When your first GW clinical semester starts
Your first precepted course at GW lands at a set point in your plan of study: semester 3 for a full-time MSN NP student, semester 5 or 6 for most part-time students, semester 7 or 9 in the post-BSN DNP, and the very first semester for most post-master's certificates. NURS 6222 falls one term ahead of it, and GW wants the placement request about four months ahead. Plan backward from there.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your GW program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your GW course.
How GW's plans count semesters
GW's sample plans of study number every term, summer included, starting from the term you enter. A fall starter's year runs fall, spring, summer; a spring starter's runs spring, summer, fall. So semester 3 is the summer after your first spring if you begin in fall, and your first fall if you begin in spring.
Most plans GW posts are dated November 2024, which makes them older than the Bulletin 2026-27. They remain the clearest public map of when clinical courses fall, and each one notes that the program director must approve preceptor and site details beforehand and that regional limits can apply. GW's academic advisors, who are assigned by track, can confirm the plan you are actually on before you build around the tables below.
First clinical course by plan of study
| Plan | First clinical course | Semester and term | Clinical run |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP or AGPCNP, full-time, fall entry | NURS 6230 or NURS 6224 | 3: Year 1 summer | Summer, fall, spring |
| MSN FNP, full-time, spring entry | NURS 6230 | 3: Year 1 fall | Fall, spring, summer |
| MSN FNP, AGPCNP or AGACNP, part-time, fall entry | NURS 6230, NURS 6224 or NURS 6235 | 6: Year 2 summer | Year 2 summer to Year 3 spring |
| MSN FNP or AGPCNP, part-time, spring entry | NURS 6230 or NURS 6224 | 5: Year 2 summer | Year 2 summer to Year 3 spring |
| MSN PMHNP, part-time, fall or spring entry | NURS 6245 | 4 (fall) or 6 (spring): Year 2 fall | Five courses, ending with NURS 6248 in Year 3 fall |
| Post-BSN DNP FNP, AGPCNP or AGACNP | NURS 6230, NURS 6224 or NURS 6235 | 9: Year 3 summer | Year 3 summer to Year 4 spring |
| Post-BSN DNP PMHNP | NURS 6245 | 7: Year 3 fall | Five courses, ending with NURS 6248 in Year 4 fall |
| AGACNP certificate, summer entry | NURS 6235 | 1: summer | Summer, fall, spring |
| AGPCNP certificate, fall or summer entry | NURS 6224 | 1: entry term | Three consecutive terms |
| PMHNP certificate, fall entry | NURS 6245 | 1: fall | Rotations begin with the first course |
The post-BSN DNP plans are part-time only and run 11 semesters. The AGACNP track is part-time only in every option, and the MSN PMHNP plans run eight semesters from a fall start or nine from a spring start.
NURS 6222 comes the term before
Every GW NP plan puts NURS 6222, the advanced health assessment course, in the term immediately before the first clinical course, and the Bulletin makes it a prerequisite for all other clinical NURS courses. It is also when NP students attend CLASI, on campus for most tracks and virtually for PMHNP, and GW grants CORE access before the course begins.
That makes NURS 6222 a handy marker on your calendar. By the time it starts you should be able to open CORE, and the placement request for the following term is either already due or only weeks away. If CORE is still closed to you by then, tell the Clinical Placement Team. The course and its skills intensive are covered on the NURS 6222 and CLASI page.
Request dates sit about four months ahead
GW's Compliance and Clinical page asks for clinical requests about four months before the rotation, which puts the fall deadline at May 1, the spring one at October 1 and summer's at February 1. GW's 2026 CORE workshop set Fall 2026's priority date at May 15, 2026 and Spring 2027's at October 8, 2026, and it points students to CORE's Document Library for each term's dates. Both sets are compared on the request deadlines page.
The request marks the end of the search, not the start. It needs a preceptor who has already agreed, a site, the preceptor's license and bio or CV, and the site's signatory details. GW also cautions that preceptors and sites often fill up over a year ahead. For most plans, then, the real starting line sits about a year before the first clinical term.
