Does waiting to apply look bad to recruiters?

Yes ... it can make you look less serious about your career unless there is a darn good reason for it. You should be able to take your NCLEX within 2 months of graduating -- and you should be able to include any needed "play time" within that 2 months. (No one should have to study for NCLEX full time for 2 months.) So, it raises a "red flag" when someone wants to take more time off.

Don't forget -- the hospital knows very well that the longer the gap between school and work, the more rusty your skills and knowledge will become. That means you become a "higher risk" orientee and that may require additional time to transition into the RN role. That extra time and any extra educational resources you may need are expensive.

At least talk with the hospitals ahead of time and find out when their usual new grad hiring takes place. We start a lot of new grads in August: so we are fine with August and will interview people in May and June for those positions. We'll hold a position until August if we like you. It's the people who want to wait until September or October that don't fit well with our schedule.

Thanks for your insight llg. I actually wasn't going to "play" this summer, I have told someone that I would help take care of them in another state while they are dying. Do you think it would benefit me to tell recruiters that is why I am applying so late?

Definitely tell them why. There are people who think of that couple of months as their "last summer off" before they have to become an adult and have to shoulder adult responsibilities. As you can imagine, employers want to hire people who are already adults. So tell the employer why so that they know that you are not just delaying your entry into adulthood.

Just be aware that some hospitals have set programs for new grads and only hire new grads on the dates those programs start. You will be eliminating yourself from those programs if you are not available to start when they want you to.

The bottom line is that you need to talk to the hospitals now and find out what their preferences are -- before you make any major decisions. Theirs is the opinion that counts, not ours.