Nipissing SPP 2020 Applicants

absn2020 · Jan 15, 2020

Hi! Thanks for making this post!

I'm currently in the process of writing my personal statement. I was hoping to be in the revision stages by now, but I am also writing one for another school (UofT), so I haven't been able to fully focus. I am getting a little bit tired of writing about myself, haha.

How is your application process going?

HappyGuarantee123 · Jan 15, 2020

Hi everyone,

Thanks for creating this threat. I had finished my personal statement before getting the package in the mail, and am at four pages as opposed to two... so have quite a bit of revision to do. I also wrote CASPer last night and it was a disaster...really hoping for the best with that.

How are you all feeling?

vvnursinghopeful · Jan 19, 2020

On 1/15/2020 at 1:58 PM, absn2020 said:
Hi! Thanks for making this post!
I'm currently in the process of writing my personal statement. I was hoping to be in the revision stages by now, but I am also writing one for another school (UofT), so I haven't been able to fully focus. I am getting a little bit tired of writing about myself, haha.
How is your application process going?

I can relate! I have been working on my personal statement for over three weeks but haven't made much progress. Are you including your work/volunteering experiences in your personal statement? I am including it but our prompt asked us to describe "educational background and experiences". The overly anxious side in me is wondering if they are asking for educational experiences and not general experiences.

vvnursinghopeful · Jan 19, 2020

On 1/15/2020 at 1:07 PM, HappyGuarantee123 said:
Hi everyone,
Thanks for creating this threat. I had finished my personal statement before getting the package in the mail, and am at four pages as opposed to two... so have quite a bit of revision to do. I also wrote CASPer last night and it was a disaster...really hoping for the best with that.
How are you all feeling?

Condensing it is always difficult especially when you have so many great things to say. I just saw your post in another thread and your educational background is pretty impressive so I am not surprised that you are at 4 pages!!? From what I know research experience typically shows that you are capable of working independently which is something the SPP committee is keen on.

Keep me posted on how your personal statement is going, I always enjoy hearing from other applicants!

Keke98 · Jan 19, 2020

Hi everyone, I sent in my application last week and already got an email from them confirming they have received it. Unfortunately my professor forgot to include 3 copies of the reference letter originally and he opened the letter to photocopy it. He resealed it but in the email they said they cannot accept the letters as the envelope looks tampered with (i'm guessing they could tell it was re-opened). My reference is resending the letters but in case anyone is sending off their applications soon I recommend that you ensure everything is in order as they are particular with the way it is packaged!

Good luck, I wish you all well! :)

vvnursinghopeful · Jan 19, 2020

13 minutes ago, kiki98 said:
Hi everyone, I sent in my application last week and already got an email from them confirming they have received it. Unfortunately my professor forgot to include 3 copies of the reference letter originally and he opened the letter to photocopy it. He resealed it but in the email they said they cannot accept the letters as the envelope looks tampered with (i'm guessing they could tell it was re-opened). My reference is resending the letters but in case anyone is sending off their applications soon I recommend that you ensure everything is in order as they are particular with the way it is packaged!
Good luck, I wish you all well! ?

Whoa! Good thing you found out about this early enough for your reference to resubmit their letter!!

How are you feeling about your application? I am struggling with mine, do you have any tips for getting it done?

HappyGuarantee123 · Jan 19, 2020

21 hours ago, vvnursinghopeful said:
Condensing it is always difficult especially when you have so many great thing to say. I just saw your post in another thread and your educational background is pretty impressive so I am not surprised that you are at 4 pages!!? From what I know research experience typically shows that you are capable of working independently which is something the SPP committee is keen on.
To be honest, I am super nervous about my application. My background is in psychology and I don't have much healthcare experience because I always thought I would go into teaching. Also, my third year was a disaster (I talking an average of 62%) and I am currently in 4th year doing fairly well. My average in my top 10 full credits is 89.95% and the cumulative average is 84.06% (how do you convert that into a GPA ? lol). I heard from some people that the committee actually may look at top 10 full credits from the last two years of university so in that case my average would between 60-70%. Basically I am stressed out about not being competitive at all.
I am writing my CASPer on the 23rd. I am hoping that isn't too late! I am really nervous about that too. How did you prepare for it?
Keep me posted on how you personal statement is going, I always enjoy hearing from other applicants!

Thank you for the encouragement about my research experience! It is nice to know the committee may see value in it.

As for GPA, you can search on the undergraduate GPA conversion table on OUAC. I believe Nipissing would see 84.06% as a 3.7, and an 89.95% as a 3.9. These are very competitive, I would say. I doubt they would look at the last two years if their admissions website states they will take your best 10 credits, that would be pretty misleading. Additionally, they are looking for applications with a pre-req in psychology. You should see this is a bonus for you, as they clearly value psychology!

