New Grad GPA/ Practicum requirement for jobs in Los Angeles?

[onoff, BSN, RN]

I am an out-of-state student looking to preferably come back to LA after graduation for NCLEX and job. Like a lot of my peers, I'm interested in the more competitive facilities but my GPA is hardly over a 3.0 right now (will probably graduate with around 3.15, 3.2 tops).

Given my weak GPA, I'm wondering how competitive it is to get into the bigger hospitals like UCLA, Cedars-Sinai, CHOL, Kaiser, etc.

Does the specialty I choose for senior practicum matter a lot when it comes to getting hired as well?

And if I were to gain experience for 1 or 1.5 years at the state that my school is in (this is a very doable option but I'd prefer to come back to Cali) and came back to SoCal, would my chances be better?

Thanks

[Heylove, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

I'm not sure if schools look at GPA or not. I went to school in SoCal and some of my classmates work at those hospitals you mentioned. I think it's a matter of who you know and getting in at the right time. Some were CNAs or techs during nursing school, for example.

Apply and see what happens. If that doesn't work, consider applying for a "less desirable" hospital or location (like the central valley) and get some experience.

I don't know about the area of specialty question, as we didn't do that.