RN school wait lists in BC

[TNDoherty]

First off, hello everyone. I'm new to the forum and stumbled on it while spending hours trying to research my alternatives.

I'm in Vancouver, BC (permanent resident) planning to go for my RN. I'm a mature student with 19 credit hours from a US university, but most of those credits are liberal arts, so I'm not sure what will really count except for the math and English. I know I'll have to take the A&Ps and Psychs- biology was much more than 5 years ago, but I did make an A! lol

When I first started looking, I found that VCC has a relatively new RN BSN program and I spoke to the academic advisers who told me that there was no wait list. I got approved for my student loan, requested all my transcripts and registered as a student. Today (only a week later) I spoke with a different adviser who informed me that not only is there a wait list, but that there are 49 students on it and that they will only be taking 24. VCC only has a fall intake so she told me that if I'm "lucky" I could get in the class of 2012 but likely 2013! ack. I suppose the only positive there is that they are a first come, first serve school so I will eventually move up the list for sure.

In the meantime, the adviser suggested I apply to multiple schools in the Lower Mainland, and choose one to attend for prerequisites while biding my time, hoping for one of them to eventually send me an acceptance. I'm sure many of you are in the same boat. I applied to Douglas and will probably actually attend there because it is much closer to home than VCC, plus they do two intakes per year so that's a plus. Will anyone be attending the Douglas psych or A&P for summer 2011? Would be nice to know someone going in.

So I guess the purpose of my post is to first make contact with anyone else currently waiting out their time, and also to compare any up-to-date info you have on wait lists. As far as Douglas' preferential placement goes, with a max number of points at 14, what is a "good" number of points to have to be competitive? I'm thinking I will have around 8. >

Thanks for reading!

[wanna-be]

UFV is doing interviews up to the 31th. They interviewed approx 80 applicants for the 32 from a pool of about 150. From the last time around (for me), my status on line was still pending even once I got my letter of acceptance. I have a meeting tomorrow after class (NOT for this intake) and will hopefully have some more answers then.

[babywhisperer333, BSN]

If anyone is interested in fee deferral info for BCIT, I will be going tomorrow to see if this is even an option for us. Technically we have more than 60 days before our start date, so it should be allowed... I will let you guys know what info I find out.

[holakarly]

Smiley, I spoke with J******* and she said in order to secure your seat you must pay the full tuition. My student loan doesn't kick in until the start date of class so I pulled a million strings and got someone to put it on their credit card for me. Total mess but I was under the impressed we had to pay immediately :S. Please let me know how this works out for you!! Also, will you be going to the scrub sale before the info session??

[babywhisperer333, BSN]

I am for sure...there is also an awesome scrub store on broadway that I will be hitting up after Christmas :)

[invictus, BSN]

thanks miss thang i found it. Under my application statues it says "ready for review by department" which i find odd because i already had a inteview....do you know why that it? also plz let me know if you find out anything when you phone ufv tomorrow. Thnx :)

[boyish]

I paid BCIT with a credit card as well. From my past experience in another school, they usually let you defer tution payments until your loan money is available. Since it is the first term though they will probably make you pay at least the commitment fee to reserve a seat.

invictus, "ready for review" basically means the admissions committee hasn't made a decision yet. That's what it says for me too. UFV is supposed to let us know by Nov 4.

[holakarly]

Can you just get whatever scrubs you want?

[babywhisperer333, BSN]

I read on another forum that there are no prints allowed. solid colours only. Plus whichever hospital we are placed at will have their own requirements so don't spend TOO much....

I went in and paid my commitment fee today, 200 bucks. I talked to financial aid and was able to submit a fee deferral request no problem. She said as long as they can prove that I have been approved for a student loan, there shouldn't be a problem. Still nervous though b/c you said you talked to ******** and she said we couldn't. I will know in a couple of days anyhow. I went to health services too to talk about my immunization history etc... They gave me a referral to get my mumps updated (since I'm over 25) and to test for Hep B immunity.

I also stopped by the "gear" store and got myself a hoodie, t-shirt, and a lighter zip up...some nice stuff in there!

I'm off to do my 25th (and final) hike up the grind for BC Children's hospital.

Happy Halloween Everyone :)

[holakarly]

Okay thanks! I got some scrubs already that have printed tops, breast cancer ribbons, but I got them because they're so much cheaper in the states. Oh well, I can use the bottoms! They're cute for another time lol. I wouldn't worry if you've been told it's fine for the deferral, I told her I could find the money so she probably just preferred that. I'm going to get all my stuff in order when I get home, kind of hard to do it from here. Would love to stay on vacation but this whole acceptance thing has made it exciting to come home and get ready too! Do you have WHMIS?

[babywhisperer333, BSN]

She told me it was all good :) it should be processed today :). I am going to register for WHIMIS online this week! I also have to get those shots...Off to volunteer at Children's.

[kelseyyyy]

Hello!

I've been reading all of your posts, but finally have decided to post myself.

One of the attachments I got when I was notified that I was shortlisted for the Jan 2012 intake at BCIT mentioned WHMIS. It says that it is online, but that "it is specific to working in the health units and previous WHMIS you may have completed will not apply".... so I wouldn't register for WHMIS online until we get more information.

And about the scrubs. This is the policy guide:

http://www.bcit.ca/files/health/nursing/pdf/bsn_guidelines_policies_procedures_3.pdf

and it talks about uniforms on page 5.

[boyish]

smiley did you get the shots at the BCIT health clinic? Is the immunization review supposed to be done at BCIT or can we do it with any doctor?