Timeline?

You apply for "license by exam" prior to graduation. After graduation, your school sends your graduation paperwork to the BON. Once your paperwork is complete, the BON sends you your Authorization To Test (ATT). You can set up an account with Pearson Vue, but you can not schedule a test date until you get your ATT. It took me five weeks from graduation to first available test date, but I graduated in August ( slow time for BON). A majority of students graduate in May, so it will take longer to get your ATT due to the volume of applicants (depending on the number of LPN,ASN, BSN schools in your state). The BON will have to process thousands of applications, so there is no quick turn-around from graduation to ATT (especially if you live in California- 8 weeks from completed application to ATT).

Well that seems terribly inefficient..

Like I said, there are thousands of nursing graduates (LPN, ASN, BSN) in each state wanting to take the test as soon as possible. Add to the fact that Pearson Vue is not exclusively for NCLEX, they administer tests for hundreds of different professions.   If they allowed graduates to schedule a test prior to their ATT, there would be a lot of test slots taken by people that: don't graduate, issue with background check, scheduled a test before the BON verifies the completion of the application.

https://home.pearsonvue.com/Test-takers/A-to-Z-program-list/View-all.aspx

It may not seem like the most efficient, but it allows only those that have checked all the boxes prior to getting their license. NCLEX is the final step. Many graduates get their license within a few days of passing NCLEX. You can take NCLEX at any Pearson Vue throughout the country, so theoretically you could take the test within a day or two of getting your ATT if you are in a real hurry to take the test.

Also keep in mind, once you receive your ATT and want to schedule your exam, PearsonVue doesn't have every day in the month open for NCLEX  testing.  Depending on where you live, you may have a few locations you can select a date from, but it doesn't necessarily mean you'll get a date within a week of receiving your ATT.  Especially if you are graduating in a particularly busy month where there are a lot of graduates -  the dates get swallowed up rather quickly.

I hope it all works out for you in the end.  Just be aware it may take a little longer than you expect (6 weeks) to get to the endpoint of taking NCLEX.  Hopefully you live in a state other than California where it can sometimes take up to eight weeks just to get that ATT.

Expect 6-8 weeks from the time of graduation to the time you test and receive your license. I graduated over 20 years ago and the system is overall unchanged and no faster than it was then. 

Just be thankful it no longer relies on limited test sites and only snail mail to get things done. I  remember my Mom going to the Twin Cities, 150 miles away from home for two days of testing using the ole pencil and paper and then waiting for it seems like forever but was probably about 2-3 weeks to get the package in the mail with her test results and a little while after that  her shiny new nursing license from the state.  There was no way to call and get early results, you just had to wait for the mailman to deliver it. If you got a letter you knew you passed, if you got a bigger packet of paperwork you knew you failed because it contained the forms to apply to retest. 

Speaking of calling to get results, that was a thing when I graduated. Pearson-Vue had a 1-900 number you could call that costed I think $6.95 but I could be wrong on that amount to find out if you passed a few days after your test. The small group from my class that  tested the same day all went to one girls house to call because her family was the only one that didn't have the 900 number call blocker on their phone line. 

So I guess while it's roughly the same amount of time as it was when I graduated it is a least a little more efficient.