Objective To explore the status quo and the relationship between school adaptation and mental health of nursing college students,as well as the predictive effect of school adaptation on mental health,which provides a reference for development ofstrategy of mental health education.Methods In April 2018,a questionnaire survey was conducted to 583 nursing students enrolled from 2015 to 2017 in Yanbian University and Beihua University using the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) and the Chinese college students adaptation scale (CCSAS).Results The positive rate of SCL-90 was 35.2% (205/583),the somatic symptoms of third grade students(1.38±0.40)were more obvious than grade one and grade two (1.27±0.29,1.33±0.34) (P<0.05).The school adaptation of grade three students(2.81±0.50)was not so good as grade one and grade two(3.00±0.58,3.02±0.80) (all P<0.05).Emotional adaptation of nursing students(2.95±0.74) was significantly correlated with anxiety (1.41±0.40)(P<0.01) and psychotic disorder(1.33±0.37)(P<0.05).Conclusions The overall mental health of students from nursing school was not good,the third grade students had a even lower level of school adaptation,and emotional adaptation is significantly correlated with anxiety and psychosis.Through the popularization of emotional management courses,colleges can support the nursing students to better adapt to the institution life,which improves their mental health and prevents the occurrence of mental disorders.