NCLEX-RN Exam Information for Spring 2013 TBSN Graduates


For our Traditional BSN Spring 2013 graduates (TBSN cohort 6), it is time to begin the process of applying to take the California NCLEX RN exam. You must not apply for an Interim Permit.   Application for an interim permit will result in receipt of a license for an uncompleted BSN program.  This will be extremely difficult to then change with the BRN at a later date.  Again, do not apply for an Interim Permit.

Even if you plan to reside in another State immediately after graduating, Dr. Boren and our State Board of Registered Nursing strongly advise you to take the NCLEX exam here in California just as soon as you officially graduate. 

Please get your application packet in the mail to the California Board of Registered Nursing, preferably between January 22 - February 8, 2013. Please be aware that the Board of Registered Nursing will no longer accept NCLEX applications, if you do not have a Social Security number.

Please visit the following BRN Web site to begin getting familiar with the NCLEX testing and application process.  It is quite an involved process! Please carefully read through the instructions on this Web site (and on the following BRN Web site) in full before starting the application process. It may take you 3-6 weeks to prepare your application packet, depending on your circumstances.  http://www.rn.ca.gov/applicants/lic-exam.shtml

You will officially graduate when our University has processed your graduation and when the School of Nursing submits your Official Transcripts, showing the awarding of your BSN degree, to the State BRN.  The earliest degree conferral can occur is approximately 4-6 weeks after official grades have posted for CSUSM coursework.  You may be able to take the NCLEX exam before this date, but the BRN won't release your exam results to anyone, including you, before we get the official transcripts to the BRN and they process them in Sacramento.

You do NOT need to submit official transcripts to the BRN for other schools attended.  Your Nursing Advisors will be completing a special form to document any required transfer coursework that you have completed.  We will submit this completed form directly to the BRN for you. Ignore the instructions to submit an official transcript from CSUSM, with your application packet, showing completion of your BSN degree, along with the BRN Request for Transcript form completed by our School of Nursing.  This is for applicants who have already graduated from a Nursing program. Once the University has processed your graduation, we will be sending your official, sealed transcript to the BRN for you, along with the University-completed BRN Request for Transcript form.  Instructions are below for your submittal to us for the three forms we need for us to complete our part of the NCLEX process. These three forms are the BRN Request for Transcript form, the CSUSM Request for Transcript form, and the BRN Individual Candidate Roster form. 

If you are an NCLEX exam applicant with disabilities and are requesting accommodations, this process can be quite lengthy. You will want to start this process in early February at the latest. Contact John Segoria in DSS about documentation needed for testing accommodation of a disability.

If you have prior misdemeanor or felony convictions, the reporting requirements for this process are also quite lengthy.  Get started now!  Generally, you want to divulge any prior offenses, other than parking tickets. It is better to declare, than to not declare, in this instance.

As your Nursing Advisors have mentioned to you previously, you are not advised to take courses in Spring 2013 at other institutions.  You can do so if needed, but this will slow down the processing of your graduation from CSUSM, which will delay your ability to take the NCLEX RN exam. 

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY

January 22 - February 8, 2013

  • You will be completing your own NCLEX application and submitting it, along with the payment, photo, and Live Scan fingerprint results, to the State Board of Registered Nursing. Your application packet does NOT get submitted to the School of Nursing.  You need to submit this application to the Calif. Board of Registered Nursing as soon as conveniently possible, but no later than February 8, 2013. If you scroll to the bottom of this NCLEX information Web site, specific instructions are provided, on how to fill out your Application and other required forms.

  • As California residents and graduates you must submit proof of having done Live Scan with your application packet.  For a complete listing of Live Scan sites in San Diego and Riverside County, please use the following BRN Web site: http://ag.ca.gov/fingerprints/publications/contact.php#.  The LIVE SCAN FORM YOU WILL NEED, which includes OUR CSUSM CODE, is linked below.  You will need three copies of this form.  Be sure to complete your portion of the forms and take all three copies with you for LIVE SCAN fingerprint process.  Call ahead and find out what type of payment the business accepts.  Some only accept cash.  The Live Scan process typically costs $70-$80.  The location that does your Live Scan will give you proof of having completed this process. 

    • Live Scan Form, which includes the necessary codes.  You can complete the three forms electronically online and then print.

