Nipissing SPP 2018

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Hi there! Just wanted to get in conctact with other applicants who are applying to the Scholar Practioner Program at Nipissing University.

We could use this thread to talk about different components of the application.

Cheers :)

I'm thinking of a Masters as well, but am unsure about how the SPP program plays into it. I have been accepted to both Nipissing and Queens and they have completely different teaching styles. I don't think I can go wrong with either one though. But I'm not sure what employers think (Im thinking Queens may have more name recognition and would be more familiar to me in terms of teaching style.)

Do you guys think employers know about and respect the SPP progroam over Queen's' AST program? How about Masters programs? In a bit of a pickle over which to choose, and if I get accepted to U of T, I still dont know which would be the smart move to choose. In general, does anybody know the pros and cons of each second entry program in terms of employer awareness and easy of furthering education? I thought Id reach out to the community and see what you folks thought.

Hey! I definitely think this program is well recognized. I have met a lot of nurses who actually went to Nipissing and they work at the hospital. Personally, I do believe to some extent employers look at your education and which school you graduated from. However, I really think it comes down to your resume or CV. You just need to stand out more in terms of your experience and what you have achieved compared to nurses who have graduated from Queens or UofT.

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Hey! I definitely think this program is well recognized. I have met a lot of nurses who actually went to Nipissing and they work at the hospital. Personally, I do believe to some extent employers look at your education and which school you graduated from. However, I really think it comes down to your resume or CV. You just need to stand out more in terms of your experience and what you have achieved compared to nurses who have graduated from Queens or UofT.

These are just my thoughts! We definitely need to do more research to help us come to a decision :)

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@SPPhopeful: While I can't speak to other programs, I can speak to why I personally decided to choose Nipissing! I think that for me the biggest reason is the placement opportunities, I currently am at Queen's and while it is a great school, in the future I would like to live and work in Toronto so that was a large factor, doing placements in Kingston would not give the relevant experiences in Toronto that I wanted. As for choosing between this and UofT, I think that it maybe just comes down to the type of learner you are and as said above, relevant experiences that employers would look for. I am a hands-on learner and have found that I have really enjoyed and learned a lot in placement courses during my undergrad, so I think this program is a good fit. However, it maybe is not as well-known as UofT's! All in all I think it just comes down to your own preference :) Obviously I have not been in any of the programs so I can't talk to the exact individual pro's and con's of each.

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Hey Cooper1337! I'm in the same boat. If you are looking for a roommate. Just let me know and we can connect!! :)

I'm not currently looking for a roommate, but thanks! haha

In regards to the discussion about SPP vs. traditional programs, I'm in the same boat -- I intend to pursue a master's, but I'm a little uncertain about how SPP would translate to those programs since it's so different.

That said, I still ultimately decided on SPP as my final choice. I personally thrive in a small self-directed learning environment, and not in the traditional style of memorization and regurgitation that is often reflected in large class sizes at the bigger universities. I did my bachelor's at UofT's downtown campus with its insane class sizes, and I just did not want to subject myself to that impersonal learning experience again in my second degree.

As someone said earlier, regardless of how non-traditional the program is, we are still getting a BScN from an accredited university, which would qualify us for most grad programs. Even if it's not as well-known as Queens or UofT, in the end it's your grades, experience and references that are the most important factors. The name might matter to some, and there's no way of really knowing how much, but it's certainly not everything. As far as employers -- our program has strong connections to Toronto's major downtown hospitals. I really believe that puts us at an advantage compared to universities outside of Toronto (if working in Toronto is your goal, at least!).

The SPP program is very new (even traditional accelerated programs are still pretty young in general) but in my opinion, it's only a matter of time before SPP gains as much (if not more) name recognition as other universities because the training seems so much more comprehensive. Now I don't know how true this is, but I've also heard that a big criticism of accelerated 2-year programs in general (regardless of the university) is that students are somewhat lacking in clinical skills compared to those in standard 4-year programs. Note that this is pure anecdotal evidence from colleagues at the hospital and nurses I've talked to, but it is still something I think is worth considering. From my understanding, SPP is Nipissing's answer to a more clinical skills-focused curriculum.

So, yeah! I decided on SPP because it seems more suited to my personal style, and I value my learning experience more than name recognition. I'm not too worried that the uniqueness of the program will impact any grad school prospects, especially since admissions to masters programs are so comprehensive and also require several years' work experience at minimum.

Sorry for the long post!! I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and opinions that led me to my choice :)

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I'm not currently looking for a roommate, but thanks! haha

In regards to the discussion about SPP vs. traditional programs, I'm in the same boat -- I intend to pursue a master's, but I'm a little uncertain about how SPP would translate to those programs since it's so different.

That said, I still ultimately decided on SPP as my final choice. I personally thrive in a small self-directed learning environment, and not in the traditional style of memorization and regurgitation that is often reflected in large class sizes at the bigger universities. I did my bachelor's at UofT's downtown campus with its insane class sizes, and I just did not want to subject myself to that impersonal learning experience again in my second degree.

As someone said earlier, regardless of how non-traditional the program is, we are still getting a BScN from an accredited university, which would qualify us for most grad programs. Even if it's not as well-known as Queens or UofT, in the end it's your grades, experience and references that are the most important factors. The name might matter to some, and there's no way of really knowing how much, but it's certainly not everything. As far as employers -- our program has strong connections to Toronto's major downtown hospitals. I really believe that puts us at an advantage compared to universities outside of Toronto (if working in Toronto is your goal, at least!).

