The School of Nursing Welcomes You

1
The School of Nursing Welcomes You!

• by
• Laurie Lindeneau and Nancy Kingsley
• School of Nursing California State University
  San Marcos

2
What well cover today

• Our priorities and feedback from our students
• CSU San Marcos Nursing Programs and how to get
  admitted
• Our advice for
• High School Students
• College Transfer Students
• QUESTION and ANSWER Period

3
University Mission, Vision and Goals

• What are our priorities?
• Our Students
• Their Education and Experiences Here

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We began our first Nursing Program in Fall 2006
STAND OUT

• What makes us
• from other Nursing Schools?
• Multiculturalism Our Multicultural students and
  emphasis on our commitment to prepare students to
  meet the nursing needs of our culturally diverse
  society. Every course includes a focus on
  culture.
• Faculty Commitment to Student Success Role of
  faculty as instructor, role model, preceptor,
  resource person, motivator and facilitator.

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What do our Students Say?

• Faculty helpful, approachable, passionate
  about teaching
• Small Class Sizes dont feel lost in a crowd,
  teachers know them by name
• EVERY STUDENT WE SURVEYED LIKES IT HERE AND
  THINKS THEIR TEACHERS ARE GREAT!

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What do our Nursing Students say is their
favorite Specialization within the field of
Nursing?

• Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing
• Acute/Trauma Care Nursing
• Pediatric Nursing
• Home Health Nursing

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CSU San Marcos Nursing Programs

• Generic/Basic BSN
• Accelerated BSN
• RN to BSN
• LVN to BSN
• LVN to RN 30-unit Option space available basis
  only. Currently no space available

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Generic/Basic BSN Program

• Currently funded for fall admit only -- 42
• 3-year program, including two mandatory summer
  terms
• Can sit for the NCLEX RN licensure exam once
  graduated from this degree program
• Impacted Program more applicants than spaces
  available
• Supplemental Admission Criteria (Point System)
  are used to determine who gets admitted
• Minimum Pre-Nursing Core GPA of 2.75 is required
  to be considered for entry
• Minimum TEAS composite score of 71.0 is required
  to be considered for entry

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Typical 5-year Nursing Degree Plan

MUST Apply and get accepted into Generic/Basic
BSN program


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Generic/Basic BSN 3-Year Program Asterisk
explanations are found on Web forms
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Point System for Gen/Basic BSN

• The following seven criteria areas offer ways to
  earn points for entry to the Generic/Basic BSN
  program.
• Pre-Nursing Core GPA
• Overall GPA
• Composite Score on TEAS Exam
• Completing Lang. other than English in Spanish or
  another language
• Work Experience
• Volunteer Experience
• Where college coursework was completed
• APPLICANTS are NOT required to earn points in all
  areas.

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TEAS Exam

• Required for admission to our Generic/Basic and
  Accelerated BSN programs
• Must pass exam with a minimum composite score of
  71
• Covers Math, Reading, English, and Science
• 50 exam fee
• May take the exam as many times as you wish (we
  will use your highest composite score)
• Our School of Nursing is administering this exam.
  
• Prior to taking the exam, students must contact
  ATI Testing to create an account and to learn of
  other testing locations and dates 800-667-7531
  or www.atitesting.com
• ATI TEAS Study Manual is available for sale on
  the ATI Web site, above.

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Language-Other-Than-English Requirement
This is a graduation requirement for all Bachelor
Degree students at Cal State San Marcos, even
Additional Bachelor degree students!
There are many ways to meet this requirement
Please visit the Language Learning Center Web
site for details http//lynx.csusm.edu/llc/
Note High School foreign language will not
clear this requirement, unless you passed an
AP/IB/CLEP language exam with an acceptable score
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Generic/Basic Applicant Cohort Statistics

• We have been receiving about 400 total
  applications of whom 150 are generally
  qualified
• Average Pre-Nursing Core GPA 3.62, with a high
  of 4.0 and a low of 3.02
• Average Overall GPA in last 60 units 3.65, with
  a high of 4.0 and a low of 3.02
• Average TEAS score 83.2, with a high of 93.7
  and a low of 76.5
• Point system is not designed for students to get
  all of the points. Highest point total for Fall
  08 admitted cohort was 66, and we admitted down
  to 46 points this time around.
• Some admitted students did not earn any work or
  volunteer points, and some admitted students did
  not earn any points in the Language other than
  English.

