The University of British Columbia (UBC) BSN 2023 Entry

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Hi everybody, I thought I'd create a thread for those who are applying to the UBC BSN program for the 2023 application cycle. Please feel free to drop any questions and share your background/experiences! ?

SilviaGG said:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1399466594224061/

Hi Alena, that's the link to the facebook group ?

Awesome. Thank you! Looking forward to meeting everyone soon!

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Hey guys, just wanted to let those of you still on the waiting list that I was offered a seat in this years cohort. I was #85 on the list! A few days ago I sent out an email and was told that all people still on the waiting list will be informed when the waiting list closes for the year

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They sent out the email stating the wait list is now closed about a month ago. 

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Message for those who got in for September 2023's intake and are currently in the program...

I am curious about your weekly schedule for UBC's BSN program. How often and at what times do you typically have classes? Is it Monday-Friday (any days off)? When are clinicals and what are the hours like for those? Do you have clinicals/labs on weekends, or do you get these off? I'd love to get a better idea of what the courses and workload are like! 

Also, do any of you have part-time jobs while being in the program? Do you think it's possible to still work part-time or is the program too demanding to work on the side? 

Any help/experience would be greatly appreciated as I am planning on applying for the 2024 intake! 

Thank you and hope your 1st semester went well ? 

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@fewchabsn We had class Mon/Thurs 9 am to 4 pm every week this term and two 8-hour days of clinical per week (most started around 6:30 am, I think). The first few weeks were a bit different since we hadn't started clinical yet. Those weeks we had a few hours of lab on a couple days instead. For clinical, some people had Tues/Wed clinical and some had Sat/Sun clinical. We never had lab on weekends. They would rotate us out of clinical to do lab—those in the weekend group had their labs during the week and an extra day off on the weekends when they rotated out. A lot of the sequence of days off depended on what clinical days we had and how our labs played out. For me, I had clinical Tue/Wed and rotated out every other week on Wednesdays for lab, which ended up in getting 3-day weekends all the time. 

I haven't worked at all this term, but I know some people in the class have. The faculty have told us that this is the hardest term of the program and working other terms is easier, though it is possible in Term 1. 

Hope that helps! Feel free to ask if you have other questions. Best of luck in applying!! ?

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fewchabsn said:

Message for those who got in for September 2023's intake and are currently in the program...

I am curious about your weekly schedule for UBC's BSN program. How often and at what times do you typically have classes? Is it Monday-Friday (any days off)? When are clinicals and what are the hours like for those? Do you have clinicals/labs on weekends, or do you get these off? I'd love to get a better idea of what the courses and workload are like! 

Also, do any of you have part-time jobs while being in the program? Do you think it's possible to still work part-time or is the program too demanding to work on the side? 

Any help/experience would be greatly appreciated as I am planning on applying for the 2024 intake! 

Thank you and hope your 1st semester went well ? 

Scheduling: The program runs 5 days/week. Lectures are 2 days/week on Mon/Thurs from 9-4. Clinicals are 2 days/week from 6:30-3ish. It's rare but some placements alternate between AM and PM shifts. In term 1, clinicals are Tues/Wed and Sat/Sun. I was lucky with Tues/Wed so maintaining my family and social life outside nursing was easy, but most are weekends so be prepared to lose those. Labs and simulations (3h each) are scheduled based on clinical days, they run most weeks but not all. There is so much variability in schedules and days off. Some get Sat/Sun off but others get Tues/Wed, Tue/Fri Wed/Fri... It's random and it depends on how they place you.

Workload: It is pretty demanding and intense (as all nursing programs are) but it's fine if you have good time management skills and can balance school/personal/social life well. It's way heavier/stressful than my undergrad but I was used to keeping myself busy outside school so the adjustment wasn't terrible. Clinicals are exhausting because of its hands-on nature including running around and direct patient interaction/care. It also depends on how much you enjoy and how comfortable you feel with A+P. Pathophysiology is the foundation/backbone of everything we learn in all the sciencey courses while clinicals/nursing in general is a real-life application of it, so we rely on it heavily and need to understand it well to keep up. I'm not sure what your background is but I was in a health-related program and loved all my physiology prereqs so this made my transition bearable. Specialties are competitive so some ESN after term 3 or take BCIT courses if they are interested in a specific area. You should consider educational commitments outside school if you plan to specialize beyond med-surg (emerg, ICU, OR, mental health, mat/peds). Nursing school isn't financially friendly but having a job is possible if you have good time-management skills. Given that the program releases schedules last min and there's so much variety, it helps to have a flexible jobs that lets you pick up shifts casually.

Hope that answers your questions!

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fewchabsn said:

Message for those who got in for September 2023's intake and are currently in the program...

I am curious about your weekly schedule for UBC's BSN program. How often and at what times do you typically have classes? Is it Monday-Friday (any days off)? When are clinicals and what are the hours like for those? Do you have clinicals/labs on weekends, or do you get these off? I'd love to get a better idea of what the courses and workload are like! 

Also, do any of you have part-time jobs while being in the program? Do you think it's possible to still work part-time or is the program too demanding to work on the side? 

Any help/experience would be greatly appreciated as I am planning on applying for the 2024 intake! 

Thank you and hope your 1st semester went well ? 

Hi!  Like everyone else has mentioned, the classes were Monday and Thursday. My clinical placements were Sat/Sun (6:30 am - 2:30 pm), and I had labs every other Tuesday. So I would usually have 2-3 days off a week. 
 

For myself, I do have a part time job! I started working there way before I started the program so they are pretty understanding and let me work 1-2 days a week (typically on the days I had off). I know a lot of people who work part time or casually so they just pick up shifts after class or clinicals and have managed just fine. The program is front-loaded though, so September might feel a bit overwhelming with everything you have to complete and do but afterwards I would say the workload isn't too bad honestly. 
 

I found that I had a lot of free time and honestly a good amount of rest but that's just me. Everyone studies and learns differently - if you're currently doing or have completed an undergrad degree and managed that well then I think you will be fine for this program. For me, during my undergrad I would always do 5 courses/semester and burn myself out but so far Nursing has been much easier (although I guess having a biology degree helped ease me into it). 

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futureubcbsn said:

Hi everyone, I just wanted to provide a waitlist update! I received an offer yesterday at 1:45pm and I was #59. So excited to meet everybody in September and good luck to those who are still waiting ?

can you please share your stats? casper quartile and GPA, thanks!

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