The SPP program is very new (even traditional accelerated programs are still pretty young in general) but in my opinion, it's only a matter of time before SPP gains as much (if not more) name recognition as other universities because the training seems so much more comprehensive. Now I don't know how true this is, but I've also heard that a big criticism of accelerated 2-year programs in general (regardless of the university) is that students are somewhat lacking in clinical skills compared to those in standard 4-year programs. Note that this is pure anecdotal evidence from colleagues at the hospital and nurses I've talked to, but it is still something I think is worth considering. From my understanding, SPP is Nipissing's answer to a more clinical skills-focused curriculum.

So, yeah! I decided on SPP because it seems more suited to my personal style, and I value my learning experience more than name recognition. I'm not too worried that the uniqueness of the program will impact any grad school prospects, especially since admissions to masters programs are so comprehensive and also require several years' work experience at minimum.

Sorry for the long post!! I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and opinions that led me to my choice :)

Thank you for that well thought out answer! You were very thorough-- helped explain a lot. I know Queen's' program is actually famous for its small class size so that's not really an issue for me. (Are U of T's classes large?) I'm more fearful that I don't do well with Nipissing's more self-directed learning, but its many clinical hours is very appealing to me. How self-directed is the learning/teaching? Nipissing is also Toronto based, where I think many of the jobs are-- plus.

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Thank you for that well thought out answer! You were very thorough-- helped explain a lot. I know Queen's' program is actually famous for its small class size so that's not really an issue for me. (Are U of T's classes large?) I'm more fearful that I don't do well with Nipissing's more self-directed learning, but its many clinical hours is very appealing to me. How self-directed is the learning/teaching? Nipissing is also Toronto based, where I think many of the jobs are-- plus.

I did my HBSc at UofT and I can't deny that the only nice thing about UofT is its name. Class sizes are huge and in my four years there I honestly got the feeling that the school doesn't care about its students as much as it cares about itself. I'm still waiting to hear back from UofT but if I got accepted I'd honestly have to think hard about if I'd pick it over Nipissing because I personally found it very difficult to do well there in comparison to how my friends were doing at other universities such as Guelph (I had one science major and one humanities major so I've experienced both ends of the spectrum). I think that in programs such as nursing the clinical experience is the most important thing, and I believe Nipissing and UofT have their placements at the same hospitals. I did a lot of research on masters programs for nursing today just to make sure that Nipissing would allow me to be eligible for those programs and it seems we would be perfectly fine for graduate studies!! As long as our degree is a BScN, we get licensed as RNs, and we have a high enough GPA, I see no reason why we would have any trouble with a masters program. I also think our placements tie in with employment; I'm sure hospitals in Toronto would rather hire new RNs who have done placements at those hospitals than those who have not, since people like us would have prior experience working in those hospitals and already know how it functions. We could also get recommendations from our preceptors, so I think in terms of finding employment in Toronto/GTA our chances would be pretty similar to those of grads from bigger schools! :)

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Yay nice to know there are others in the same boat haha. Also waiting on UofT.. what would you pick if you also get in there??

I did my undergrad at UofT and it literally almost killed me haha so I really don't know if I would jump at the chance to pick it because it's SO hard to do well there... you?

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I also did my undergrad at UofT and had the same opinion about them. It all just comes down to what type of learner you are. I have a friend that's currently in her first year at UofT nursing, and she has placements about 3 times a week and has classes every day or so. She met a nurse from Nipissing in one of her placements, and she said they have a lot more assignments as compared to Nipissing. Whereas SPP is more practical, so if you're a hands-on learner you should do fairly well in this program. I guess it all just boils down to whether you are a self-directed learner or you prefer structured classes that may involve more assignments.

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My dad text me that my Nipissing envelope arrived! Tempted to rush home from work during lunch to go open it lol. But I will wait until I get home! So keep an eye out everyone :) I live in central Toronto incase anyone is wondering!! Exciting.

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I read a comment somewhere where the BSCN 2-year accelerated program has a few criticisms compared to 4-year programs. I personally, think we have an advantage for entering in a 2-year accelerated nursing. We have tons and tons of life experiences and knowledge that we have gained from our first degree or from the years of experiencing life in general. These life experiences, knowledge, volunteerism, research experiences may be lacking in those who are in the 4-year program. We have taken several general science courses throughout our first degree and now going to the 2-year accelerated we will solely focus on nursing. We are also derived with heavy self-motivation and passion for nursing as it has been learnt about and grown during the time we were completing our first degree. So we all know for sure that becoming a nurse is our passion.

From what I know, clinical placements usually start in second year for a 4-year program. During the first year, students learn nursing skills that are needed for the clinical placements. We are really not losing any clinical experiences compared to those in 4-year programs as the 2-year accelerated program runs from September till August. This makes up for time completing clinical placements as much as those in the 4-year program.

Sorry guys, I am personally really optimistic. I feel so grateful that we have all come from a long way and lucky that we have been provided with such opportunities to be the best that we can be. So please don't compare yourself to those in a 4-year program.

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@nya13 Totally agree with everything you said!! I also feel really grateful and think its really cool we all come from such different backgrounds but all came back to wanting to become nurses. And like you said, you typically dont start the intensive nursing only courses until 3rd and 4th year of a 4 year program anyways. We already did all our electives and stuff so we are ready to just be immersed!!

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There's no info about placement location as far as I can see in the admissions package :( thought it would say here wahh

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