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Accelerated BSN Not Impacted

• 17 month, intensive, accelerated pace for NURS
  courses
• Offered through Extended Learning
• Web site http//www.csusm.edu/el
• This program is specifically designed for
  students with a Bachelors Degree in another
  discipline
• Two separate Cohorts are admitted every fall term
• Location One San Marcos CSUSM campus
• Location Two Temecula in Riverside County
• Tuition is Self-Support, through Extended
  Learning almost twice the CSU regular tuition

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RN to BSN Program Offered through Extended
Learning for next four years

• 3-year program for the working RN can complete
  at own pace
• Self-support, not State financed cost is approx.
  2100 per semester
• Not an Impacted Program 2.0 GPA in Core and
  Overall
• Requires valid Calif. RN license AND Nursing and
  other required coursework must have been
  completed via an AND program at a WASC-accredited
  (or other regional affiliate) school
• Requires completion of Pre-Nursing Core and
  other preparatory/support courses for admission
  to actual program
• No Point System
• TEAS exam is not required
• Admission every Fall
• Grade of C or better in every course C- or below
  is not acceptable

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LVN to BSN

• Very limited admissions on a space-available
  basis to the Generic/Basic BSN program (usually
  1-3 students in fall)
• LVN students attend the first 1.5 years on a
  part-time basis and the last 1.5 years on a
  full-time basis
• Admission requirements 2.0 GPA in Core and
  Overall and valid LVN license
• LVN coursework must have been completed at a
  WASC-accredited college/university (or other
  regional affiliate of WASC) or via approved
  military training
• Other non-NURS Courses can be completed early, if
  desired
• No Point System
• TEAS exam in not required

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LVN to RN 30-unit Option

• Admission on space available basis only never a
  space available for impacted programs!
• No degree awarded
• Eligible to sit for RN exam after completion of
  30-unit program
• Admission to University is contingent upon
  admission to program

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Pre-Nursing Core all programs
CSU Pre-Nursing Core The following Pre-Nursing
Core has been adopted by all CSU Nursing
Programs.  GPA requirements for the Pre-Nursing
Core vary for each of our Cal State San Marcos
Nursing programs, but all require completion of
the Core courses, or equivalents, prior to entry
into any of our Nursing programs. Students must
complete all of the Pre-Nursing Core courses, or
their equivalents, with a grade of C or better
(including separate science labs).  Courses (or
labs) with substandard grades (C- or below) can
be repeated only once, and grades will be
averaged for any repeated courses.
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Special Admission Exemptions

• 2nd Bachelor Degree or Lower Division Transfer
  Students Students are eligible to apply for
  entry into any of the University Nursing
  Programs. Students must first be admitted to a
  Nursing program, then we will have such students
  complete a paper application for admission to the
  University. This will not occur until July,
  2009, for entry in Fall 2009. These students are
  not able to apply for admission to the University
  via the CSU Mentor Web site.
• Prospective RN to BSN students and LVN to BSN
  students, who are missing a B4 or A3
  CourseStudents can be admitted to the
  University as Pre-Nursing students without having
  completed a B4 Math course or A3 Critical
  Thinking course. Such students have one year
  from date of entry to complete these missing
  requirements.

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Admission/Application ProcessGen/Basic BSN and
LVN to BSN Programs

• MUST APPLY TO THE SCHOOL OF NURSING
• IF NOT A CURRET STUDENT HERE, MUST APPLY TO
  UNIVERSITY
• Nursing Program Application Filing Periods

University Priority Application Filing Periods
The University Admissions Website will say if
applications are accepted after the Priority
application filing period.
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How We Help Our FY Students

• Reserved seats in needed Science courses
• Supplemental Instruction in Pre-Nursing Core
  Science courses
• Mandatory FY Advisor Appoint-ment in first
  semester see how students are doing in their
  first semester and help plan out courses for
  2nd semester.
• Review grades of FY students after first fall and
  spring semesters, and intervene if necessary.

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What High School Students Can Do

• Volunteer at a local Hospital be sure to
  interact with patients
• Study Biology and Chemistry in High School also
  take Anatomy Physiology if available
• Take a summer school course at a community
  college, such as Spanish or Intro to Psychology

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Our Advice for College Transfer Students

• Apply to multiple Nursing Programs remember to
  also apply for admission to the Universities
  between now and Nov. 30, 2008 if you plan to
  enter a Nursing program in Fall 2009.
• Review the Point Systems for the schools to
  which you are considering applying. Find out at
  which of these schools you will do better on
  their Point System. All of the CSU Nursing
  Program point systems are similar, but are
  slightly different.
• Find out if any additional courses, outside of
  the Pre-Nursing Core, are required for admission
  to a Nursing program.
• Most CSUs are set up to admit Upper-division
  transfer students. To be considered an
  upper-division transfer student for entry in Fall
  2009, for example, you would need to have
  completed at least 60 CSU transferable units by
  the end of Spring 2009.
• Some Nursing programs admit Lower-division
  transfer students, like CSU San Marcos. Find out
  if the Nursing Programs in which you are most
  interested, admit lower-division transfer
  students, if you wont have completed the 60
  units by the end of the previous spring semester.
  Then be sure to find out if that University will
  admit Lower-division transfer students.
• Keep track of submittal deadlines. We strictly
  enforce submittal deadlines at our School of
  Nursing. Create a matrix, if you are applying to
  multiple schools, so that you can keep track of
  what needs to be submitted where, and by when.
• Find out how many required courses for admission
  to a Nursing program can be in progress in the
  final semester before transfer. The previous
  summer does not count! We dont have any
  restrictions on this, but some schools do.
• Complete the LOTER (University Language Other
  than English Requirement) before transfer if you
  will be attending CSU San Marcos.
• Study Spanish, if you are open to learning any
  language. You will use it everyday at work!

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Questions?
Nursing Web Site www.csusm.edu/nursing