  • Your application must include a recent, 2x2 passport-type photo.  There are many places locally at which you can get such a photo; the cost is generally $10-$15. 
  • Attach appropriate paperwork if you are requesting testing accommodations or have prior offenses.
  • Fees: You will pay $150 for the application fee (Fee amount is effective as of Dec. 2011; may change in 2013, so be sure to check the BRN published schedule of fees in 2013), plus the cost of the Live Scan and Passport Photo fees, to apply to test.  Think of these fees as your application processing fee to be able to test.
  • Once the BRN has approved you to take the NCLEX, the BRN sends the 'eligibility to test' list to Pearson VUE, and Notice of Eligibility is sent by BRN/Pearson VUE to each applicant. Once the Notice of Eligibility to test is received by applicant, you must then pay an additional $200 with Pearson VUE, to take NCLEX exam.  (Register online and pay by credit card, if possible, for this final $200 fee).Pearson VUE sends you confirmation of receipt of registration application and fee paid. You will receive approval to schedule your own NCLEX RN exam locally.  NCLEX test dates and degree conferral occur within 2 months after official grades have posted for last semester ABSN coursework.

Do NOT submit the BRN Request for Transcript or BRN Individual Candidate Roster in the packet with your application packet. Instructions are below about where/when to submit these forms to the School of Nursing.

PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR PART OF THE LINKED FORMS, BELOW, and submit to the Front Desk at the School of Nursing during the weeks of January 28 - February 8th, 2013.  A student may only submit his/her own forms.  All forms must be original copies.  Students may not fax in forms.

Your Nursing Advisor Responsibility:

  • Your Nursing Advisors will be preparing and submitting paperwork to the BRN for you, in March, documenting your transfer coursework that meets the BRN non-NURS course requirements. At this same time, we will be submitting the Group Candidate Roster to the BRN with the names of all students expected to graduate in Spring 2013.
  • Once the University has officially processed your graduation and has created an official transcript for each of you for our pick-up, the School of Nursing will express mail the official transcripts to the BRN for you.  Included within each sealed transcript will be the completed BRN Request for Transcript form, stamped by the University Office of Registration and Records.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR FORMS:

NCLEX Application to Test:

  1. As you complete any forms or the applications, be sure to use the exact legal name as stated on your photo ID that you will present to take the exam. The only acceptable forms of identification to take the NCLEX exam are:  U.S. Driver's license issued by the Dept. of Motor Vehicles; U.S. state identification; or a passport.  This should also be the name on file for you with the University and under which name your transcript will be issued.
  2. Include your full middle name, if you have one.
  3. If you should then change your name or address prior to taking the exam, you must notify the BRN in writing.
  4. Name and Address of Professional Registered Nursing School:
    CSU San Marcos School of Nursing
    333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd.
    San Marcos, CA  92096-0001
  5. Be sure to select "Baccalaureate Degree" program
  6. Entrance Date:  Enter the semester you began attending CSUSM
  7. Graduation Date:  Spring 2013


BRN Transcript Request Form:

  1. Enter your legal name, including middle name.
  2. Despite, what is stated at the beginning of this form, you do NOT need to request and submit official transcripts to the BRN from other schools attended.  These transcripts will all be on file with the University before you can officially graduate.
  3. Name of Program: CSU San Marcos School of Nursing
  4. Years Attended:  Years during which you will have been in the Nursing Program.  Type or write in 2010-2013.
  5. The University has our own zip code: 92096-0001
  6. Graduation Date:  Spring 2013
  7. Do not type in your name for the signature.  You must print out the form and sign your signature by hand!


CSUSM Official Transcript Request Form:

  1. Request one (1) transcript.
  2. We will be mailing, in bulk, an official transcript for each of you to the State Board of Registered Nursing.  So, for the Section on this form that asks where you want the official transcript sent, you need to write in: "For Pick-Up by the School of Nursing" on the line for "Name".
  3. Check the box, "Hold for Degree", and for the GraduationTerm, write in "Spring 2013".


Individual Candidate Roster Form:

  1. Please print neatly. Complete the top portion of this form only. 
  2. Be sure to use your legal name, including your full middle name.
  3. Enter the "Graduation Date" as May 23, 2013, the day when spring grades are due from your instructors.
  4. You will not be completing the Individual Candidate Worksheet.  Your Advisor will be completing and submitting this form for you to the BRN.


Please contact your Nursing Advisor if you should have questions.