positive titers (history of Chicken Pox is not acceptable)

  • Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis (Tdap) given after age 18 years

  • Influenza (Flu) only in flu season

  • Tuberculosis (TB) test (TST within last 3 months or QuantiFERON within last 6 months)

  • Hepatitis B (Recommended, but not mandatory)

Online Application Process & Timeline (All Programs)

The application process is open to applicants who currently meet, or fully expect to meet, all of the minimum admissions requirements at least 7 days before the first day of school in order to allow time for formal enrollment into the program. Applicants who have been offered a seat in a class but failed to fulfill the minimum admissions requirement within the 7-day window will lose their seat in the class.

The online application portal is open each year beginning at 12:00am on February 1st until 11:59pm on March 31st, at which time the online application portal will automatically close until the next application cycle.

The application process for all programs, including the uploading of all supporting documentation, must be completed online via the application link provided on the school website. It is important to understand that the email address and mobile phone number provided by the applicant will be used for all correspondence regarding the status of their application.

All mandatory fields, required document uploads, and applicant attestations must be completed in order to proceed through the application. Payment must be received as the final step for an application to be considered complete and ready for processing by CVI staff. It is at this time that the system will automatically generate a confirmation email, which should be retained by the applicant. If payment has gone through and you do not receive an email within 15 minutes, contact the school immediately at CVIinfo@BSWHealth.org so that we may troubleshoot the application. Otherwise, the application software will automatically classify the application as incomplete, and it will not be processed. The CVI receives hundreds of incomplete applications every year.

Important: Uploading a blank or incomplete document in place of a required document in order to advance through the application is not allowed. Upon discovery, the application will be marked incomplete, and the application will not be processed.

No documentation should be physically mailed or emailed to the school or school staff. These documents will neither be retained by the school nor manually applied to an application. Digital documentation will be deleted, and physical documents will be shredded.

Please Note: Partial or incomplete applications will not be processed or retained. Application fees are non-refundable.

Complete applications must be completely filled out and all of the following documentation uploaded in portable document format (pdf), or as specified in the online application portal. (Free pdf scanner applications for iPhone and Android smart phone operating systems are readily available.)

  1. All Unofficial College Academic Transcripts to Support Applicants’ Cumulative GPA from ALL College Coursework: Please do not request or upload official transcripts at this time. Official transcripts and verification of all grades will be required for those applicants selected for an in-person interview.

    All foreign transcripts must be converted through the World Education Services (www.WES.org) only, or the application will be considered incomplete and will not be processed.

  2. Copies of All College Degrees (If Completed):

    It is common for an applicant to be actively working on fulfilling requirements for a degree at the time of applying for a program (e.g. applicant will graduate in May but is applying between February 1st and March 31st). However, copies of all degrees and fulfillment of all admissions requirements must be completed at least 7 days prior to school start.

  3. Personal Essay:

    Note on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) — Be advised that it is relatively easy to determine if an applicant used AI to write all or a significant portion of their personal essay. All essays for applicants being considered for interviews will be checked. This is not allowed and will negatively impact your application as this should be your own work.

    The essay should (1) use the applicant’s own life experiences to clearly convey their desire to pursue a career in their chosen program, (2) give specific examples of what makes them stand out among other applicants and, (3) meet the following essay parameters:

    - Two full pages of content with a one-line title,

    - One-inch top, bottom, and side margins,

    - 12-point font, double-spaced,

    - Proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation throughout.

  4. Two Letters of Reference:

    One letter should come from a professional (work-related) source and one from a personal source who is not a relative (e.g. Mother, grandfather, etc.)

  5. Current Personal Resume:

    Education and work histories, patient care experience (if applicable), volunteerism, and pertinent life experiences

  6. Cardiovascular Perfusion Program only: Completed Cardiovascular Perfusion Program Shadowing Form for each operating room case observed. This form may be downloaded from the Cardiovascular Perfusion Program page. A minimum of 2 observations are recommended. However, ALL completed observations should be uploaded to the online application.

  7. Application Fee Payment: $100.00

Complete applications with all required documentation and attestations will be ranked. Once ranked, students will be emailed a decision letter designating their application status as denied or invited to the interview process by April 15th. Interviews are in-person (if at all possible) and usually take place on campus in early June. The applicant will be notified of their specific interview date and time slot in the interview invitation email. An Interview Committee, selected by each Program Director, will interview those students chosen for the interview. The Program Director will make the final decision on acceptance or denial into the program. Acceptance, alternate and denial letters will be emailed to each interviewee within 5 business days of the interview. Accepted students must claim their seat by return email within 5 business days of the date the acceptance email was sent. Two alternates will also be selected in the event that one or more candidates either withdraw their claim to a seat, fail to accept by the deadline, or fail to meet admissions criteria at least 7 days prior to school start. Alternates will be notified as soon as possible that a position has been made available to them.

Selective Admissions Criteria:

A rubric will be used by the Interview Committee to rank applicants for interview selection for each program. The personal interview with the interview committee will be implemented as part of the final selection process.

  • Academic Performance:

    Degree(s) earned (science-based preferred), overall grade point average, individual class grades, and academic accomplishments (Magna Cum Laude, Dean’s List, etc)

  • Personal Essay, Letters of Reference, and Resume:

    Quality and content of essay and letters of reference; work, volunteer, healthcare, and life experiences.

  • Personal Interview:

    Interviewing students only. Overall impression of the applicant from an in-person interview.