Mature adult - best options for program acceptance

SM1031 · Feb 7, 2012

I am a mature student and are taking the prehealth program. I highly recommend the prehealth since you have been out of school for some time now (Same here). I think that this year is preparing me for any demanding nursing program. I have applied for BScN and PN, neither program guarentees a seat, but with good grades that university or college will probably accept you over an outside student. I tried to do upgrading on my own but wow, so confusing!

Good luck with whichever route you choose!

joanna73, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2012

I started my BScN at 33. Prior to this, I had to take prerequisite chem and, bio, and math, which took me a year. I went to night school for chem and bio, and I took math through correspondence and used a tutor. Why pay the added cost of a pre-health program? Night school is much cheaper, and it doesn't matter where you've obtained those courses. The time flies. I've been an RN for close to a year and a half now. It was worth the time spent. Good luck :)

joanna73, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2012

There are no guarantees either with taking a pre-health program over an outside student. Mature student status requires more than grades at most schools. When I was applying, the schools wanted a resume, letter of intent, AND your grades. Either way, it is competitive.

Fiona59 · Feb 7, 2012

I live in AB and echo Joanna. There are no guarantees for mature students. The admission guides make it sound that way but it really isn't. If anything there are more hoops to go through to get in.

Ottawavalleynursing · Feb 9, 2012

Before I went into nursing, I did at degree and applied as a mature student. As far as I understand, each program has a set number of spots that they plan to allocate to mature students, so contact the nursing program. I would apply as a mature student first and see what happens. Why take a year of courses if it isn't necessary

Fiona59 · Feb 9, 2012

Ottawa, been there and done that. I too had a college diploma. On paper, I appeared to be the ideal candidate. BUT the reality is with the competition for seats in the RN programme, the mature students (anyone over 21) was just as fierce as for that of new grads from High School.

1200 applicants for 120 seats. Out of that 120 seats, three are reserved for treaty status students. When I asked how many seats were reserved for mature applicants, I was told none, they selected what they felt were the best applicants.

Trust me, they are looking at science and math courses having results in the high 80%s here in Alberta and I doubt Ontario is very different.

Ottawavalleynursing · Feb 9, 2012

My sister is in the RN program at Ryerson University and she said that a good percentage of the students are or mature status. I'm not sure that your statistics apply to every University/College in Canada. Universities are highly influenced by government policies, and having mature students upgrade their skills and knowledge is of significance all across Canada

futureTBA · Feb 9, 2012

Hi everyone,
I'm a 38 yr old looking at getting my Bachelor in Nursing. It's obviously been quite some time since I graduated high school but did get a college diploma (non science) about 10 yrs ago.
I've been looking at the best routes to go and obviously some upgrading is needed. From my understanding I have 2 options:
1. Upgrade my math, science and english through a correspondence/night school or
2. Pre-health science through affiliated college.
Theres obviously advantages and disadvantages to both. I was going to take the pre-health science but there is nothing on the George Brown website (this is the school i'd like to go to due to location) to indicate it helps with entry into the RN program (only the rpn route).
Do any mature students have any advice to offer? I want to do whatever I can to guarantee a spot in the RN program (it was my understanding that pre-health would pretty much assure this if I did obtain great grades).
Thanks in advance!

Well, the short answer is, there is no guarantee. Nursing is highly competitive. Both the RN and RPN programs.

I'm 29 years old, not old by most standards but you know in high school when you thought about where you'd be in life at 30, it wasn't living at home, no degree/diploma working in a call centre. I'm lucky, I'm paid pretty well for what I do and I'm surrounded by a great team, including many nurses. But still, not where I pictured myself.

Out of highschool, I went to UofT and bombed. Wasn't what I wanted to do. And apparently, you don't get great marks by skipping classes (and exams!). After 1.5years, I left school with a couple of credits and a 1.5GPA. So, at the age of 29 I decided it was time to go back and do what I really wanted to do.

I never took grade 12 Bio or Chem in high school. So I was faced with similar choices, upgrade and take my Bio/Chem or start out with the GAS programs. I decided to go the route of both.

I am taking grade 12 Bio & Chem through ILC - Ontario's online high school program. With the help of an amazing tutor, I'm getting a 92% in Chem and I've managed the same in Bio on my own. My high school marks were pretty good, I think around 85% ish for all classes.

I applied to 2 RN direct entry, 2 RPN and 1 GAS at the school I really wanted to be at. I decided even if I only got into one, I would have a pretty good foundation.

Turns out, I was accepted to my preferred program (RN) at my prefered school (Humber) right off the bat. I was thrilled.

All this long winded post is really trying to say - is the only thing you can do wrong is to not apply. Try applying to the RN program you want most. Also apply to their pre-health (GAS) program. Maybe the RPN program too - you can always apply right into the RN bridge program and try to pick up a P/T RPN gig to get you through school.

Whatever you decide, best of luck!

joanna73, BSN, RN · Feb 9, 2012

I am a former graduate of the Ryerson RN program. I was accepted as a mature student. While the numbers vary slightly every year, Fiona is correct in that high 80's in sciences and math, in addition to other criteria determines who is accepted. It always depends on the applicants the school has that year. Only admissions knows for sure.

Novo · Feb 9, 2012

As a mature student they won't give you any special status during admissions however what I think you should do is take anta, physio, stats, microbiolgy first since most schools will accept these in lieu of high school courses. that way you're killing two birds with one stone? anyways that's what i did as a mature student i had to fight tooth and nail for that spot it's not going to be easy but it's well worth it

Fiona59 · Feb 9, 2012

My sister is in the RN program at Ryerson University and she said that a good percentage of the students are or mature status. I'm not sure that your statistics apply to every University/College in Canada. Universities are highly influenced by government policies, and having mature students upgrade their skills and knowledge is of significance all across Canada

Every university in Alberta reserves seats for aboriginal students.

The average age of nursing students is increasing. So the fact that more students are considered "Mature" in your sister's nursing programme isn't unusual. The average age in my PN class was mid-30s, we only had three under 22.

It's become a fact that nursing school is getting harder to get into for high school students and that the marks listed in the college outline are the minimum. The year I applied it stated Math 30, Bio 30, English 30-1 were required to be at 65% for mature students. Nobody with those marks got in. Instead they paid their registration fees and lost their money.

A few years back, it was suggested that one local university here funded a clerical positon solely on the nursing application fees because they accepted at least 10 applications for every seat at $100/application. Consider there are two universities in my city and you have to apply separately to each, that's a lot of $$ floating around.