[melmusic85]

Hey everyone! Well lately I have been thinking a lot about going back to school. I have officially been out of high school now for 5 years, and think it is probably time to figure out what I want to do with my life. When i was 19 I took a medical office assistant course; i really liked it but found it really hard to find a decent job w/decent pay. It was more office admin. targeted than anything, so i didn't really like that aspect of it. I did take Anatomy & Physiology, Microbiology, Medical Transcription and Medical Terminology and managed to pull of really good marks.

I decided to look into the BSN Program offered at Mount Royal in Calgary since I will be moving there shortly. I already missed the deadline for Fall 2008 intake anyway, which means I will not be able to start the course *IF* I get accepted until Fall 2009. Here is the thing though. My high school marks for Math, Bio & Chem are not very good at all. I absolutely HATE MATH! This year I am thinking of doing some upgrading before I enroll for the nursing program for next year...

For those of you that are currently enrolled in Nursing or already are a Nurse; how much Math/Chem/Bio is involved while taking this Program or Nursing in general? For someone who has always struggled with these subjects, will it be hard for me to ever catch on? Please tell me there is more to this program than math, math & more math!!!!

I'm very confused as of what to do right now!! Any advice will do! Thanks!

[Fiona59]

Yes there is more than math and sciences BUT they use those courses as a selection tool. It is very competitive to get into nursing school these days so be prepared to work your buns off getting good marks.

Even though you are a "mature" student and the promotional materials say marks of 65% to apply, the schools are looking for higher grades.

Good luck.

[CuriousStudent1108]

I don't live in Calgary, but I'd imagine the scenario for BSN is the same there as here (affiliated with UofA in Edmonton). I was told that you need a MINIMUM of mid-to-high 80's to have a shot, and you need to have your electives completed as they rank admissions on a "scoring system".

If this is what you want, then don't let self-doubt take it away from you.

I was just like you - horrible in Math and absolutely convinced I could never do better. I realized that if I wanted to do this, I had to reset my mindset about my abilities, and be willing to start where I was at and go from there, even if it meant going back to grade 8 math (where I really began to develop my phobia). I wrote a placement exam, and had to go back to gr.9 level. Started there, found that it wasn't as hard as I remembered (attitude is everything I think, and I'd resolved that I was going to do this, no matter what!) I finished that course with an A+. I am now finishing my Math 10 with an A, and my confidence is rebuilt. Long story short, set your mind to it, and don't let your fears stand in your way.

Go for it - you have nothing to lose!

[melmusic85]

Thanks for your replies! I am realizing now that I am definatly going to have to do some upgrading... but you know what, i probably would have regardless of what my marks would have been. When you're out of school for 5 years, it's amazing how fast your forget everything! lol...

[kintaro]

I am just about starting nursing program at Mount Royal in Fall 2008.
There's something you might consider. MRC has basically three admission categories:
1.High school standing(based on your grade12 Math, Engl, Biol, and either Chem or Phys - you probably need to have at least 85% on every subject)
2. Mature student standing (if you are older than 21 years old and havn't completed 5 half post secondary courses)
3. Post secondary standing (if you have at least 5 half courses finished) You still have to have grade 12 courses, however you only need to have passing grades on these. The program take you based on the last 5 post secondary courses, not the high school's.

Here's my suggestion, if you have passing grades on Grade 12, you might want to take five college courses, which you can use toward the nursing program. MRC has a general study program, which allows you to take almost any courses either full or part time. The courses you probably want to take are Biol. 1220/1221 (anatomy and physiology), Psyc. 2235 (life span development), Math3333 or Anth3307 (stats), Physical ed 2237 (nutrition) and General education courses.

I also strongly recommend talking to an academic adviser for your future plan at MRC. They are very helpful. (403-440-5000 for appointment)
Good luck
I hope to see you on campus in the near future!!!!

[Blarton]

Kintaro, can I ask you what your GPA was when you got accepted? Assuming you did the 5 courses and then applied.

Also, does anyone have an idea what the cut off was/is for getting into the program?

Thanks,

[kintaro]

My overall GPA was 3.2 (this is for the 20 courses I took for General Arts and Science Diploma), although my last five courses average was 3.64. I am not sure this year's cut off score was, but according to my friend who is in the 3rd year, it was 3.4 when she entered MRC nursing. Here's good news, since MRC started its own BN degree, they increase the number of intake dramatically. (almost doubled!!!) We now have approx. 390 students starting year 2008, however 200 students start taking nursing courses immediately, other half have to take non-nursing courses first and start actual nursing courses in Jan,2009. I am not sure how these two groups are determined. Anyhow, you have way more chances to get into the program now than ever.
Hope this helps your concern a bit.
Good luck!!

[kintaro]

I just wanted to correct my error on the previous post. GPA 3.4 wasn't the cut off, it was the guaranteed acceptance. sorry guys!!

[suzie-q]

I'm currently a 4th year student at MRC and after reading the posts thought I'd give you some advice. Admission is based on competitive selection. Even though they have different categories for admission (ie. mature student) they don't really seem to apply. All that matters is your GPA.

Prior to applying I spent a year at U of C. I took 8 university level courses which I had planned to apply to the nursing program there. Some of the courses I took were harder courses, but I was able to apply them to the program (I took these after speaking with U of C advising). Those courses dropped my GPA to a 3.3 and I missed the admission GPA (3.5)! Because MRC only looked at the average of my last 5 courses (which were all easy ones) my GPA was 3.8. If you decide to take course make sure you take ones that you'll do well in. It doesn't matter if the courses you take don't apply to the program if you don't get in and the more courses you take the harder it can be to keep a high GPA!! One or two bad grades can keep you from getting in. Remember there are hundreds of others applying as well.

Also, I would see if you can get credit for some of the courses you've taken. There is a first year A&P course you have to take. Many people do poorly in this course so if you could get credit that would be great!

Good luck!

[suzie-q]

I'm currently a 4th year student at MRC and after reading the posts thought I'd give you some advice. Admission is based on competitive selection. Even though they have different categories for admission (ie. mature student) they don't really seem to apply. All that matters is your GPA.

Prior to applying I spent a year at U of C. I took 8 university level courses which I had planned to apply to the nursing program there. Some of the courses I took were harder courses, but I was able to apply them to the program (I took these after speaking with U of C advising). Those courses dropped my GPA to a 3.3 and I missed the admission GPA (3.5)! Because MRC only looked at the average of my last 5 courses (which were all easy ones) my GPA was 3.8. If you decide to take course make sure you take ones that you'll do well in. It doesn't matter if the courses you take don't apply to the program if you don't get in and the more courses you take the harder it can be to keep a high GPA!! One or two bad grades can keep you from getting in. Remember there are hundreds of others applying (for very limited positions) as well.

Also, I would see if you can get credit for some of the courses you've taken. There is a first year A&P course you have to take. Many people do poorly in this course so if you could get credit that would be great!

Good luck!