The present study investigated the health of the back, the work experience, and the physical activities among 370 nursing school applicants. The methods used were a questionnaire and a clinical examination. The aims were to survey the prevalence of low back pain among students applying for a profession that loads the back, and to clarify if any difference due to back health, work experience, or physical activities could be found between the applicants accepted into the nursing school and those who were rejected. Some 31% of the accepted applicants and 42% of those rejected had sometimes experienced low back pain. Correspondingly, 3% and 11% had suffered from acute low back pain. Of all the applicants, 6% had experienced low back due to accidents. Eighty-one percent of the applicants did some type of physical exercise at least 2–3 hours per week; 61% of the accepted applicants and 67% of those rejected did regular exercises for the back. Applicants accepted into the nursing school were subjectively healthier than those rejected; clinical examination, however, detected no difference between the two groups.