siberiantiger

Thanks! Maybe a few ELM6ers will come and give your cohort some insight and answer any questions you may have.

@Makasi: I am a current ELM6 cohort member who is still in the program. All ELM6ers graduated with a BSN in December and passed the NCLEX in the winter. All but 3 of us are now in the MSN portion of the program. As for the ELM program, it used to be every year. Then the nursing department decided to put the ELM program on hold while it concentrated on the new DNP program and secure funding for ELM. Now it seems like CSULB will admit an ELM group every 3 years.

Congrats ml212! When is orientation?

@Makasi: Some students do work part-time during the program. Someone in ELM4 worked full-time (at night) during the program. I would say about a dozen of ELM6ers worked part-time during the BSN portion. After receiving your BSN, you can walk away and work as an RN. 3 ELM6ers did that. Some ELM6ers in the NP program are working part-time as RNs as well. It doesn't seem too difficult to find opportunities for NPs in previous cohorts. In fact, ObamaCare may actually make NPs more in demand. Clinical sites tend to be around Long Beach. LB VA, LB Community, LB Memorial, Anaheim Memorial, and Saddleback Memorial seem to be the most common sites. Furthest south I think was Mission Viejo. Furthest northwest was Torrance. Furthest North, Anaheim. Preceptorship in the last rotation can be more wide-ranging. We had people at Children's Hospital of LA and Kaiser Baldwin Park among other places in LA County and OC.

We have an ELM6 cohort member that got accepted late June which was after our orientation. There may be others who got accepted in the summer that I do not know of. So there is hope. :)

Yes, you will be able to get into the specialty that you want. I do want to mention that there is no Acute Care NP route.

My commute was from Pasadena for the first year. It does take a toll but it's doable. We have cohort members driving from LA, west LA, and south OC. Just not the most ideal situation. Worst situation we had was that one clinical rotation had students commuting from West LA to Mission Viejo on Fridays and Saturdays. You can imagine what kind of drive it would be after a 12 hour shift to go home in traffic. Best scenario we had were some cohort members who lived across the street from CSULB and had rotations at Long Beach VA (which is next door to CSULB).

Also, do not think that Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays are off-limits for clinicals. It's not like the hospitals are closed on those days. So there may be some clinicals that you might have to sacrifice those days. There are of course pros and cons to having clinicals on the weekend.

The simple answer is that I like the program enough to still be in it. We were on campus for about 3 days each week during the fall and spring semesters. Clinicals are usually 12 hour shifts twice a week. Things that ELM6 didn't like? Aside from the usual (some instructors aren't the greatest), there were times we felt that we weren't listened to or respected. Sometimes we felt that we were the ugly stepchild next to the regular BSN, trimester BSN, and ADN-BSN cohorts. But that shouldn't deter you as ELM6 was probably the tightest, most supportive cohort that CSULB has ever seen. I expect ELM7 to be just as cohesive and successful. Other tips: Don't live an hour away from campus. Don't plan a wedding during the program. Be ready to use "Sorry, I can't; I have to study" as the excuse for everything. Look at the academic calendar to plan your vacation (a few weeks in Dec, spring break, 1.5 weeks in May).

Congrats to all who have been accepted to ELM7!! I remember the excitement we had for ELM6 two years ago. Some quick information: I had heard that the program switched to a 4-year program due to the insane nature of a 3 year program. That is something that needs to be clarified at Orientation. 4 years isn't bad as ELM6 thought that the 16 months BSN portion was insane in terms of speed and content. Consider taking the co-requisites elsewhere. Moorpark College has an online summer course for patho (It wasn't a great course in general). Golden West has pharm for the summer (good professor). I took Nutrition in the winter prior at Mt. SAC (good instructor). Taking the co-reqs before the fall will help lighten the load for the fall. Don't feel compelled to as probably 75% of ELM6 still needed at least one of those courses with about half needing all 3. [*]Start saving money just in case you have winter and summer classes. Financial aid did not (and still doesn't) cover those two intersessions. There has been discussions of including summer for financial aid but I'm not sure if it'll pass in time for Summer 2014. ELM6 felt slammed by the financial reality train for Winter 2012 and Summer 2012. [*]Quick facts about ELM6: 45 started the program 4 dropped out (mainly for personal reasons) 41 took the NCLEX and ALL passed on first try 3 left after getting their BSN and are now working 39 currently in MSN program [*]Possible MSN routes: pediatrics, women's health, family, psych, and adult/gero. When is ELM7's orientation? I'm guessing first week of June?

Current ELM6 cohort member here. @jsuwan001: I don't believe there will be an interview for ELM prospective students. ELM6 did not have any. @jcsong: It looks like it's just the application to the School of Nursing and nothing more. I also don't think there will be any additional information meeting. If you have more questions, contact --------------- or ask here. Shout out to malefocker! and chouxpastry! (Is that you, EB?)

The stats for 2009 and 2010 are at the following link: http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/chhs/departments/nursing/docs/ELMPoolStats2010.pdf Our 2011 cohort numbers were slightly higher I believe (or at least that I would like to believe. Haha.)

Yes, you can take patho, pharm, and nutri elsewhere. Those course are considered co-reqs. Good luck!

After a lengthy and difficult decision process, I actually chose CSULB over CSUF. I liked CSUF's dedicated staff, well-connected community involvement in the program, and updated facilities. CSUF also gives an inside track to becoming a CRNA if that's the end-goal. I hope that helps.

Congrats hkwak002! The interview process was fairly straight forward. There isn't any real curveball. The panel will ask very generic questions along the lines of: Why CSUF? Why nursing? What kind of support do you have? If you had to think of about 20 questions that you think that the panel would ask, you'll probably guess the ones they will ask. I hope that helps. Good luck.