Naming potential preceptors on your Bradley application

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Bradley Preceptor placement team

Bradley University asks every nurse practitioner applicant to include or discuss potential clinical mentors, and DNP Leadership applicants to discuss potential practice mentors. The list shows admissions that you understand the student-led clinical model. It is a starting point rather than an approval: each name still has to pass the preceptor packet later.

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4NP specialties whose admission lists ask for potential clinical mentors

Numbered steps. From acceptance to your first packet: 1 Accept and set up your accounts; 2 Clear Viewpoint Screening; 3 Re-confirm every name on your list; 4 Fill the gaps; 5 Submit the first packet on time. — From acceptance to your first packet: 1 Accept and set up your accounts; 2 Clear Viewpoint Screening; 3 Re-confirm every name on your list; 4 Fill the gaps; 5 Submit the first packet on time.

What the application actually asks for

Bradley's online program pages set out admission requirements for each track, and the wording is consistent across the nurse practitioner options. Whether you apply to the MSN, the BSN-to-DNP or a post-master's certificate in FNP, PMHNP, AGACNP or AGPCNP, the list asks advanced practice applicants to include or discuss potential mentors for clinical experiences.

DNP Leadership applicants get a related request: they discuss potential practice mentors for the practice-change project and document supervised clinical clock hours from their master's program in a portfolio. A Bradley enrollment guide for the online DNP adds that the admission essay should include a list of potential preceptors. The rest of the file is familiar: transcripts, the essay, two recommendation letters, a CV or résumé and proof of a current, unencumbered RN license.

Why Bradley asks this early

The request fits the model. Bradley's online pages advertise choosing your preceptors, the handbook makes each student responsible for arranging practicums, and the university approves whoever you bring. Asking at the application stage checks whether an applicant has thought about where clinicals will happen before a seat is offered.

Bradley does not publish how admissions weighs the names, whether a short list counts against an application, or whether anyone contacts the people listed. If that matters to your decision, ask the Office of Online and Distance Education or your enrollment contact before you submit. What is clear is that a thoughtful list takes little effort and signals that you understand the work ahead. It also gives you a head start, because every name you vet now is one fewer cold call later.

Who belongs on the list

List people who could plausibly pass Bradley's approval later. For nurse practitioner tracks, Bradley's 2017 preceptor webinar accepted nurse practitioners, MDs and DOs, wanted most hours with NPs, and excluded physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists and clinical nurse leaders. Relatives are out under the Graduate Professional Behaviors Policy.

Then match names to the settings your track uses. An FNP applicant needs primary care across the lifespan, including women's health and pediatrics. An AGACNP applicant needs acute care, an AGPCNP applicant needs primary care or outpatient adult practice, and a PMHNP applicant needs mental health settings, with a sub-specialty such as child and adolescent or geriatric psychiatry in the last course. DNP Leadership and DNP project students name practice mentors instead. The full rules sit on Bradley preceptor requirements.

What to write about each name

A useful entry covers

Name and credential: NP, MD or DO, or a nurse leader for the leadership tracks.
Specialty and practice setting, and which of your practicum courses it could serve.
City and state, which should be your approved state of admission or residence.
How you know the person, making clear there is no family relationship.
Whether you have talked with them about precepting, and what they said.

Honesty helps. "Discussed in general terms, open to students" is more useful than implying a commitment you do not have. A short paragraph in your essay on how you plan to fill the courses nobody on your list covers, such as pediatrics for FNP, shows exactly the planning the question is probing for. Keep each entry to a line or two; the goal is a credible map, not a résumé for every contact.

How firm the list is

Treat the list as a first draft. No Bradley source says the names bind you or them, and nothing on the application approves a preceptor. Approval happens later, course by course, when a preceptor packet goes in through DocuSign by midterm of the semester before each practicum.

Time changes lists, too. Bradley's 2017 FNP webinar placed the first clinical in the second semester for certificate students, the fifth for MSN students and the eighth for BSN-to-DNP students. A preceptor you name today may change jobs, retire or fill their student slots before your turn arrives, so keep the list alive after admission instead of filing it away. There is no published step for updating the application itself; the packet is where the current name counts.

