polyacik

Yeah, you'll be okay. A lot of people are still working and managing just fine. I'm not working but do have 2 toddlers and live 1.5 hours away from campus and for me that's just about the limit lol. I really have to manage my time and prioritize tasks but it's certainly doable. There are certain frustrations with some classes/professors but probably not unique to our program =). Yeah, you'll have clinical rotations every semester beginning with semester 2. Fall and Spring semesters are ~15-16 weeks long and summer is 10ish I think. We are in week 10 right now. For summers it'll be a tight squeeze since you still have to cover the same content but in a more compressed timeline.

I'm in my second semester. You do have to take the Anthro and Ethics courses at CSUSM, but they are considering changing this so it may or may not be the same for future cohorts. The ABSN site has the general course progression, try to dig around in there and you should find it. Second semester is the first "real" semester of nursing school and it's Fundamentals of Nursing, Health Education and Assessment, and Nursing Research. Or something to that effect. Basically we have 3 lecture courses and two of them have a clinical component. In this case, we go to clinical for Fundamentals and just have on campus "clinical/lab" for the Assessment course. Other semesters will be different. For example, next semester we have Pharm/Patho, Med-Surg I, and Mental Health. 3 lecture courses, 2 clinical (Mental Health, Med-Surg). The 2 clinical will actually be at clinical locations. Usually clinical start out on campus so that you can learn skills and such and then at some point in the semester transition to clinical locations. Hope that helps! Oh and as far as competitiveness, it's really all just points. As long as your points add up to something close to 30 or higher you should be good.

Regarding DUINS, yes you can apply for duins about a year before the end of each tour, beginning with your first tour (which is two years usually). If you’re a hotshot you could go straight from your initial tour to an advanced practice program in DUINS.

@hopefulkim99 I believe you can just take the nutrition class (which I did) elsewhere. The other two, I don't think so.

@jhall20032003 I had 42 =).

Hi all, looks like someone dropped and I got offered a spot in the summer cohort. Does anyone know what the format of classes is for first term? I already took nutrition so just need the other two. Are they online by any chance? Moving to San Diego in May but don’t have child care lined up yet. Also does anyone know when term officially starts? Thanks!!

@Lynngu no, they won’t consider you until your official transcripts are in for all prerequisites, unfortunately. But if you have taken your TEAS, I would say apply now so that they can give you your points eval. Then when you get those last grades they will have already looked at your file and it won’t take long to get an updated score. That way you will be in the pool for acceptances sooner rather than later.

Hi all, Checked in with my counselor today regarding the admissions timeline (I am applying for some stuff and really want to have an official acceptance letter earlier rather than later) and was told they are hoping to start sending out initial acceptances first or second week of April. Not much longer now! Good luck to everyone.

@coco1320 I was really surprised, it took no time at all. Submitted my application on the 6th but still had one more transcript missing. Transcript arrived I think on the 12th or so at which point my application was complete. Got my evaluation on the 26th.

@aprilkxo yep but if you apply by the priority deadline and have a certain amount of points (maybe around 30+) you pretty much know you’ll get in. I have a decent amount of points and have no doubt I’ll get in for fall, but yes, since there are so few spots left for summer (if any) only the applicants with the highest scores would be invited to join an earlier cohort.

You have to take the TEAS to be able to submit the application, recommend to take it as soon as you feel ready. As for any other tips, since it's entirely points based there's not too much strategy there. Nothing objective. So - do everything you can to get a high score on the TEAS and a high GPA in your previous classes, especially your pre-nursing classes. You should be able to get a good idea of your points total by using their breakdown online. I calculated my points when I applied and my evaluation was exactly what I thought it was going to be. You can also take a look at their cohort point averages to get an idea of what you should be aiming for. Good luck! I actually applied for Fall 2019 but I'm really really hoping that a few slots might open up in the summer cohort. I was told they are still waiting on decision from a few applicants for summer 2019 and if anyone declines or drops out they'll still be giving out places.

Also keep in mind if you have very good points you can still be admitted right up to the start of term. As people change their minds or withdraw for various reasons they’ll fill their spots with applicants with the highest points. So, I applied for Fall but I’m hoping I can squeeze into the summer cohort. They still haven’t done a points evaluation though for me so we’ll see.

