Ontario- HOAE results? 'Normalized' score?

poko, BSN, RN · Jul 25, 2012

@Starfish- wow end of September? I'm not going to make it!!!!!!!!! The waiting game begins.

@Vintageandrea- just noticed your CPR comment. IF you didn't know, you can take CPR HCP with SFA at Mac through EFRT. I Just took mine last weekend. EFRT - First Aid & CPR Courses

Also St John's has it (at a higher cost).

vintage_RN, BSN, RN · Jul 25, 2012

Im going to call them and see if doing it so late will affect me any. Ive already paid Mohawk for it so I dont really want to go through the refund process. I have my mask fit test on the 30th of July.

tissy2012 · Jul 26, 2012

I Just finished the HOAE test at Mohawk on July 19th. Ive already received my test scores back, and seeing what 'starfish' has, I'm now quite concerned. I have a 90% average in all my courses, and I took the pre-health program at Mohawk. In my opinion the HOAE is unfair. EVERYONE has a different way of learning and doing things. I personally, take my time. I like to make sure Ive done things correctly. wouldn't that be important in Nursing? so of course, I took my time on the HOAE test, and I did get all the questions correct, BUT, I didn't answer all the questions. Its wonderful that there are those who can fly through tests or material quickly and do a great job, but it should be equally fair that there are those of us who take our time and equally do a great job.

my test scores were:

Academic Aptitude- 23

Natural Sciences- 20

reading comprehension-16

Spelling-26

Vocational-57

YIKES!!

So I'll be lucky if I get in with those scores, despite my marks I worked so hard for. I've applied for January intake, so this will be quite the nerve racking wait.

poko, BSN, RN · Jul 26, 2012

Tissy- Don't get too down about it, the test was really long and many of the questions were difficult and seemed to test on such random knowledge. Do they rank just on the raw scores or does they look at the timing component as well?

I am waiting to see about January as well right now!

Good luck to you, I hope you get in!

vintage_RN, BSN, RN · Jul 27, 2012

The base your admission 50% weighted on school marks and 50% on the test scores. I had an 80% average in pre health when I did it 2 years ago, and an 80% average on the test and I got in for Septemeber. I just calculated your scores for an overall average of 46%. There are normally many applicants so it is very competitive unfortunately.

Personally for me, I applied to this program for 4 years in a row and was rejected on marks alone....I didnt get in until they changed the admission to include this test....so it worked out for me.

Good luck to you.

starfish33 · Jul 27, 2012

Hi again, everyone!

@vintageandrea: Second semester is a blast, and going by REALLY quickly! I had an awful time with all the doctor's visits too, and going through the song and dance with Paramed- if you have any specific questions, I'm happy to help. Just use the checklist of the items you need to keep yourself on track!

@Poko: the waiting is truly awful, there's no escaping it! But- bear in mind, last year there was the strike at the colleges, so our acceptances may have gone out later than usual. So stay cool... hopefully you won't have to wait as long as we did!

@tissy2012: Please, don't go by what I scored- I am extremely fortunate to be very comfortable with that style of testing, and I believe my grade was probably among the highest of those tested for that intake. I don't mean that to sound at all conceited, but I mention it because I know for sure there were lots of people who didn't score those numbers and still got in. That said, I do believe the test is timed for a reason. I 100% agree with you, that doing things correctly is essential in nursing. Mistakes can be fatal. But having been in the clinical setting now for a few months- I also know that I have to do things correctly, AND quickly. If I were to spend minutes calculating and re-calculating all of my patients' medication dosages, I would get behind, and then medications wouldn't be administered when they were ordered to be administered. The school is looking for people who can do both things- be quick, but not careless. Be thorough, but not waste time when there are patients waiting for help from a nurse. When we are writing exams at school, we generally have 50 multiple choice questions to answer in 1 hour. They are ALWAYS timed, and if you don't finish- you don't get the marks. No exceptions. So, it sounds harsh, but there is definitely a reason for the way the admissions process works for this program.

I wish all of you the best of luck! It's very hard work, but so rewarding. I'm just a note away if anyone needs help!

~starfish~

poko, BSN, RN · Oct 15, 2012

Well in happy news I got accepted into the program for Jan 2013! Woohoo! I'm so thrilled to be accepted! I am under the impression that Mohawk is a difficult school to get into for nursing so I feel proud right now for accomplishing this!

Thanks VintageAndrea and Star Fish for your tips thus far. Maybe we'll get to meet once I start the program in January. You're definately right about getting started early on the Paramed stuff! It's quite the list.

On a different note, any idea how many students get accepted each year? What is the age range of the students? Do you find there are more mature students or is the program mostly comprised of students who are right out of high school?

Did any of you apply for course exemptions? How difficult was that process? And also I received a letter indicating I had to sign up for an "Assessment for Success" but then I also read somewhere that RPN students are exempt from this?

Question about Mask Fit testing- I looked on the Mohawk CE site to see when the Mask Fit testing courses are offered but it seems like the college only has dates listed up until September. Any idea if there will be more dates in the future to do the testing through Mohawk? If not, do you know where else one can obtain the testing?

Also can anyone shed some light on the booklist for term 1? I looked on the Titles website and it seems like you buy a package of required books?

So many questions, and I'm so all over the place right now!! I'm sure you can relate.