From acceptance to your first packet

Accept and set up your accountsThe Bradley Bound page leads to the post-admission checklist, your BUnetID and B-Mail, and MyOnline, where the Clinicals tab and the track packets live.
Clear Viewpoint ScreeningThe background check, drug screen, immunizations, physical and insurance are due by midterm of your first semester.
Re-confirm every name on your listContact each potential preceptor again, confirm the setting and the semester, and ask whether their employer runs its own student process.
Fill the gapsRecruit for any course your list leaves uncovered. Our guide to choosing your own preceptor walks through the search.
Submit the first packet on timeSend the DocuSign packet by midterm of the semester before the course. See the preceptor packet for what goes in it.

How we help applicants and new students

A short or empty list is common, and it is where we do our best work. We build a candidate list around your Bradley track, your approved state and the courses ahead of you, check each name against Bradley's published preceptor rules, and give you people you can honestly describe as potential mentors.

After admission we keep going: confirming the names, filling the courses nobody covered, collecting the license, CV and malpractice documents, and timing every packet to land well before its midterm deadline. We are the most thorough placement service a Bradley student can bring into this process. Bradley approves every preceptor; we make sure the ones you bring are ready for that review. Start with the form below or read how it works.

Questions Bradley students ask

Do I need signed commitments from preceptors before I apply to Bradley?

Bradley's wording is to include or discuss potential mentors, which stops short of a signed commitment. Signatures come later, when a preceptor completes the DocuSign packet for a specific course. Still, speaking with each person before you list them makes the entry more credible and gives you a head start on your first packet.

What if I have no preceptors to name when I apply?

Bradley does not publish how an empty list affects an admission decision, so ask the Office of Online and Distance Education or your enrollment contact. Meanwhile, describe your plan: the settings you will target, your professional network and the region you will search. A concrete plan reads far better than a blank space.

Is a practice mentor the same as a preceptor?

Not quite. Preceptors supervise nurse practitioner practicum hours. A practice mentor guides DNP project hours in NUR 841 through NUR 844 and, for DNP Leadership, the practice-change project. The Graduate Student Handbook lists a separate DNP Project Practice Mentor Packet for that role. See DNP project hours for the course breakdown.

Can I change the preceptors I listed after I am admitted?

Yes. Nothing in Bradley's public material ties you to the names on your application, and approval happens per course through the preceptor packet. Replace anyone who has moved on, retired or declined, and make sure the new person fits the course setting and your approved state before the packet deadline.

When is the next application deadline for Bradley's online nursing programs?

On September 25, 2026, Bradley's online program pages showed a November 15, 2026 application deadline for the January 20, 2027 start. Some programs admit in fall, spring and summer, so check the page for your track. Beginning your preceptor list before you submit gives the search more runway.

ModelChoose your preceptorsBradley University's online nursing pages promise "Choose your preceptors." What that means once you enroll, what the handbook asks, and how to search well.RulesPreceptor requirementsWho can precept a Bradley University nurse practitioner student: NPs, MDs and DOs, most hours with NPs, an active unencumbered license, and what is unpublished.FormPreceptor packetThe Bradley University preceptor packet: each track's clinical packet, DocuSign submission, the midterm deadline, and what your preceptor signs and sends.DNPDNP project hours (NUR 840-844)Bradley University DNP project hours: NUR 841 to NUR 844 and NUR 840, practice mentors, the 1,000-hour rule, and why the NP DNP courses add up to 1,050.ProcessClinical placement processHow a Bradley University NP, DNP or leadership practicum gets approved: the names you list, clearance, the DocuSign packet, the agency agreement and Typhon.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against Bradley's own catalog, online program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your clinical packet, course faculty and academic advisor have the final word.

Bradley lets you choose your preceptors. We find the ones worth choosing.

Tell us your Bradley track, your city and your next practicum course. We line up preceptors who fit the NUR course and gather the license, CV and malpractice details the DocuSign packet asks for, well before the midterm of the semester before you start.

Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, mental health settings for PMHNP
Preceptor license, CV, malpractice coverage and the site address ready for the packet
Every practicum in your sequence planned together, close to home in your approved state

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