BCIT August 2013 Applicants

[SIMBURGER]

Hello future nurses,

I am so excited to be starting nursing at BCIT in August!

For future applicants: To have a strong application make sure you have work experience, volunteer experience (preferably healthcare), as well as liberal arts courses - my Psych 241 at SFU transferred over as a libs course and I will find out if any other courses of mine transfer over once I send them an updated transcript.

I am going to be going in with a completed BSc in Kinesiology and Psychology, but a full degree is not necessary, just at least 60 credits to be competitive!

Anyone else defer to August?

[Progressor]

LiquoriceTea,

I applied for the January intake, was accepted, then deferred to August. It was my first time applying to BCIT. At the time of my application my credentials were the following:

BSc (honors) degree in psychology with distinction from UVIC completed 2009

6 recent anatomy/physiology credits from TRU

5 years experience working as a community support worker with the developmentally disabled

1 years work experience as a group home manager

I had little to no volunteer experience, and had taken none of the BCIT liberal arts courses.

I don't think you need to worry about your grades in your first few years. In one of the nursing info sessions they stressed the particular importance of grade improvements over the course of ones education. My grades were horrible in my first two years of university as well.

Also, I heard the prerequisites for the program will be changing for the Jan 2014 entry. Some of the courses that were previously completed in the program now must be finished before admission. So make sure to check that out. Good luck!

[Pizzagator]

Hi Progressor,

I was hoping they would consider how my grades have improved, so that's reassuring, thanks! I have completed all of the new prerequisites except Anatomy and Physiology. Did you take yours at the TRU campus or through the online learning program? I'm attending UVic as well and they only offer the second half of A&P in January, which would mean delaying my application to BCIT by another semester. TRU's online A&P credits are accepted by BCIT but was wondering about the quality/difficulty, as they wouldn't include a lab component. It sure would be a lot more convenient to be able to take them online though!

[Progressor]

I took the TRU A+P classes online. They were self-paced with just 2 midterms and a final. I found them to be pretty easy and would recommend them for sure. The online BCIT courses I am currently taking (HLED 7120, and LIBS 7002) are term based and have been much more time consuming than the TRU courses.

[Pizzagator]

That sounds great, I like the idea of doing it at my own pace. I know the final needs to be written at one of the approved site, was it the same for the midterms or are they online?

[BulmaBriefs]

Hello LiquoriceTea,

I applied with 60 credits of post secondary with all the nursing pre-req courses that was posted on their webpage, before the new requirements that has no taken affect: ENG 1177/ PSYCH 1101/1002, LIBS 7001&7002, Two other LIB courses, HMGT 7180 Canadian Health System. The rest of the courses were all health and science/biology courses. Right now I'm in the process of taking a 6 credit Human Anatomy & Physiology course online through Athabasca University. I love the course so far and there are 3 exams, 3 assignments and 3 quizzes, so I'm half way done the course; they give you 13 months from the time you registered for the course to complete it.

My overall gpa is 3.0, which is okay I guess and I have 300 hours of volunteering work in health-related fields, and also some work experience. I also have the HCP/CPR certificate that we would need to have when we're in the program, and I even have the emergency first aid certificate.

This is my second time applying. The first time I applied, I had less credits and they recommended that I take an A&P course, which I'm so glad I did because it's really going to help me . They had put me on the waitlist for the January 2013 intake but I wasn't offered a seat.

I'm really nervous because we're ALL supposed to recieve our emails this week!!!

I know that if you take an A&P course and the courses they posted on their site (for 2014), your application will be strong and you really want to highlight all your strengths and academic achievement & skills on your own nursing resume when you apply. Good luck!

[Pizzagator]

Hi BulmaBriefs,

I really hope you receive some good news this week! :) I'll also check out Athabasca's A&P course compared to TRU's. Is Canadian Health Systems an older requirement? Progressor mentioned it too but it doesn't seem to be part of the new program.

[BulmaBriefs]

Thank you LiquoriceTea! I'm really hoping that we all hear very good news this week!

And yeah you can definitely look into the A&P course, it's called BIOL 235. You can also check the BC Trasfer guide, for the equivalency courses offered at other institutions.

I'm not sure about the Canadian Health System course, I'm thinking you don't need it because it is nowhere posted on BCIT's nursing webpage, however, I would definitely call Student Services to find out! I know the course name changed to HLED 7120 Canadian Health System.

:)

[BulmaBriefs]

I wonder if anybody has recieved their acceptance letter yet?

[Progressor]

The TRU A+P course midterms are taken online. They are supposed to be closed book, but there is no invigilator requirement.

The Canadian health system course is no longer in the program curriculum as of Jan 2014 and onwards. Considers yourself lucky :) I was actually pretty choked about this, as I just spent 600 bucks to take it, and have probably written close to 40 pages on all the assignments.

[lego.house]

@LiquoriceTea

My application is very similar to BulmaBrief's. This is my second time applying, and since my last application I took a few more courses so now I have all of the recommend courses. When I first applied I had 200+ hours volunteering with the ski patrol and had experience treating injuries from sprains and breaks to concussion and spinal injuries. I recently (December) started volunteering on a casual basis at the hospital in ICU and ER. It was one of the best decisions I made, I absolutely love it! I also go to a care home once a week and help residents from the dementia unit in a painting class.

For online classes definitely find one that suits your learning style. I'm taking 2 online classes right now, as well as two regular classes. One class is self paced and I'm doing really well. However the other is tutor paced and has a lot more content than the other, and I find myself struggling to retain the information after reading the 'lecture'. Mix that with the studying for my regular lectures and it's a great big pain.

Good luck with your application!

[lego.house]

@BulmaBriefs nothing so far!

[cat5]

The wait continues...