Sam198

The program is going well, the coordinator for the program and faculty are great. Its a lot of work, but worth it. We have come a long way in just two quarters : ) We have 22 people in our cohort and we are a pretty close-knit group. Our clinical experiences in the first 2 quarters have been good so far. In the masters part (which we start next Fall) I have heard from other students currently doing their masters that they have to set up their own clinicals. (I only heard from the FNP students, so I am unsure whether the other tracks make you pick your own clinicals). I'll ask the coordinator this week to give you a better answer : )

Hey all, Thought I would offer my input since I am currently in the program. CSULA does take a look at your cumulative GPA (had to be at least a 3.0). They also want to see a GPA of at least 3.0 in your last 60/90 units. Don't stress too much on GPA- many more factors are considered. Our cohort had a wide range of GPAs. They really do look at the whole person. Some things they look at are your healthcare and non healthcare experiences, and what you can bring to the field of nursing and to the cohort. Try to really sell yourself in that essay : ) Hope this helps a little! If you have any questions let me know. Good luck!

Hello danceluver! Most of us on this thread are new and just finished up our first quarter of the program- but we can try to offer some help. So far, the program is going great! You may want to look back through this thread to read the feedback that members from the previous cohort gave on the program. This year, there are 22 of us in the cohort and our stats vary. Some of us had a lot of healthcare experience- whereas others had little experience. Same pattern with GPAs/test scores. At the start of this thread, I think most of us listed our stats. For the program, after a year, you have your RN license (but you do not have a B.S.N.) Then you continue straight on with the NP portion, which lasts about 2-3 years. At the end, you will have your NP license and an MSN. On a side note-it is important to know that when you have the application and check what specialty you want, you do not necessarily get that specialty. Sometime during the winter quarter we have to turn in an essay and letter of recommendation, and then we are placed into a certain specialty. Every quarter (as far as I know) there are 2 hospitals to choose from for clinicals. As a group, we divide ourselves in half and decide who goes where. There are good clinicals- LA County, San Gabriel Valley, Huntington, Arcadia, Kaiser Downey and Sunset- I am not sure on the others. For schedule, last quarter we had wednesday, thurs, sunday off and this quarter we have friday-monday off. (A previous cohort member also posted the schedule for the year in this thread somewhere). Hope this helped a little! Let me know if any questions come up and Ill do my best to answer.

Thank you Brian! It was great meeting you and the few other members from cohort 7 as well : ) I really enjoyed and appreciated the advice you guys gave! I know I am definitely nervous, so thank you for mentioning what you did above!

Oh good to know!

Rosepetalss- Livescan is fingerprints :-) yea the only thing we have to do work on and get done on our own now is the CPR, physical, and bloodwork. Oh and tb!

I am fairly sure that we dont sign up to do a drug screen on our own. Its random so most places call you and then you have 24 hours or so to get your drug screen done. Im not sure how csula will do it. Kathy will probably give us more info about this at the orientation. I am not sure about the fire card...honestly, I dont even know what that is haha.

I'm going to go to CSULA. I just wanted to tell you guys that there's still hope if you are on the waitlist! I wish you the best of luck!

Hey all- just a heads up, I got a call last week. I have already accepted to another school, so for those of you who end up on the waitlist, a spot will open up!

Wrightnurse- Summer is considered the start of a new year for financial aid. They said that is why we have not found out about our financial aid packets yet.

I need to get titers done too. Yea, I found the facebook page earlier, then I accidentally clicked out of the window, and now I cannot find the group. So strange Lol.

Yes, make a group! Haha

You guys are too funny. I agree it will be nice to put names to faces. At least you can just ask "who is Sam?" for me. Lol. I obviously didnt give much thought to my username when I created this account : ) I sure hope Im eligible for the full 12,500 that they offer. Gee...

Good luck everyone!

Bbdog- I have gotten through to someone on the phone and have talked to them through email. They said we should hear back After April 1st. Kathy gave me a direct email to them and they answered my questions and were able to confirm that I had a complete packet turned in with nothing "to do". You can email me if you want since you cant PM and I'll give you the email address and what they wrote :-) they are real quick about responding. I haven't checked if it's listed on the csula site.

Thanks for giving me the info about the apts! Im just trying to figure out all of my options on where to live at the moment. Welcome moto88!! Congrats :-)

Good luck to you moto88! you should hear back very soon. The absolute last day we had to tell Kathy of our decision was this Monday. My guess is that you would find out within a day or two after that.

Welcome bbdog! Yep, I will be searching for places to live around may too.

Congrats psych_to_nurse!!!! I got an interview too, but I will be turning it down...so maybe someone else will get an interview!

I was thinking it was just a casual event, haha. I guess we will receive more information in the packet? I second everything you said 5unshine. Innatchka and bababaowman- thank you for all your help thus far!

congrats malefocker! good to hear : )

This is the info I have received from financial aid: -We will begin our awarding process on or after April 1st, 2011. -You will receive an email message from our office to your CSULA email address instructing you to check the status of your awards online via GET. o How to Accept Awards Online via GET - http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/finaid/accepting.php (go here for step-by-step instructions) Type of Aid Available -As a “Conditionally” Classified ELMN student you will be eligible for $12,500 in federal student loans (Subsidized + Unsubsidized combined) for 12-months/1-year. o Loan Chart - http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/finaid/loanlimit.php (see below) -You may apply for a private educational loan with any lender of your choice to cover any expenses not covered by your federal loans. So, in a couple weeks we should find out about financial aid stuff. Kathy also just emailed me saying they finalized the cost at $450 a unit.

I was rejected at UCLA. I was offered a spot at CSULA. I havent heard from USF, SFSU, LB, CSUF

wrightnurse- Have you accepted yet? I am going to send my email to Kathy today once I get out of class! I just wanted to say that you are not alone in feeling the "fear of failing". Innatchka is right- we all fear it and worry if we will be good enough for the program. I had the same doubts, but the great thing is that we have our cohort to rely on/study with/and work through the challenges together! : ) You wont be doing this alone! (thats just how I see it).

Great info! Clears up many of the same questions I had. Thank you for taking the time to answer them!