Continuing with UofA or go to Grant MacEwan?

[AllThingsConsidered]

Hi!

I am a recent Science graduate from the U of A. I applied to the after degree program for BScN at the U of A, but there may be a chance that I may not gain final admission, which is unfortunate. After speaking with a friend who is a LPN and is planning to go back to school for his RN, I feel like I have a better direction of what to do next year, but would like some input from other students or RN's. As of now, if my after degree does not happen, I can option one, improve my grades for a semester and reapply for the January term at the U of A (potential acceptance). The second option, which my friend with lots of experience recommended to me was if Nursing was really what I was interested in doing, then just go for Grant MacEwan for the four year program with the likelihood of getting transfer credits (as I had done my whole degree in physiology and some pharmacology) and knowing that you will get into a program that is structured well and with great resources. With what my grades are, chances I will be getting into Grant MacEwan and I am just a little smidge away from the U of A AGPA, therefore the potential of getting in is entirely dependent on other students who apply and if I am able to pull off a good semester (which is not the hardest thing in the world with easier classes).

I have been told by a friend in the U of A after degree program that it is poorly organized and crazy and if she had the drive to do it in more years she would go to Grant Mac. I guess my question is that it seems not worth it to me to spend that extra semester to improve my marks, apply, potentially get in and be finished in 2.5 years when I can go straight into nursing at Grant Mac this fall and finish in 3.5 years potentially with transfer credits, when the U of A quality and facilities are not as good as Grant MacEwan.

Let me know what you think. Any advice will be appreciated because I am at a crossroad in my life right now.

Thanks!:)

[Fiona59]

It's not so much that the GMU has better facilities or quality of instructors, traditionally, GMU has students that are more willing to LEARN on their clinical time. The U's students have what can only be described as an attitude of superiority. Many of them arrive on the units at RAH with the attitude that hands on care (be it personal or wound) is beneath them. One that will never be forgotten tried to delegate her patient to the NA and LPNs on the unit where I work. She thought learning to delegate to staff was part of her clinical experience and really couldn't understand why the unit felt she should receive a fail for her clinical time.

GMU's students usually are more willing to learn from the unit staff. Perhaps because up until recently they were the diploma school and produced some good nurses.

The U's grads always seemed to need a lot of one on one when they found employment, GM's just seemed to fit in better and learn their job quickly.

Some of the instructors at the U, well, you know that old saying "those who can Do, those who can't Teach"? I'll let you figure that one out.

A degree is a degree. It's the CRNE that makes the nurse.

[SurroDoula]

Well, if your grades aren't high enough for the U of A, they might not be high enough for MacEwan either. If you have completed over 24 credits, then you need a AGPA of 3.0 or higher. Another thing to consider is that if you apply at MacEwan with 24 credits or more, and you are still taking classes, then they will not give you a conditional acceptance until you are finished your classes. I went through this a couple of months ago, you can read my post about my experience here. It's not something that they publish, I found out about this rule the hard way.

Also, MacEwan has been putting applicants on the waitlist for fall for a couple of months now (and these were people that applied earlier in the year), so if you were to apply now, I would think it would be pretty unlikely to get in (not sure why they still have the program open to registrations). I would save your money and apply for a different intake, but don't leave it too late.

Good luck!

[bscn2013]

Hi there, I currently go to GMAC Nursing and although I do not have a prior degree and I can tell you a few things about the program. For entry you need at 80 average, again I don't know about degree transfers, however I do know that if you have the marks, it's first come, first serve. It doesn't matter if you have a 90% average, if the person with an 80% applied before you, they get in first. The trick is to apply the minute(literally) registrations open and you have pretty good chance. You're probably too late for the fall, but you may want to try for January.

I really like the program so far, I'm in my second year with clinicals coming up in Sept. and I hope I do GMAC's reputation proud. The best information you can get is to make an appointment with the student advisor. She'll be able to look at all your courses and give you the best route to take. PM me if you want and I can give the SA name.

Good luck!

[flyingchange]

A friend of mine took the after degree BScN from the U of A. She said it has a 50% dropout rate, if that's any indication.

I have only ever heard good things about GMU's program during my research.