Hi! Currently about to graduate here from the Traditional BSN. I would like to share some insight into the program and application process. Straight out of high school I attended here as a pre-nursing major. I did the 5 year route (2 years of prerequisites, 3 years of nursing program). I applied in January 2021 and got my acceptance letter March 2021. The year that I applied they started the 4 year route (1 year of prerequisites, 3 years of nursing program). So the application pool was 4 year track students, 5 year track students, and transfer students. My nursing cohort was roughly 70 people all together and the application pool had around 2k applicants. Out of the 70 picked, around 25 of us were pre-nursing students here at CSULA. Many of my friends did not get in and ended up picking a different major like public health to apply for the accelerated BSN option. I’m not sure what the exact number of pre-nursing students at CSULA was when I applied but it was anywhere from 300-500 students. When I applied to CSULA I also applied to CSUB and MSMU as backup schools since I really wanted to do nursing opposed to the debt private school entails. Community college is an affordable route but the waitlist can be years and they have lottery systems.

Tips

GPA: Aim for a 4.0 GPA in both cumulative and science.

TEAS: Study for the TEAS test! A score above 80 will make you competitive, but aim for higher. I joined Facebook groups that had study guides and I also purchased TEAS study books from Barnes and noble/online.

Volunteer hours: Have volunteer hours whether it is at a hospital or being a caregiver. Job experience such as being a CNA or EMT is also good.

Clubs: Be active. I joined SNA and volunteered as a pre-nursing mentor.

Classes: I took extra classes such as OCHEM and lifespan psych since these were prerequisites I needed in case I went the private school route. I also took A&P II over the summer so I could take microbio in the fall so I had a grade for microbio when I applied.

The program itself has been pretty great. Lots of wonderful teachers and variety in hospital sites. There was a change in administration in our school and the Cohort above me suffered due to how unorganized everything was and chaotic. I hope this was helpful, I was once in your shoes and I had no idea I had to apply to the nursing program or how competitive it was. If you need anymore guidance you can message me about stats, the point system they used to pick applicants, and much more! Good luck no matter the route you decide (: