I am currently a third year York University student hoping to apply for second entry nursing at York
only next year (yes I am going through the strike).
Since applications open in November, I thought it would be best to get this forum started. I am hoping to get more insight into the program and I hope current and past nursing students would share their views on the program and how job searching went. Also, what nursing specialties do most York nursing graduates enter as I am hoping to get into public health. Furthermore, share your insights on Humber, McMaster, U of T, Trent, Queens, Western, Ottawa and Nippissing. (I think that is all) and don't forget to include your acceptance GPAs.
I talked to someone i went to uni with for my first degree who is graduating from uoft nursing this june. She said she LOVES the program, placements are amazing (hospitals are 5-10 min walking distance from the uni), a lot of nurses regard uoft students highly (what she said). Maternity and geriatrics each 6 weeks in first term, winter term is medical surgery, pediatrics, and mental health. style of teaching i think is a variety of things but a lot of papers (she said 20 over the course of the program, but the longest one she’s ever written was 10 pages and was this past semester or year) and most are more like 3-4 pages. She said it’s more theory based where you read journal articles and discuss in class, seminar style. Asked her about grades cause i want to keep a masters open as an option as well, she said her class average is around an a- (80-84) but you can def achieve 90s if you work really hard. I also asked her about overlapping between our past degrees and this program (i took health studies at waterloo, she took public health and both are very similar) and she did say there was a lot of overlap (e.g. social determinants of health). I prob took at least one course that related to that in all my semesters at waterloo throughout that degree lol. Also asked about job prospects and she says that she thinks they’re very high (see above notes on placements lol) but i also want to move back to vancouver (i moved here from toronto recently) and so i’m not sure what to do if i get accepted to ubc! After my conversation with her i’ve been leaning towards upft (over mcmaster). She loves the program and speaks incredibly high of it, the faculty, as well as her classmates. Though, i will be chatting with someone i know from uw tonight who is in the mcmaster program right now! So we shall see haha. I hope this helps!
Hey JayKayAay, thank you for the information! Do you mind sharing about what the McMaster student thinks of the program after you have chatted tonight? I'm especially wondering what they think of the PBL style of teaching.
I'm a first-year in U of T's program so I can't speak to McMaster's but I don't think you'll be at a disadvantage choosing either program! I can tell you that for my first-year class the grade averages for the 3 courses in first semester were A-, B+ and B+. There are quite a few essays - about 7 in first year - so if that's not your strong suit that would be another factor to consider. There are free appointments you can make at the university with writing instructors that are there specifically for the nursing program and its assignments so that's a resource you could take advantage of if you choose. That being said, it is still possible to do well! Personally I've maintained a 4.0 GPA (all grades 85%+) so choosing U of T doesn't necessarily mean you won't be able to attain a high GPA ? It depends on each person and how well they're able formulate their assignments and apply the course material on exams. Toronto has lots of amazing placement opportunities at major hospitals which is great but I've heard good things about McMaster's placements and program as well. Even if they aren't at the 'big city' hospitals, it'll ultimately come down to what you make of it either way!
Also, Toronto rent is very expensive so that could play a big factor if you're able to live at home and save $$$.
Let me know if you have any specific questions about U of T's program or placements and I'd be happy to share what I know ?
Hiya! Just wondering if you could tell us you're favourite part and your least favourite part of the nursing program at U of T?? Thank you ?
Hey @coffeeboi and @danaryn, just wondering how you guys chose U of T's program over the other ones?
Also with regards to placement, are you guaranteed a pediatric and mental health clinical?
How do they choose who gets what placement at U of T?
Finally, where is the farthest place that one of your classmates had to travel to for a placement?
With regards to student life is there an athletic facility that is close to the campus and does the tuition include public transit?
Thank you for responding to the questions!
I chose UofT just because it's the school I did my undergrad haha, so uoft just has a special place in my heart (cheesy sorry).
