inkabruce

hey, i tried to pm you my email before but maybe it didn't go through. found the group though! And yea I'm not sure about to do lists with the background checks or drug tests etc. I just paid my intent to enroll and have been emailing financial aid about a few things.

@futurerninthemakin I know they have some campus housing but I think mostly undergrad students fill those up. I am moving from the LA area so going to look at all options like Craigslist etc. It seems pretty easy. We could also start a facebook group as I know past cohorts were able to find housing with other students through that.

mine also changed to admitted! congrats everyone!!

@kalduenda hey, yea this all can be pretty nerve wrecking. So I applied for fall originally and was accepted but deferred to spring for a couple reasons. With fall acceptances the student center changed first then the day after I got the email. It sounds like your in a good spot so I wouldn't worry too much, but I know how it goes. A few people mentioned as of this week they did not have evaluations yet and that CSUSM told them they plan to have those completed by next week. So hopefully they get that done then get out acceptances by next week or the following. Good luck!

hopefully they get the evaluations out next week and acceptances shortly after :)

@SD123CA It all depends on the applicant pool, but in the info session she made it sound like they only expect it to get more competitive for spring. The evaluation sheets should be out by the end of August, hopefully!

@eastlakenurse Congrats on the TEAS! I think as long as you have the right courses completed during undergrad, you will be good. It looks like they only absolutely need those AP scores if there isn't sufficient undergrad courses to meet the requirements. To be safe, I would email them. But either way you will find out once you get your evaluation. good luck :)

@IE_Tacoma94 Nice! It took them a solid 4 weeks for me to get my evaluation, after the window closed! I had submitted my application like a month prior to the deadline as well. So unless you get lucky, expect to wait! And I have already been to an info session at the Temecula campus for the fall term, but am going tomorrow to the main campus to check it out. I also want to explore the Carlsbad area as well since I plan on living there. @mleiaa I think that answers your question too but I would say feel free to email their general nursing email with any questions on status etc. They are really good about updating you. There are only two ladies who split up the applications/evaluations so they have a lot to do. After receiving the evaluation. it took about 2 more weeks to get the admission email. good luck!

@mleiaa I think it all depends person to person, but unless you're a really good test taker or are still in class mode/just finishing up, I would spend a couple months preparing. Personally, my undergrad gpa is what was holding me back with a lot of apps but fortunately with CSUSM my TEAs score helped a lot and the undergrad gpa includes post undergrad work like our prerequisites! I scored in the 99th percentile - 92.7 score total, which is fairly common it seems like. I would just say take a practice exam early and work on what your weakest score is.

@j24og You have to keep in mind that this is nursing, not medical school. If it was medical school then yea, being at the best hospitals, specifically those that are teaching institutions would be most important. For nursing, it just matters that you're getting the training; yea if you can get into the better programs associated with the best hospitals then great! I had the same views as you when I applied for 2018 cycle and had a rude awakening. Take a look at CSULA's forum for last year, it's incredibly competitive as well. So unless you're coming in with 3.5 + undergrad gpa, 3.8+ prereq GPA, 300+ hours volunteering, AND 1 year + CNA or EMT experience on top of that, then I would apply to as many schools in the geographic area you want to be in. I was rejected by CSULA and had a meeting with the director regarding reapplying. She explained some candidates contact her years prior to applying to build their application. This is the reality of how competitive these programs are today, especially in California. I can say they do clinicals at USC/LA County , and since I volunteer in Cedars Sinai cardiac ICU, I have seen CSULA students there too. Obviously, this means UCLA's standards are even higher. They really prioritize the personal statement since they don't interview. I decided I am going to just accept CSU San Marcos for spring because I don't want to wait any longer. I actually by chance ran into the former dean of UCLA's SON when on campus and discussed all of this. To quote him, "As long as the program is accredited, then you're good. If it's a state university, even better. At the end of the day, the only difference with a program like UCLA is maybe the person who wrote the book is your professor." He encouraged me to accept CSUSM.

Yea I hear ya with starting as early as possible but I'm happy with how its all working out. Are you already local to the area? I'm excited to be able to explore San Diego a lot more now. Have a couple friends from high school and undergrad out there already too which helps. I'm sure organizing beach outings with the cohort won't be difficult to arrange as finals week passes!

@jchin1121 hey, are you planning to stay in socal? I am in a similar situation, I was an '09 grad from U of Illinois and studied Econ with a poor GPA, about a 2.7. I moved to LA after deciding to make a career change at 27 and figured why not use it as an excuse to move. 3 and half years later and I am done with the application process. I completed all my prereqs at West LA so definitely 100% do this at a community college. You will just need to look into each program and what prereqs they have, and what they accept as a transfer. Generally, they all tend to accept the same courses - if it meets a UCs standards it prob meets most others, but still double check! Also, you have to check each program bc each program may have an additional course that another doesn't. For example, UC Irvine requires sociology which UCLA does not. Finally, you will absolutely need to start getting experience now. Apply to hospitals to start volunteering and consider becoming a CNA or EMT. If you do this now, then when you are at the stage of applying and done with your prereqs, in about a year or more, you will have a good application. At the end of the day you're in a hole as it is based on your undergrad, unless you have a 3.2 and think it's bad. if it's above 3.0, you're in a good spot. I only applied to programs in southern california that are relatively close to the coast (which was naive and ridiculous of me as california programs are generally more competitive), and only got accepted to Cal State San Marcos and will be accepting. It all worked out bc now I can experience life in a beach town and get to know san diego a lot more. I would say try to decide what you think you'll want to do eventually because that can impact the program you choose as some are direct NP programs. I realized I want to be an NP in cardiology and this eliminated Western and Azusa since it is greatly preferred to be an acute care NP and they focus on primary care. So be aware of that too. Good luck!!!!

Hey all, just wondering who is applying to the Spring cohort at CSUSM. I actually applied to Fall and was accepted but had to defer to get better situated for the move. It worked out too because this is the cohort that is at the main campus, which I greatly prefer. I live in Los Angeles now so looking forward to life in a beach town, even though we'll be studying non stop haha. If anyone has any questions about the application process let me know. I had 36 points so should be good, but am considering retaking the TEAs exam.

Hi, is this meant to be for the ABSN program? Because it technically starts in the summer. I applied for the 2018 cycle but did not get in and am going to reapply. I realized how competitive it is during the application process and that I probably needed to start volunteering etc a year earlier. I did get accepted to CSU San Marcos but decided it's important to stick around LA because I have a lot of opportunities at Cedars Sinai, where I volunteer. Good luck!

I am ruling out APU and Western now since I decided the route I want to take is best suited with becoming an adult-gerontology acute care NP, which neither of them offer. So I will reapply to UCLA, CSULA, and UC Irvine; then CSU San Marcos will be the back up and eventually I would apply to CSULA and UCLA's NP program. Since it's so competitive, it's not helpful to limit yourself geographically... but I really like Southern California :)