Yes you can. The only thing you must have is your TEAS score or else you won’t be able to submit the application officially. They’ll then be able to complete a points evaluation for you but they will not consider you for admission until your transcript from the last prerequisite is in. However, if you’ve taken your TEAS I recommend applying. That way when you do finish your last class they’ll just need to do a quick points update and then you can officially be in the pool for consideration.

@WAboundSNOk, thanks! That’s helpful. I wonder why they won’t take geographical preference into account at all for clinical placements. Seem lime if someone from SD county was placed closer to Riverside and vice versa, it’s a little bit inefficient and sucks for both of those people.

Can you elaborate a bit on clinical placements for Temecula vs San Marcos? I really really just want to get started with school but we will be living around San Diego as that’s where my husband’s work will be. How bad will it be if I’m at Temecula? Worth thinking about rolling over to Spring 2020? Thanks!

@WAboundSN Thank you for taking the time to answer, that is very helpful!

Hi All, I will most likely be joining the Fall 2019 cohort... just waiting on my last transcript to be sent (has to be a paper copy boooo). Expecting around 43 points so pretty confident I should get in (hope that's not presumptuous). I've seen some people getting admitted to the summer cohort pretty late so if that happened I would also consider summer. Excited to be done with prerequisites and TEAS and applications and everything, can't wait to meet people and start the program!

Hi, I have a super random question, hope you don't mind - my husband wanted to get me a nice stethescope for my birthday. Is there any reason not to get one now (was looking at Littman Classic III or Cardio IV though seems like the latter may be overkill)? Also shoes - was going to start shopping around for some. We just need all white shoes right? I'm just a bit of a planner, and have always been excited to get new supplies for school =) thanks for your time!

Priority deadline is officially set (December 3, 2018), so I figured I'd start a thread for those applying for Summer 2019. I'm working on finishing up my PreReqs right now and still need to take the TEAS but am waiting until I finish A&P to do that. Unfortunately, my last class (Public Speaking) will not end until December 12 so looks like I won't quite make the priority deadline but I'll have that last transcript in as soon as they're out. Anyone else applying?

Thanks for your help! I'm hopeful that I might be able to squeeze in. Kudos to you for making it through the various hurdles to nursing school. I can also relate. I'm a military spouse so we move around a lot, sometimes my husband is deployed, and I have a one and two year old at home with me. It's been a long path towards finally having a solid plan that I'm actually able to execute, and it's nice to hear that there are others like me at CSUSM. Good luck!

That's useful, thanks! I'm looking into options to "test out" of Public Speaking and receive credit so that I can get my materials in faster.

I will be applying soon-ish, but unfortunately my last pre-req (public speaking) won't be done until December so I probably won't make the Spring cohort. I would like to, though! Does anyone know what the schedule is like for the first semester? Like how many days per week and hours? I'll just need to take the Anthro and Ethics, as I have Intro to Nutrition already.

That's a good idea. Correct me if I'm wrong - you can't submit an application until you've taken the TEAS, right? In the online application, one of the "quadrants" to complete is the TEAS score upload and I think I can't submit my application until I've completed all four quadrants. I've already filled out everything else (transcripts/course entry/etc.).

This is helpful, thank you!

Hoping someone here may have insight for my situation. I'm currently working on my prerequisites. All but Public Speaking will be complete by end of summer. Public Speaking will be complete in December. Have not taken TEAS yet. Shooting for either Spring 2019 or Summer 2019 entrance. Does is even matter for me if I apply by the priority deadline since my Public Speaking won't be complete until December? If there's a benefit to me submitting before the priority deadline I could take the TEAS earlier rather than later but if they won't even evaluate me until I have all prerequisites complete, I would probably want to wait to take the TEAS until my A&P is finished later in the summer. If I understand correctly your application isn't complete until all finalized transcripts are in even if you've technically applied online, right? Also, does anyone know specifically if the Anthro and Ethics classes are online or hybrid or fully in-person? I have Nutrition already and can't move down to the area until summer (currently in LA) so trying to figure out if Spring 2019 is even a viable option for me. Thanks, and congrats to everyone accepted!