" Part of the training requires a certain number of clinical hours which I think would look really good to selection committee. I'm not really planning on working as a CNA once I get certified, but I'm thinking just the exposure I will get through the class will be enough. "
I mean that if you are just going to do the classes to get experience, when you do the clinical hours you are going to be doing cna tasks. Without actually working as a cna, there is no actual "experience." I think the interviewers would ask you about the work experience part.