Nursing Schools september 2011, where did you apply?

cccormier · Feb 13, 2011

Hey! Sorry to hear about your response from Mohawk and St. Clair... it doesn't seem fair at all, but I've heard that many/most schools in Ontario can only let in a limited amount of "out of province secondary students" into the program. I think it has to do with the "Ontario" mentality of keeping the current population "inside" the province to avoid applicants moving elsewhere for other schools. I personally (originally from New Brunswick myself) think that this is wrong and Universities should judge an applicant based on the grade or overall potential, rather than where they are coming from.

I am also applying for a a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, hopefully to gain entry into the University of Western Ontario (UWO) for the fall 2011. I hear the average entrance cut-off for this site is quite high, and I'm scared to hear that I may not get in with my grades (high 80's). Ryerson is a great place, in fact one of the best programs (for nursing) in Ontario, I hear. I hope you get in there (or any other place you wish for that matter)!!! :)

I think that your grades are amazing! And, with a 93/94% average, you should get in somewhere... no doubt in my mind! :up:

Good luck!!!!

marymoo24 · Feb 17, 2011

I've applied to the University of Ottawa, as well as to the university's collaborative program offered at Algonquin College. I can't move away because my husband has a very permanent and good job in Ottawa, and I have two children. Not sure how U of O compares to other schools, but I'm excited!!

Sugar-Phosphate · Feb 23, 2011

I have applied to Univeristy of the fraser valley for sept intake. I will know my may 6th whether I get in. I hope so, this is my second try.

studentnurse9 · Apr 3, 2011

I'm in the Ryerson program, 2010 entry. :)

studentnurse9 · Apr 3, 2011

By the way, be prepared... high school is like kindergarten in comparison to the program lol

TPay · Jun 14, 2011

I'm starting my journey in the BSN program at Vancouver Island University, in Sept......WOOT WOOT!!! so excited :)

danamoss · Jun 16, 2011

By the way, be prepared... high school is like kindergarten in comparison to the program lol

Hi Studentnurse9, may I ask you what makes the nursing soooooooo difficult? Is it the hectic schedule, papers, or just the courses are intense in overall? I'm starting the nursing program this fall ( Humber ) and I'm so scared..I don't have friends in the nursing program but I hear many stories and some even say..the program makes them cry..LOL. My first choice was Humber and got accepted with an 97% average. Like you mentioned, the program is nothing like high-school and I guess that scares me the most. I did well in prep courses and thought the level of difficultie was OK but I can't imagine anything 10X harder. I mean how difficult chemistry and bio can get? I studied really-really hard to get a good average but totally left out social life and slept very little. It looks like I won't be getting any sleep while in school not to mention having a life. I'm not sure if I will be able to handle all the stress. How do you keep up with the program? I wish you all the best and good luck with your studies!

studentnurse9 · Jun 19, 2011

Hi!

Are you taking the BScN or PN course? They are both difficult! REGULAR university degrees have only 4 classes per semester. The BScN program has 7 in the first semester and 6 in the second semester. In second year, I hear that its going to be 5 courses on top of 16 hours/week in the hospital. PN is even worse- they have 9 classes per semester. Anyways it isn't so much about the difficulty of the work (with the exception of anatomy) as the quantity. You have 3 hours for almost every class, multiplied by 6-7 depending on the semester. After all this class time you MUST study (aka do the readings) on your own time, otherwise you'll have no clue what they're talking about in your classes. (Do yourself a favour and do the readings BEFORE the class each week, you'll thank yourself at exam time lol) I've definitely seen people cry many, many times and am certainly guilty of it too haha. Its just very stressful, I wrote about 16-20 papers this year on top of 26 exams (midterms and finals for each semester) on top of about an hours worth of reading per week per class. In classes like assessment and practice (the "real" nursing classes, where you learn the skills) you'll have competency tests on top of all of this work, which means that you'll have to memorize 2 semesters worth of information and demonstrate what you know in 20 minutes for 15-30% of your mark lol. The purpose of these is to test whether or not you can be trusted with a patient in clinical, lol, but surprisingly a lot of people would have failed clinical if they hadn't been forced to memorize the information for the test, so they're helpful in the long run. All in all you will feel stressed and pushed beyond your limit, but you'll also make some amazing friendships and learn if its right for you by the end of the year. By second semester, our group of friends would go drinking after every test and assignment lol and when you get to clinical it will all be worth it. Clinical truly made me realize and appreciate why I wanted to do nursing in the first place, it was a great experience and I felt amazing to be helping my clients :) (by the way, in nursing school patients are called 'clients' haha). And the prep courses will probably help- I took AP courses in high school and have found that my writing skills are a lot better than many of my peers in some cases, so the extra work does pay off :). I know this is a realllllllyyyy long post but I'm going to finish it with a list of how myself and others survived:

- keep on top of assignments and due dates. it sounds simple but a lot of people failed simply because they procrastinated.

- the lessons go by chapters of the text in most cases. I would recommend buying the MAJOR texts (ie for assessment, anatomy, and practice) and reading at least the first half of each text BEFORE school starts, or during the first 2 weeks.

- The first 2-3 weeks are EASY. Don't let that fool you into slacking! Just stay on top of the readings, or do extra readings during those weeks.

- Buy a laptop. Seriously, unless you want your hand to fall off lol. Most people have one. It's also convenient because most of the profs will post the slides on WEBct the week before. Download these so that you can follow along during the lectures :)

-When you do the readings, take notes. This way you will have the CORE info that the prof is talking about, plus the details that they don't have time to cover.

- Make a study group. It sounds a bit lame, but a lot of us got by this year because we did the whole 'divide and conquer' thing.

