BCIT & Kwantlen BScN 2015 High School

bigblondebun · Apr 15, 2015

Hi Roaa! I wish I could answer more of your questions, but I'm neither a Kwantlen nor BCIT student. However, BCIT and Kwantlen were both some options I looked at when I was in high school (I graduated in 2014). In regards to BCIT, I emailed them and they told me that in addition to the 18 credits of pre-requisites, they also look for around 12-42 credits in any other area, so around 30-60 credits total in order to be a competitive applicant. As for Kwantlen, they visited my school and I asked the representatives the average for nursing and they said around low- to mid- 90's, since they only have 16 spaces for students coming out of high school. That being said, I don't have any actual experience with these schools and I hope you're able to find some more answers soon. Good luck!

RoaaRamadan · Apr 15, 2015

Thanks bigblondebun (haha) for giving me some info! Are you currently working on applying to a nursing program?

bigblondebun · Apr 15, 2015

I was accepted to Langara for September 2015 earlier this year so I've been doing some courses I'd have to take in the program anyways, like English and biomedical ethics :)

RoaaRamadan · Apr 15, 2015

Wow, that's great! Congrats! I heard it's a good program! So you only did the required pre reqs for the program right out of high school, right? Did you also do some related volunteer work?

bigblondebun · Apr 15, 2015

Thank you! Yup! Langara only has 5 prereqs (6 if you take them at another school) so I did them all my first semester. I didn't do any volunteer work since Langara is strictly GPA based. A good website to find opportunities is govolunteer.ca (if you haven't checked that out already!)

RoaaRamadan · Apr 15, 2015

Strictly gpa? That's interesting.. Thanks for the website! Is it very competitive? What was your gpa? Oh, and is there a waitlist?

bigblondebun · Apr 15, 2015

Yeah, initially to get into Langara, you just had to complete the pre-requisites with the minimum GPA and you'd be given a seat eventually, but the waitlist grew so big that there was a two year wait! In order to stop the crazy wait, a couple years ago they changed their admission procedure and now it's just GPA. There is still a waitlist, but it's per intake, so if you don't get into the intake you're waitlisted for, you'll have to apply again for the next one. I actually started a board when I applied and some people there called admissions and were told that there was around 430 applicants for this intake and 80 spots. I applied with a 3.8 and I think the cut off for initial acceptance was about 3.5, although I've head of some people being waitlisted with around that gpa

RoaaRamadan · Apr 15, 2015

Oh wow; well that's helpful.. I know you're not an advisor or anything, but considering the fact that you graduated last year, I'd love to know your opinion on nursing schools in BC and where are good places to apply, if you happen to know. I really want to become a nurse, but I'm a little lost as to where I should I apply and what to do...

bigblondebun · Apr 15, 2015

Of course! I totally understand how you feel.

UBC (Vancouver)- This program is aimed towards students who already have an undergraduate degree, which is why it's shorter. I've heard it's not as hands-on as some of the other programs, but that's probably due to the time constraints of having a two year program. You get a lot more time to develop your clinical skills in a longer program, but I'm sure once you're on the floor within a year or even a couple months, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

UBC (Okanagan) - If you're interested in going away from home, but not too far away, I totally recommend UBCO! I have some friends there and they really enjoy the program. You can enter directly into the program right after high school and you're already in your scrubs and doing clinicals in first semester. All around, I've heard this is a great program, but I wasn't ready to move away from the city.

BCIT - I've heard this is an awesome program, and had I not gotten into Langara, I would've continued taking courses and started to volunteer in order to apply for BCIT. BCIT is unique in the fact that you get a preceptorship in term 6, which none of the other programs offer. BCIT has a great reputation (as you already know!) and I wish I had the chance to apply, but I simply did not have enough credits and was not ready to take random courses for another year just to be able to apply when I knew I wanted to start nursing right away.

Douglas - I've also heard this is a good program, the only complaint I have seen is their admission process. You have to take 10 classes, and after you are done those 10 classes, you are given a spot but you will have to wait (like Langara's program used to be). From reading around the forums, it seems like there's a pretty crazy wait to get into nursing, I think around 2 years! It seems like many pre-nursing students complete their pre-requisites there and go on to apply to other schools, like Kwantlen, Langara and BCIT. They also have a psychiatric nursing program which I believe has a different admissions process, where you get points assigned to you depending on what post-secondary courses you've taken, related volunteer/work experience and other criteria.

Kwantlen - I haven't heard as much about Kwantlen's program, but that's probably because I didn't do too much research. I didn't end up applying to Kwantlen for more personal reasons. For applicants coming out of high school, they only look at 4 subjects: Bio 12, English 12, Chem 11 and Pre-calc or Foundations 11. While I had a high grade in most of the classes, I had an 81 in pre-calc which I felt would've dropped my average too low, but you never know! Also, the nursing program is located in Langley and the commute would just be too crazy for me! That being said, the Kwantlen program has a very small cohort (16 post-secondary and 16 out of high school) so I'm sure that there is a lot of personalized learning.

Langara - For me, Langara was a good choice because it was affordable and close to home. It also seemed to be the fastest way for me to get into nursing, as there is only one program in the lower mainland that accepts students directly from high school and Langara required the fewest credits for their program. The pre-requisites can be done in one semester if you really push yourself, but most people take at least 2-3 semesters. It does feel really competitive though, especially when you take the non-elective pre-requisites. Pretty much every single person in my anatomy and physiology, as well as my statistics class was trying to get into the nursing program. Despite it having less requirements to get in, it is still a really good school! They have been named School of the Year (2013) by the Canadian Nursing Students Association (Langara. News & Events: Langara News: 2013: Langara Named Ã¢Â€ÂœSchool of the YearÃ¢Â€Â) and received praise from the College of Registered Nurses of BC (Langara. News & Events: Langara News: 2014: LangaraÃ¢Â€Â™s Nursing Program Recognized with Top Review). This section might sound a little biased because Langara was my first choice and I have the most experience with Langara!

Oh, forgot to add this: there is one issue that happens at Langara, and it's getting your pre-req classes. There is an extremely high demand for pre-nursing courses and they get filled up really fast! Waitlists for courses get up to 60+ quite quickly. I still don't really understand how they set your registration time, but if you're coming from high school and apply for Langara on the day applications open (Sometime in Oct/Nov), they will give you a nice, early registration time. I know many students who have had troubles getting the classes they needed because they had a bad registration time. I'm sure this is a common issue anywhere where you need to take pre-reqs though, as lots of people are trying to get into a nursing program!