Step 6: Understand admission points

Many California programs rank applicants with a points system. Depending on the program, points can come from things like GPA, TEAS score, prerequisite grades, work or volunteer experience, and languages spoken. Each program publishes its own rubric, and some use a lottery or another method instead.

How programs choose students: the short version

Our explainer, How California nursing schools choose students, covers each method in depth with school examples. In short, SEAPHE groups each program’s stated method into five types:

• Lottery: applicants who meet the minimums go into a random drawing.
• Points (ranked): applicants are ranked by points from a published rubric.
• Points and lottery (hybrid): points decide who enters a drawing, or a drawing is combined with points.
• Holistic review: a committee reviews the whole application.
• Eligibility-based: qualified applicants are admitted, often to a start date, until seats fill.

The method changes where your effort pays off. In a ranked system, each documented point can count. In a lottery, meeting the minimums completely and on time is what gets you into the drawing.

Of the 139 programs with verified requirements in SEAPHE’s data, our grouping of the school’s stated method gives: 49 points (ranked), 35 holistic review, 25 hybrid, 14 eligibility-based and 9 lottery. 7 don’t state a method we could group (school pages, checked Oct 9–13, 2026).

What to do

• Find out which method each program on your list uses.
• Find the published rubric for each program that uses points.
• Add up your points the way the program describes.
• Look for points you can still earn before you apply, like a course grade or a certification the rubric counts.
• If a program doesn’t publish a rubric, ask how it selects students.

Two school examples

• American River College (ADN, points with a lottery). Its rubric totals 100 points: up to 30 for science GPA, 15 for non-science GPA, 30 for the TEAS, and 5 each for a prior degree, a health care certification, life experiences, veteran status and a language other than English. ARC then uses random selection among applicants with 70 or more points (ARC prescreening criteria, checked Oct 12, 2026).
• CSU San Marcos (BSN, ranked). A 68-point system: up to 25 for pre-nursing core GPA, 12 for the TEAS, 10 for a language other than English, 8 for residency, 5 for overall GPA, 5 for work or volunteer experience and 3 for completing the four core sciences within 12 months (CSUSM supplemental criteria, checked Oct 9, 2026).

These are the first ADN and BSN programs, alphabetically, in SEAPHE’s verified data with a published points rubric. Both count GPA, the TEAS and languages. They weight them differently, and one adds a lottery.

How long it takes

A few minutes per program with the calculators. Varies with how many programs you compare.

Typical costs

Free to calculate. Any courses or certifications you add: Varies; check with the school or provider.

Common mistakes

• Using one program’s rubric for another. Point values and categories differ.
• Not documenting points. Many rubrics need proof, such as a transcript, certificate or form, uploaded with the application.
• Using an old rubric. Rubrics can change between cycles. Check the current packet.
• Reading a points total as a decision. A total shows where you stand on a rubric. It isn’t a prediction.

Your SEAPHE tools

• Nursing points calculators: built from each program’s published rubric only.
• How California nursing schools choose students

A points total shows where you stand on a program’s own rubric. It isn’t a prediction of a decision.

Next step: Step 7, Got in? Compare offers.