When to start searching, plan by plan
Each plan becomes three dates: the first clinical term, GW's published request date, and a search start that respects GW's year-ahead warning.
| Plan | First clinical term | Request due | Start searching |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP or AGPCNP, full-time, fall entry | Year 1 summer | February 1, during semester 2 | At admission |
| MSN FNP, full-time, spring entry | Year 1 fall | May 1, late in semester 1 | At admission |
| MSN FNP, AGPCNP or AGACNP, part-time, fall entry | Year 2 summer | February 1, during semester 5 | By Year 1 summer (semester 3) |
| MSN FNP or AGPCNP, part-time, spring entry | Year 2 summer | February 1, during semester 4 | By Year 1 summer (semester 2) |
| MSN PMHNP, part-time, fall entry | Year 2 fall | May 1, late in semester 2 | At admission |
| MSN PMHNP, part-time, spring entry | Year 2 fall | May 1, late in semester 4 | By Year 1 fall (semester 3) |
| Post-BSN DNP FNP, AGPCNP or AGACNP | Year 3 summer | February 1, during semester 8 | By Year 2 summer (semester 6) |
| Post-BSN DNP PMHNP | Year 3 fall | May 1, late in semester 5 | By Year 2 fall (semester 4) |
| AGACNP, AGPCNP or PMHNP certificate | First semester | Before your first term begins | At acceptance |
Certificate students were told in GW's 2021 clinical placement guide to begin looking the moment they are accepted, and GW expects the majority of certificate students to be in clinical from their first term; see post-master's NP certificates and the PMHNP certificate. That guide also capped how early a request could be processed, at six months ahead of a first clinical course in summer or fall, so an early search just means your preceptor is ready before the window opens.
Midwifery, leadership and the programs GW places
Two graduate programs follow their own rhythm. GW's midwifery page schedules CLASI as semester 7 opens, just before two semesters of clinical immersion in NURS 6321 and NURS 6322. The full plan is not archived, so confirm the exact terms with the program; the midwifery clinical immersion page covers the immersion itself.
The Nursing Leadership and Management plan is not public either. The Bulletin lists six prerequisites for NURS 6258: leadership and coaching (NURS 6203, NURS 6262), policy (NURS 6205), evidence and statistics (NURS 6207, NURS 6208) and NURS 8402, although the 2026-27 course list now carries NURS 8351 Healthcare Informatics in the slot NURS 8402 used to fill. Either way, the first practicum follows the core leadership courses; see the leadership practicum page.
Accelerated and Veterans BSN students, and those in the new Direct-Entry MSN, have their placements arranged by GW, so the search timing on this page applies to the graduate tracks.
Why GW students start their search with us
Working backward from a first clinical term is easy to postpone and costly to get wrong. Tell us your program, entry term and plan of study, and we map your first clinical course, its request date and the window for the search, then begin the search close to where you live for a preceptor suited to that course.
We prepare what your Site Prospector submission needs so the request reaches your program director complete, and we flag the Complio purchase window as the term approaches. We keep that same lead time for every clinical term after the first, so each new course starts with a preceptor already confirmed. If your first term is already close, read need a preceptor fast.
Questions GW students ask
What happens if I miss the request deadline for my first clinical term?
GW warns that a missed request deadline can push back your clinical start, and its 2021 guide adds that a late request may hold up clearance. Contact the Clinical Placement Team and your program director as soon as you know, and keep searching, because a confirmed preceptor is what any late request depends on.
My certificate starts clinicals right away. When do I get CORE access?
CORE access normally arrives before NURS 6222, a course the post-master's certificates do not include, since applicants come in with advanced health assessment already done. If your first term is also your first clinical term, GW's instruction is to request CORE access by writing to the Clinical Placement Team at sonclinical@gwu.edu. Do it as soon as you accept your offer.
Does GW offer any orientation before the first clinical term?
Yes. GW sends an invitation to a clinical webinar during the NURS 6220 semester, and it hosts a Clinical and Practicum Virtual Orientation. CLASI itself includes workshops such as Welcome to Clinical and a CORE Workshop, where the logging and submission rules are explained.
How many hours is my first clinical course?
120 in every NP track. NURS 6230, NURS 6224 and NURS 6235 each carry 120 hours before the 240-hour courses that follow, and PMHNP's NURS 6245 is 120 like the rest of that track's five courses. The lighter first course is a good place to settle into CORE logging.
When should I buy Complio for my first clinical term?
Close to it, not at admission. GW's rule is to hold off on buying the Complio account until you are within four months of clinical start, and background checks and drug screens must fall within 18 months to cover the whole clinical period. Line it up with your request date rather than your offer letter.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against GW's Bulletin and GW Nursing's own program and clinical pages. Your course, CORE and GW's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
GW asks you to find your own site and preceptor. Hand that search to us.
Tell us your GW program, where you live and which clinical course is next. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, bio and site details GW's review asks for, so your Site Prospector goes in complete.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice for
NURS 6230toNURS 6232, older-adult primary care for AGPCNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - License, bio or CV and the site's agreement signatory ready for your CORE submission
- Close to home, in DC, Maryland, Virginia or wherever you live and hold your RN license
Start your placement plan
Your program, city and next clinical term is all we need to begin.