Thanks again for taking the time to shed some light for newbies like me! :) :)

Have a great day!

relaxingbath · Oct 15, 2012

poko said:
On a different note, any idea how many students get accepted each year? What is the age range of the students? Do you find there are more mature students or is the program mostly comprised of students who are right out of high school?
Did any of you apply for course exemptions? How difficult was that process? And also I received a letter indicating I had to sign up for an "Assessment for Success" but then I also read somewhere that RPN students are exempt from this?
Question about Mask Fit testing- I looked on the Mohawk CE site to see when the Mask Fit testing courses are offered but it seems like the college only has dates listed up until September. Any idea if there will be more dates in the future to do the testing through Mohawk? If not, do you know where else one can obtain the testing?
Also can anyone shed some light on the booklist for term 1? I looked on the Titles website and it seems like you buy a package of required books?
So many questions, and I'm so all over the place right now!! I'm sure you can relate.
Thanks again for taking the time to shed some light for newbies like me! ? ?
Have a great day!

Hi Poko, I've also accepted a place a Mohawk to do the accelerated RPN course starting January 2013. Not sure how many get accepted each year but I'll be one of the mature students at the ripe old age of 33.

I've not looked into course exemptions with Mohawk but in a conversation I had with Conestoga it can affect you getting into the McMaster RN bridging program, not sure how much truth there is in this but I'm planning on doing all the courses anyway. I have received the yellow sheet mentioning doing the assessment for success, I've not read anywhere that RPN students were exempt from doing this. I've not yet received any list for the paramed when did yours arrive?

I managed to find a book list from the September intake but have heard that they sometimes changed the editions and the book list won't be available to us until 10days or so before the course starts this I'm guessing is to encourage us to use the college book shop.

Soo much to organise and still a lot that I need to find out about.

poko, BSN, RN · Oct 15, 2012

Congrats on your acceptance! I am a newbie myself but I will share what I know so far! I am also a mature student (28 years old) and this is my second time around doing school.

For all of the PrePlacement requirements, you can go here: ParaMed - Mohawk College

Also this link has everything you need prior to placement, and also contains a handy check list: http://www.mohawkcollege.ca/Assets/Student+Services/Pre-Placement/HealthForms/HF-PN.pdf

I found the checklist to be quite useful since you'll be doing many of these requirements in bits and pieces.

There's a lot of info, but basically Paramed is the organization that collects all your pre-placement data/ documentation and processes it so you can go on with your clinicals (which being in term one).

You will need CPR (HCP) and SFA, Mask Fitting, Health Screening Police Checks, and a few online E-learn courses on WHMIS, Disabilities Act, Fire Safety and workplace harassment. The E-learn courses can be accessed through your Mocomo site (mocomo.mohawkcollege.ca). If you haven't signed up for a Mocomo account yet, do that first. From there you can complete the online courses.

What I would suggest, is to go and get your Police Check done now to get it out of the way. I just went to submit mine on Friday. If you are from Hamilton you can go to the Hamilton Central Station on King William. They are open until 6 pm each day, M-F. The form can be printed from the Hamilton Police Service website- make sure you select the Vulnerable Sector form. The student cost is $25. Also if you go to the IAHS 2nd floor, you can get a cover letter to submit to the police station which outlines that you are a student and you require the police check for your clinicals.

Also if you haven't started the Health Screening form, I would do that as well, as 2-step TB testing can take up to 2 weeks as you have to visit your doctor multiple times. ALso if your immunizations are not up to date you'll want to get started on those as well, and also if they need to do any blood work to determine immunity to certain diseases (Hep B, measles etc...)

Good luck with everything and hopefully we can keep in touch on here and share what we've learned so far... and connect with current students who can continue to show us the ropes :)

Cheers

Poko

vintage_RN, BSN, RN · Oct 16, 2012

Double post

vintage_RN, BSN, RN · Oct 16, 2012

Hi! Ok, so in my classes most of the students are over 21 with quite a few in their late 20s and early 30s. There are only a handful right out of highschool. I was exempt from Communications because Ihad taken it in PreHealth...if you go on MocoMotion and find the place where it says request exemption (it should be under student academics tab) you can apply for one. If you have already taken the equivalent course then it will tell you that when you try to apply for the exemption. Umm as for the mask fit I did mine at Mohawk so im not sure what other agencies do it...I actually think Paramed does it...just google it and I'm sure you'll find what you need. And books...this semester they implemented the new program like I mentioned with e books that come in a bundle. Don't buy any books until after orientation. I bought a hard copy of the Fundamentals and found out when class started that it came in the bundle, although I do find the hard copy useful sometimes. If you go on the McMaster Titles bookstore website you can find the booklist for my class that just started...I have only bought the bundle out of that huge list of books so far and been just fine. Fundamentals is essential though...you use it for almost every class and throughout the program. Also just a little tidbit of info that we found out today that may be of interest...in this program they teach us how to maintain an iv line and how to discontinue it. We are not taught to start it...rpns can do this depending on the facility policy..you will need to take an additional course on iv therapy to learn to start one...although many facilities provide in house training for their employees on this. Same as above for drawing and hanging blood. I don't really understand why they don't teach it and was a little surprised...so just thought id let you know. Let me know if you have any questions!

angelxo3 · Oct 24, 2012

Hey guys, I don't know if anyone will be replying to me or not, but I was just wondering how everyone's experiences went during the HOAE testing? I dont know anyone that has done this program and I have to write this exam next week. Im scared as hell lol and I have been trying to study non stop especially science. I'm pretty good at math and the language/spelling stuff not too bad at all. I dont want to end up failing and having to wait a whole year to write it again. If i do fail, most likely I'd just go for another program because nursing might not be for me after all? :\ Im already panicking just thinking about it. I was told by some people that apparently the test wasnt hard, however they apparently winged it.. and obviously im not willing to do that, when i have to do good on it.. plus i am paying a fee!!