evankeys

Hello, I am a recent grad from a Canadian Nursing school and I would say that currently it is not difficult to transfer from Canada to the US. The current licencing exam is the NCLEX-RN which has been slightly modified from the US NCLEX-RN to have Canadian lab values. Otherwise the test is completely US based in terms for information. We, as Canadian nurses, often had to study additional information on the US Health-Care system in order to be prepared for the exam. However, that's only how it is right now. Unions are lobbying against the NCLEX-RN as it has proven difficult for students whose nursing schools prepared them for the CRNE (the licencing exam up until Dec 31, 2014). Whether you can transition back to the US without rewriting the NCLEX without the Canadian values is foreign to me. Bearing in mind that the US values were on the NCLEX and the Canadian ones were just add ons at the end of the question I think you should but they probably don't allow for it. However if you can pass the Canadian NCLEX-RN you can pass the US NCLEX-RN as they are virtually the same (right now). As for your GPA, I might suggest taking additional courses. Canadian universities are significantly more standardized than US ones. You have schools like Queen's, McGill, and U of T that are steeped in rich traditions due to their long histories, like say an Ivy League school. But postsecondary education is provincially standardized and therefore there are not huge education disparities like the difference between Harvard and the safety school of a student who is not academically strong in high school. Yes, Queen's will be one of the most difficult places to get in because of it's reputation but since education is standardized you're not going to necessarily get a better education there than you would at say McMaster or the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and it also creates an environment where everyone's acceptance average is around the same and there aren't huge disparities creating "safety schools". Also, the acceptance standards are quite high coming out of high school around 86-94% for most schools so I'm not sure what the standards are post grad but they would at least expect a 3.0-3.3 I would assume. Just because they say "Average is 3.0" they do not guarantee admission by any means even if you make the cut off. In summary, yes transitioning from Canada to the US is not a particularly difficult thing to do, but I might look to other states before just jumping up to the great white north especially if you're having trouble in California.

I personally have a car however Durham Region Transit is pretty well staffed, I can't foresee you being placed anywhere you couldn't get to. Also, as is standard with most universities/colleges, DRT is free. I didn't live directly on campus however had multiple friends who did. The most common places students live is south of the North Campus on streets such as Dalhousie and Niagara. However Varsity Properties have erected new buildings just across the street if you are looking for a room with a lower number of roommates. There are also the 'townhouses' behind the school but as a forewarning they have a reputation for being a bit of party central. I never heard of anyone not finding housing who was interested in living close to campus!

Hello, you may have already chosen however I thought I might be able to provide some insight as I am a 2015 grad of the BScN program at UOIT and wrote the NCLEX as well. I did the 4 year RN program however I believe most of the things that I say will resonate regardless. I found that the professors at UOIT were phenomenal. They constantly provided help when needed, were truly interested in student success and provided a great learning experience overall. UOIT has partnerships with every hospital in Durham Region, East of Durham, and North of Durham so they can provide almost all students with worthwhile clinical experiences at every step of the way. UOIT also has partnerships with almost every Toronto Hospital (with the exception of St. Michael's which partners only with UofT) and so if you're interested in working downtown that's not a problem either. As for the NCLEX. The pass rates of schools fluctuate every year. You often see changes in years when zero faculty/curriculum changes have been made so take them with a grain of salt. School is 'in theory' meant to prepare you for the NCLEX but in actuality it's not. School is meant to prepare you for the clinical environment. Universities are incredibly invested in maintaining their professional relationships with surrounding organizations so they focus on pumping out the best 'clinical' students as possible in order to maintain their reputation. It's more beneficial for them to maintain those relationships then have a few students read the NCLEX pass rates and say 'Meh not good enough for me'. Your success on the NCLEX is solely based on how well you prepare. No student who graduates from any school on a Monday is qualified to write the NCLEX on Tuesday, it takes months of personal studying, dedication, and hard work. Your degree from Mac or Ryerson or whatever does not write your NCLEX for you, you do. So when looking at schools take a long look at the student experience you gain from them rather than 'Well Mac had a 92% pass rate when Ryerson only had an 88%*' (*those values are made up to prove a point.) Because whether or not you pass the NCLEX is based in you and you alone. Jumping back to my original point! I honestly think UOIT Nursing is excellent and anyone would be lucky to go there! Hope this helped! Cheers!

This may be late for you now but I have done recruitment for the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) for the past few years and can attest that our BScN acceptance average is in the mid to high 80s (85-88) as of 2016.