CA license, Dec. graduate - license OOS and transfer, or wait to return to CA?

Nurses General Nursing

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Would appreciate feedback from any CA resident who is returning to CA after graduation with a BSN--

I reached out to an alum from my nursing school who is working as a nurse in CA. She said something that seemed odd, so I thought I'd check here. She suggested I get my North Carolina license, then transfer it to CA... that that was quicker than getting it directly from CA when I return in January. There is one possible residency in CA that starts in February, to which I plan to apply, so getting my CA RN license in the quickest way seems to be a good idea.

Which is quicker:

1) Take NCLEX in North Carolina in Dec., get NC RN license, do paperwork to transfer NC license to CA.

2) Wait to return to CA, take NCLEX in January.

I've had a look at the CA BOR application timetables and maybe I'm not thinking clearly this morning but they don't seem to make any sense.

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Would appreciate feedback from any CA resident who is returning to CA after graduation with a BSN--

I reached out to an alum from my nursing school who is working as a nurse in CA. She said something that seemed odd, so I thought I'd check here. She suggested I get my North Carolina license, then transfer it to CA... that that was quicker than getting it directly from CA when I return in January. There is one possible residency in CA that starts in February, to which I plan to apply, so getting my CA RN license in the quickest way seems to be a good idea.

Which is quicker:

1) Take NCLEX in North Carolina in Dec., get NC RN license, do paperwork to transfer NC license to CA.

2) Wait to return to CA, take NCLEX in January.

I've had a look at the CA BOR application timetables and maybe I'm not thinking clearly this morning but they don't seem to make any sense.

You can take NCLEX in any state and apply for a license in the state you plan to work in. California will require the same documentation and take just as long whether you have a license in another state, or not. You can't actually "transfer" a license.

It took about three months for me to apply by endorsement. The wait times on their site tend to be fairly accurate if everything is sent to them in a timely manner and there are no "bumps in the road".

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thanks sour lemon,

I took a closer look and it seems that one cannot take the NCLEX in a vacuum... the permission to take the test comes from the state in which a person is seeking a license... so taking the NCLEX in North Carolina prior to graduating can only happen if I'm applying for a NC license.

I think I'll just collect my prior transcripts, fly out to CA to get the digital fingerprinting in October, then send everything in with the exception of my BSN transcript.

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thanks sour lemon,

I took a closer look and it seems that one cannot take the NCLEX in a vacuum... the permission to take the test comes from the state in which a person is seeking a license... so taking the NCLEX in North Carolina prior to graduating can only happen if I'm applying for a NC license.

[...]

So far as I know, you can't write the NCLEX for any state until after you've graduated. However, once you have graduated, you can apply for initial licensure in one state, and actually write the NCLEX anywhere, at either a domestic or international testing site, as long as it is an authorized Pearson VUE testing center.

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So far as I know, you can't write the NCLEX for any state until after you've graduated. However, once you have graduated, you can apply for initial licensure in one state, and actually write the NCLEX anywhere, at either a domestic or international testing site, as long as it is an authorized Pearson VUE testing center.

Some states do allow grads to take the NCLEX prior to graduation. Virginia is one such state. Back when I took the NCLEX, I sat for the exam on August 6 and didn't actually graduate until August 15. :)

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Duplicate.

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Some states do allow grads to take the NCLEX prior to graduation. Virginia is one such state. Back when I took the NCLEX, I sat for the exam on August 6 and didn't actually graduate until August 15. :)

Thank you for clarifying this, I wasn't aware any states still granted authorization to test prior to actual graduation. However, once authorized by a state's BON he should still be able to test at any authorized test center.

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