- start studying for tests a minimum of 1 week ahead. You'll love yourself for it when you have an A!

Just work hard and you'll see the rewards when you get to clinical :)

Good Luck!

If this msg posts twice sorry- my original technically "solicits" selling textbooks and they've taken down my msgs for that before, lol.

studentnurse9 · Jun 19, 2011

Oh- and you're very lucky @ Humber. My clinical teacher taught there and she was the best teacher I've ever had :)

danamoss · Jun 20, 2011

Hi!
Are you taking the BScN or PN course? They are both difficult! REGULAR university degrees have only 4 classes per semester. The BScN program has 7 in the first semester and 6 in the second semester. In second year, I hear that its going to be 5 courses on top of 16 hours/week in the hospital. PN is even worse- they have 9 classes per semester. Anyways it isn't so much about the difficulty of the work (with the exception of anatomy) as the quantity. You have 3 hours for almost every class, multiplied by 6-7 depending on the semester. After all this class time you MUST study (aka do the readings) on your own time, otherwise you'll have no clue what they're talking about in your classes. (Do yourself a favour and do the readings BEFORE the class each week, you'll thank yourself at exam time lol) I've definitely seen people cry many, many times and am certainly guilty of it too haha. Its just very stressful, I wrote about 16-20 papers this year on top of 26 exams (midterms and finals for each semester) on top of about an hours worth of reading per week per class. In classes like assessment and practice (the "real" nursing classes, where you learn the skills) you'll have competency tests on top of all of this work, which means that you'll have to memorize 2 semesters worth of information and demonstrate what you know in 20 minutes for 15-30% of your mark lol. The purpose of these is to test whether or not you can be trusted with a patient in clinical, lol, but surprisingly a lot of people would have failed clinical if they hadn't been forced to memorize the information for the test, so they're helpful in the long run. All in all you will feel stressed and pushed beyond your limit, but you'll also make some amazing friendships and learn if its right for you by the end of the year. By second semester, our group of friends would go drinking after every test and assignment lol and when you get to clinical it will all be worth it. Clinical truly made me realize and appreciate why I wanted to do nursing in the first place, it was a great experience and I felt amazing to be helping my clients :) (by the way, in nursing school patients are called 'clients' haha). And the prep courses will probably help- I took AP courses in high school and have found that my writing skills are a lot better than many of my peers in some cases, so the extra work does pay off :). I know this is a realllllllyyyy long post but I'm going to finish it with a list of how myself and others survived:
- keep on top of assignments and due dates. it sounds simple but a lot of people failed simply because they procrastinated.
- the lessons go by chapters of the text in most cases. I would recommend buying the MAJOR texts (ie for assessment, anatomy, and practice) and reading at least the first half of each text BEFORE school starts, or during the first 2 weeks.
- The first 2-3 weeks are EASY. Don't let that fool you into slacking! Just stay on top of the readings, or do extra readings during those weeks.
- Buy a laptop. Seriously, unless you want your hand to fall off lol. Most people have one. It's also convenient because most of the profs will post the slides on WEBct the week before. Download these so that you can follow along during the lectures :)
-When you do the readings, take notes. This way you will have the CORE info that the prof is talking about, plus the details that they don't have time to cover.
- Make a study group. It sounds a bit lame, but a lot of us got by this year because we did the whole 'divide and conquer' thing.
- start studying for tests a minimum of 1 week ahead. You'll love yourself for it when you have an A!
Just work hard and you'll see the rewards when you get to clinical :)
Good Luck!
If this msg posts twice sorry- my original technically "solicits" selling textbooks and they've taken down my msgs for that before, lol.

Thanks Studentnurse9 for all the insight, certainly all the info is greatly appreciated and helps a lot understanding the pain nursing students go through. I started doing a lot of research about the program after I got my acceptance for the RN program and to be honest I'm expecting difficult times ahead (just being realistic). Im 100% sure you will make a great nurse. Your study plans are great and looks like you're extremly organized. Here we both have a match. You're right about studying for the exams ahead of time (at least one week before) and I'm used to doing that since this is what I have been doing for the past year or so while in school taking prep couses.

I think the prep courses will help me a lot, although all I studied was bio and chemistry but I have to say I love both subjects. (I know it's weird but I actually enjoyed chemistry) Time management is something that I'm used too. I was forced to learn how to divide my time to study and keep up with my family but I also had lot's of help.(talk about family support.... priceless). I tend to memorize a lot but I "dig" the subjects to the point where everyting must make sense. The amount of work-load you're describing is indeed overwhelming. Mid-terms and final exams are scarry on their own, never mind the 2 semester competency test and oh yes, the 20-26 papers you mentioned. How on earth can you come up with that many papers in such a short time? What scares me the most? PAPERS. Papers take me the longest. I can spend 8 hours writing an essay including research. (english is my second language) Putting the papers on the side, I think being positive is extremly important while in nursing school. Hang out with people that actually enjoy nursing school and you will learn to enjoy the program too.

I enjoyed reading your post and I will retain a copy of it and will follow your advice diligently. If I'm not asking too much, perhaps you could let me know which text books I should buy? Thank you again for your post! Loved it!

ontnursec · Jun 20, 2011

i took pre-health, and i'm accepted to mohawk-mcmaster! congrats to all of you! it was really tough to get into the mo-mac program, i finished pre-health semester one with 95.5% average, so i got in! now i'm just finishing pre-health through the summer, and attending b.s.c.n in the fall! i've already gone to the academic advisement meeting, and started all of my clearances. theres alot involved! good luck to all of you still waiting on a response from your program of choice!

and studentnurse9 thanks for your long post! great to hear some advice before we start :)