For CASPer, that isn't too late. I have heard of others taking it near the middle/end of February. I prepared by reading over a bunch of the practice scenarios on BeMo, YouTube testimonials, the practice test on CASPer site. I also read over potential ethical scenarios and how to handle them, including conflicts with supervisors, friends, group-work issues. I would recommend the UWashington bioethics page for basic information and how to handle certain scenarios. I would also suggest thinking ahead of time of some personal stories, as some of the questions are personal. The personal questions are similar to what you would get asked in a job interview. HOWEVER, all of these prep tips are the same I found on a google search of how to prepare for CASPer. I feel I wasted a lot of time reading perfect responses to ethical scenarios and sample questions that it clouded my own ideas. The situations are truly not something you can prepare for, I really wouldn't worry about it very much. You won't have time to think about what you studied, as the timing truly sneaks up on you more than you think. My best advice is to breathe, and genuinely think about what you would do in that situation. They care most about your ability to see both sides, and firmly decide on what you would do. Essentially, identify the issue, think about the different perspectives involved and what would happen if you chose either of the possible options, then choose a final answer. As a healthcare professional, you will have to be confident in your decisions when you're presented with difficult scenarios, so be confident but understanding, non-judgmental and non-confrontational. Practice using the test sample questions, but don't focus on the perfect answer when you're studying (i.e the long, detailed responses the test prep companies give you) as you won't have time to answer in this way. I type 120WPM and still ran out of time on every single question. Most questions I didn't even answer the third part.

Hopefully this was helpful, good luck with CASPer!

Keke98 · Jan 19, 2020

2 hours ago, vvnursinghopeful said:
Whoa! Good thing you found out about this early enough for your reference to resubmit their letter!!
How are you feeling about your application? I am struggling with mine, do you have any tips for getting it done?

Yeah, I'm happy I sent it way before the deadline just in case something went wrong!

I found the process okay, I applied to other second-entry nursing programs in third year so I've had practice with the supplementary application part but my tip is try not to overthink it, just be genuine and concise while answering their main question, take out anything that may sound like jargon or common to everyone and really just focus on what makes you a unique and qualified applicant. It sounds easier said than done of course but I think the hardest part for sure is narrowing it down to a few main points, once that's done it's easy to keep it in the limit.

I didn't take long to write mine I think because I knew what my main focus was and that helped me limit my ideas.

NurseAlden · Jan 22, 2020

Hi y'all,

I'm currently in my second semester of the Nipissing program and saw this thread link in the second entry post (used to look at these so much when I was applying as well). If you have burning questions, feel free to ask away and I'll try my best to answer ?

vvnursinghopeful · Jan 22, 2020

15 hours ago, NurseAlden said:
Hi y'all,
I'm currently in my second semester of the Nipissing program and saw this thread link in the second entry post (used to look at these so much when I was applying as well). If you have burning questions, feel free to ask away and I'll try my best to answer ?

You are awesome for doing this!!!

How do you feel about the structure of this program compared to your a traditional program like most undergraduate programs?

Also if you don't mind me asking what was the application process like for you? What kind of things do you think is important to include in your personal statement? I am pretty stressed out about possibly not being competitive enough due to my poor grades third year and lack of medical experience so I am really trying to make the most of my personal statement! Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

NurseAlden · Jan 22, 2020

4 hours ago, vvnursinghopeful said:
You are awesome for doing this!!!
How do you feel about the structure of this program compared to your a traditional program like most undergraduate programs?
Also if you don't mind me asking what was the application process like for you? What kind of things do you think is important to include in your personal statement? I am pretty stressed out about possibly not being competitive enough due to my poor grades third year and lack of medical experience so I am really trying to make the most of my personal statement! Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

The program itself is very different from anything you've probably experienced ever in school. We usually have a month of "lecture" but the content itself in those is more theory and research stuff, not necessarily skills (skills you do learn eventually but it is not heavily practiced in that month of lectures). After that, we go straight to clinicals (even in first semester) for 2 months at a minimum of 24 hours a week (either three 8 hour shifts or two 12 hour shifts for those 2 months). Additionally, we have 1 reflection class every week in those 2 months (these are with your peers where you discuss experiences that happened during the week). We dont do traditional tests like undergrad. Instead we have a final portfolio project worth over half our mark at the end. It is a very self-taught program for the most part. I say this because we do not learn nursing skills specifically through our lectures. They are learned during your clinical placement as well as looking it up on your own. However, you learn so much during clinical because each student has 1-to-1 preceptorship. So, you basically shadow and help out a designated nurse for 2 months each semester. Just you and the nurse, so you're bound to learn a lot of things as opposed to shadowing a nurse with 3-4 other students. All these things will be covered to you once you meet faculty or make the interview process.

As for the application, I don't think my letter really highlighted anything too fancy. I included things like: why I wanted to be a nurse, why the program structure would benefit me, and volunteer experiences (I volunteered at one hospital, was a sex-ed counseling volunteer, and helped out a professor in teaching students human anatomy). I made my personal statement sound really passionate on why I wanted to be a nurse and used experiences that I had previously to kind of support it. As for grades, if your third year wasn't too good try to do better on your last year. My total avg for last 10 courses of my undergrad was not a 4.0 or anything I think it was maybe like 3.6-3.7 gpa. I do know that the program definitely looks out stuff other than grades though. Like Casper, the reference letter, personal statement, etc. I know this from asking faculty to, that the interview is weighted extremely highly. So, if you get to the interview stage, you definitely want to try your best there and do all the basic stuff correctly (eye contact, clear voice, confidence, enthusiasm, etc). Hope this helped ?