Also with regards to placement, are you guaranteed a pediatric and mental health clinical? Yes! You are guaranteed a medsurg, ped, mental health, geriatrics, and postpartum in your first year of nursing. You do each other these rotations for approx 7 weeks each and have an associated course and exam for each rotation ? The class is split up to do each rotation. How do they choose who gets what placement at U of T? They choose the placement based on the address and commute method you submit in the beginning of the year. There will be a form to fill out and i will be emailed to you later
Finally, where is the farthest place that one of your classmates had to travel to for a placement? They try their best to place you somewhere where it will take an hour or less. The furthest I've commuted was approx 1 hour which is the downtown hospitals right by uoft!
With regards to student life is there an athletic facility that is close to the campus and does the tuition include public Yes there are 2 gyms that I know of... I think theres more but you can check the uoft website for athletic details ? not sure what you mean by public but your tuition includes access to all uoft facilities and services!
hey @danaryn? I will be going to uoft in the fall, I was wondering if there are any courses you would recommend I study before the first day of classes.
thanks!!!
Hi @pawwlla! I'm not entirely sure what you mean by courses to study before the first day of classes. Do you mean different summer courses or just studying the nursing courses before class starts? Either way, I don't think you need to prepare too much as the courses will cover everything you need to know ? The first three courses you'll take will be a course that covers assessment skills, therapeutic skills (wound care, injections, etc) and relational work, a course that covers the theories and profession of nursing and either a geriatric care or maternal/newborn care course. You can research some of that in advance if you want but I don't think there's too much preparation required!
Sorry if that was unhelpful and let me know if I misunderstood your question lol
I'd say my least favourite part would be that there are a fair number of assignments/essays as personally I prefer taking exams. That being said, it's still manageable! I've loved the program thus far and don't have too many bad things to say about it.
My favourite part is probably having such diverse placements at great hospitals! It definitely helps you decide what kind of nursing you want to go into and I've loved the experiences I've had so far; everything from bathing newborns, watching births, helping with rehab care, observing ECT, giving injections, doing complicated wound dressings, watching angiograms and even spending a day in a Neuro ICU! There's definitely lots to observe and lots of different aspects and types of care to participate it ?
Hey @coffeeboi and @danaryn, just wondering how you guys chose U of T's program over the other ones?
Also with regards to placement, are you guaranteed a pediatric and mental health clinical?
How do they choose who gets what placement at U of T?
Finally, where is the farthest place that one of your classmates had to travel to for a placement?
With regards to student life is there an athletic facility that is close to the campus and does the tuition include public transit?
Thank you for responding to the questions!
Hi @chloe235! coffeeboi answered most of these but I'll throw in my two cents lol
I chose U of T in part because it would work out better personally for me and I wanted to move to the city, but mostly because of the good placement opportunities and the fact it's regarded as the 2nd best nursing school in world. I thought it would provide great experiences and so far, it has! ?
Yes, you're guaranteed pediatrics and mental health placements; those two in particular are in second semester, so any period from January-June.
They take into account your address, commute time/method when deciding. Further on, they also take into account how far you've had to travel in past placements and try to make it as fair as possible to give equal opportunities to everybody at downtown hospitals.
The placement I finished today was about 15 min away from me, however my next one will be closer to 70 minutes away from me (the furthest I've had to travel so far). Aside from two placements ~1 hr away, the other three have been around ~30 min or less.
Public transit isn't included unfortunately; a student TTC pass costs $122.45 per month ? BikeShare is something you could look into for the warmer months if you're further than walking distance from classes and are hoping to reduce commute costs
Hey JayKayAay, thank you for the information! Do you mind sharing about what the McMaster student thinks of the program after you have chatted tonight? I'm especially wondering what they think of the PBL style of teaching.
@JayKayAay Thank you for providing that information about U of T, it's very very helpful! Please do share when you hear from your friend about the McMaster program! ?
the registrar lady told me no and a current uoft student (@coffeeboi) because we are internal applicants and they have access to acorn, like how we didn't have to submit our transcripts when we first applied ?
Okay great so they’ll just receive it automatically then! And just double checking for the FINAL transcripts (so not the ones they used for our application), they’ll only look at cr/ncr marks if we’re taking LESS than 4.0 credits for the entire school year (this year) including this semester right? ?
chloe235
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Hey JayKayAay, thank you for the information! Do you mind sharing about what the McMaster student thinks of the program after you have chatted tonight? I'm especially wondering what they think of the PBL style of teaching.