Nursing School Interview Questions & Tips

THE SHORT ANSWER

Common nursing school interview questions

Most nursing school interviews come back to a few questions: why nursing, why this program, and how you handle stress, teamwork and mistakes. Prepare one short, true story for each, and answer behavioral questions with STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result.

Why do you want to be a nurse?
Tell me about yourself.
Why our program?
Tell me about a time you handled a stressful situation.
Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone on a team.
Tell me about a mistake you made and what you did next.
How will you balance school with work and family?
What would you do if you saw a classmate cheating?

YOUR TURN

Questions to ask at your nursing school interview

Ask questions that show how students actually do in the program, and check the answers you can: many state boards of nursing publish NCLEX pass rates by program.

What has your first-time NCLEX pass rate been over the last few years?
How many students who start the program graduate on time?
Where do students do clinicals, and how far do they travel?
What tutoring or support is there if I fall behind?
What are the rules for staying in the program, such as minimum grades?
Where do your graduates usually get their first jobs?

Study tools and NCLEX practice for nursing students and new grads, free on iOS & Android.

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

THE REALITY

1. Interviews can decide it

75,255 qualified applications turned awayFrom entry-level BSN programs in 2025
Usually not about youPrograms lack clinical sites, faculty and classroom space
Not every program interviewsCheck each program's requirements

Source: AACN, May 2026.

THE CLASSICS

2. You'll almost always get these

"Why nursing?"Tell one real moment, not "I like helping people"
"Tell me about yourself"About 60 seconds: school, work, why now
"Why our program?"Name something specific you looked up

BEHAVIORAL

3. "Tell me about a time you..."

...handled a stressful situation
...worked on a team that disagreed
...got hard feedback
...made a mistake and fixed it
Answer with STARSituation, Task, Action, Result

JUDGMENT

4. The ethics questions

"A classmate is cheating. What do you do?"Show honesty, and that you'd follow the policy
"Your group partner isn't pulling their weight"Talk to them first, then the instructor
There's no trick answerThey're checking your values and your reasoning

THE FORMAT

5. Not always one-on-one

Multiple mini interviews (MMI)Short scenario stations, each with a different interviewer
Example: University of CincinnatiMoved its BSN admissions to MMIs for fall 2018
What they look forCritical thinking, communication, empathy and ethics

Source: University of Cincinnati College of Nursing. Formats vary; check each program.

YOUR TURN

6. Questions to ask them

What's your first-time NCLEX pass rate?
Where do students do clinicals?
What support is there if I fall behind?
How many students graduate on time?
Double-check the pass rateMany state boards publish them. Texas does, by program

Example: Texas Board of Nursing, 2025 NCLEX-RN pass rates by program.