Getting into BScN (Edmonton)

Well, I'm also trying to get into the program at MacEwan, and it is apparently VERY competitive. I met with an advisor last week, and she told me they average between 1000 to 2000 applicants for each intake.

The 82% average is needed for EARLY conditional acceptance. Once you are done all your high school courses, then the average needed drops to 80%. From what I understand, they have enough applicants every year at the competitive level that they never take anyone below it.

Also, you are probably not aware (because nobody seems to be, and I'm having issues with my application about this) but there seems to be some sort of issue for those who apply and are either registered in or have taken 24 or more credits. There is some sort of new policy regarding this, yet I can't get any info on it.

I had taken 15 credits in the last couple of years, and am currently taking 6 credits this semester. About a week before my application was reviewed, I registered for 3 more credits for spring, which put me at a total of 24 credits, both registered in, and completed. Now, I meet all criteria for acceptance in either regular or mature categories, but because I was REGISTERED in enough to hit 24 credits, they told me they would not process my file until I had either dropped the spring class or had finished it. This is because at 24 credits, they will only look at GPA, and not at high school courses (although you still need to have passed them for prerequisites). My GPA is also well above the competitive level.

I dropped the course in the hope that my application will be processed before there are no more seats. If I DO get a seat, apparently (I need to confirm this) I can't take any more classes without them taking away the seat and reevaluating after the class is done. The annoying thing is that my GPA is actually high enough that if my marks this semester continue to be as high as they are, I could actually FAIL the spring course and my GPA would still be high enough. Also, if I don't get in, because they take so long to look at the applications, I effectively can't take any more classes until I get in because I could run into this problem again.

So basically, if you were thinking about going into the Bachelor of Science program, you would have to take less than 24 credits or you could have a problem.

Honestly, if I were you, I would upgrade your high school marks, since the only way to make them not count is to take 24 or more credits ahead of time, which would them cause you to have a long wait to get into the program. I know it sucks, I had to upgrade three of my courses from back in the early 90's. If your marks aren't competitive now, then you will likely have a hard time with the program. I would also take a couple of courses ahead of time (like anatomy and physiology) so that you lighten up your first year a bit. I'm currently taking those 2 classes, and they are incredibly time consuming. I probably study about 35 - 40 hours a week for these 2 courses alone. I can't imagine trying to take them along with 3 other classes, and getting a decent mark. You can take certain classes without being a program student.

If you live in the Edmonton area, you should set up an appointment with an advisor from the nursing program, and she can guide you in the right direction. Also, there are information sessions at least once a month, and the open house this Saturday. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need to number for the advisor or anything.

Surrodoula,

If you have taken 24 credits before the beginning of the intake term (and if some of them transfer into the nursing program), are you still considered a full-time student?

I'm asking because I want to take a couple of transferable nursing support courses before I apply to the program but I think I need at least 12 credits per term to still qualify as a full-time student, I'm not sure.

I think that 9 credits are considered full time (and that's when you start paying for things like the U-pass). So you could take 4 classes in one term and three in another, and still be ok (I'm assuming you need to be full time for a student loan or something). I haven't had to get student loans so far though, so that would be something you would need to check out. It doesn't matter at all if the credits transfer into nursing, any university level credits are considered for your GPA.

The interesting thing is, I went to the info session at the open house, and nothing was mentioned about this problem of being registered in enough classes to reach 24 or more credits while your application is in progress. But it was most certainly an issue with my application!

Are you planning on applying for fall next year? If so, make sure you apply on Oct 1. The sooner you apply, the better your chances are of having your application looked at while there are still seats open. They don't wait until the application period closes before they start offering seats. It's a long process though, don't expect to hear anything for months.

I found out who to complain to in the admissions department, and sent a complaint letter. A week later, I was finally accepted, five weeks after my application was 'denied' for early acceptance and I was told to either drop the spring class or I would have to wait until it was finished for a decision. I was very lucky that they still had seats.

Heck, I've heard horror stories about MacEwan info sessions. Right up to 10 applicants for every seat. Mature students believing the info and then finding out that they basically are competing with "fresh" hs kids for seats.

Are you of First Nations heritage? There used to be a certain number of seats "reserved" for First Nations students at the U and MacEwan.

Thanks for the info.

Yep, I was asking for student loan purposes. I'm planning on applying for either the fall or winter term of next year or the year after, depending on how my high school prerequisites go... I've been out of high school for two years now but am still doing courses (Pure Math 30 and Science 30) to qualify for mature admission.

Heck, I've heard horror stories about MacEwan info sessions. Right up to 10 applicants for every seat. Mature students believing the info and then finding out that they basically are competing with "fresh" hs kids for seats.

Are you of First Nations heritage? There used to be a certain number of seats "reserved" for First Nations students at the U and MacEwan.

Well, I've been to three info sessions now (over the past 2.5 years) and I've never gotten the impression that it would be any easier to get in as a mature student. Interestingly, I am a mature student, but they admitted me under the Regular admission based on 5 high school marks plus GPA. I guess maybe because my average worked out higher that way (although any way you sliced it, my average was competitive, so I'm not sure why it would matter).

I'm not First Nations, but I'm not sure if you were asking me or the OP.

A couple of years back, one of my co-workers jokingly said that MacEwan paid for some of its clerical positions by accepting nursing applications. No, seriously if you figure it out it's quite possible they hire extra clerks for it.

1200 - 1500 applications at $100 a pop? It adds up;

Lol, yup, I already did that math a long time ago - $70 for Canadians, $140 for international. The advisor told me they have only one person that goes through the nursing school applications. And of course, they take SO LONG to even get to the applications, that I think most people end up applying twice. I did! I swear, literally an hour and a half after I sent in my second application (after checking on the first) I was denied early acceptance and the rollercoaster ride began!

Hi Wonderwoman92!

sounds like you got lots of good info posted here for you to run with. =)

here's my 2 cents...

I got out of High school and right into bachelor of science @ UofA. after 1 year, i decided to transfer into nursing and it was already past the deadline. so I spent year 2 of science taking nursing support courses that's available for non-nursing faculty students. (ie: anat, physiology, statistics, electives done and out of the way). then i applied to both Macewan and UofA nursing and got accepted into MacEwan's transfer program.

taking the extra year to take support courses was smart (i think, personally). i had semesters with 3 classes as opposed to my classmates who had full class loads of 5 classes/semester and they were struggling. the extra time i had gave me more time to study, not stress myself out, etc.

if your HS grades are not high enough, upgrade and hopefully you can get right into the nursing program with higher marks. but then you will have a full course load

if you go into science right after HS and take some nursing support courses, then your beginning years will be lighter in the nursing program. but keep in mind of the 24 credits allowance that SurroDoula mentions. =)

good luck with everything!!