UBC BSN September 2019 Applicants

Nursing Students School Programs

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Hi everybody! I haven't found an active discussion thread for September 2019 applicants to UBC's BSN program yet, so here is one!

Specializes in PACU.
8 minutes ago, Sabina Iqbal said:

Friends!

I'm leaning on your help to make a decision :( I got into UBC today (fantastic, my first choice, I'm ecstatic). Problem is, I've been leaning more towards humber-unb in the past few weeks. I could save money by living at home, have access to Toronto placements which is ideal, etc. My issue with coming to BC is the cost of living and the freedom to transfer my license to Ontario when I want to return. Does anybody have any feedback on this? It will hurt quite a bit to have to let this acceptance go :(

Hi Sabina! Congratulations on the acceptance!!

If finances are an issue for you (I’m in the same boat — I live at home in Vancouver with my family and generally can’t afford to leave the city so I only looked to in-province Nursing schools like UBC), I’d suggest that you should stay in Toronto. That way, you’re definitely free to practice Nursing without limitations/experience no issues with your license if you see yourself staying in Toronto long-term ?

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24 minutes ago, mb96 said:

I second this — I had a 3.83/4.33 GPA, while my healthcare experience was lacking (save for Nursing Home experience of two years), but I had volunteering and leadership experiences that extended beyond healthcare and focused on the self: on learning new things, on social change ie racism, on poverty (my background as a Filipino, with immigrant parents), on caring for my younger sister (with MHI) and on mental health and addictions within communities (I was a UBC AMS VICE Educational Outreach volunteer), which I think certainly strengthened my application alongside a passionate personal statement (I discussed my mother: living on her own in Vancouver after emigrating from the Philippines in 1980, she soon became a hardworking Resident Care Aide since 1990, then additionally became an RN in her 40s while raising me and my two sisters. She’s my role model, who thus inspired me to pursue Health Sciences at a young age). I knew that I wanted to help people in the most selfless and generous way I can/serve the community best through healthcare (and especially assist others to access healthcare equally and fairly).

Well-roundedness, personal meaning, and passion are a few of the things they look for!!

Hello,

This is my first time commenting here. Congrats on your acceptance!

I have a similar situation (immigrant single mom who came to Canada on her own and became an RCA to provide for my siblings and I). I didn’t focus on this and I really should have. My mom is my inspiration too and she’s the main reason why I want to purse a career in healthcare.

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Congrats again to everyone who got accepted. ?

I’d love to know more about your guys’ grades, supplemental application and CASPer prep! Please message me here if you don’t mind. I can’t seem to send messages yet. Thank you!

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17 minutes ago, Sabina Iqbal said:

Friends!

I'm leaning on your help to make a decision :( I got into UBC today (fantastic, my first choice, I'm ecstatic). Problem is, I've been leaning more towards humber-unb in the past few weeks. I could save money by living at home, have access to Toronto placements which is ideal, etc. My issue with coming to BC is the cost of living and the freedom to transfer my license to Ontario when I want to return. Does anybody have any feedback on this? It will hurt quite a bit to have to let this acceptance go :(

I’m sort of in the same boat. I currently reside in vancouver but i’m originally from toronto and have lots of fam there to live with BUT i do have to contemplate the licensing as well. I looked it up and to go from toronto to vancouver licensing i don’t think it’s that hard, but haven’t done extensive research yet. I would assume it’d be as hard/easy to go from bc to on.. let me know if you find any info on it lol. One thing that i think is a con for ubc is that placements can be anywhere in lower mainland... if you don’t have a car this may be difficult whereas in toronto they might be more accessible. I know for uoft there’s about 5 major hospitals within 10-15 mins walking distance of the school so that’s a huge pull for me.

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6 minutes ago, hihey27 said:

Congrats again to everyone who got accepted. ?

I’d love to know more about your guys’ grades, supplemental application and CASPer prep! Please message me here if you don’t mind. I can’t seem to send messages yet. Thank you!

Hey!

I had a 3.97/4.33 or a 3.87/4.0, which came to about 85% on my last 30 credits. I've been volunteering at a care home leading recreational activities for about ~5 years now + supplemented that experience with research in a lab (we analyzed videos of falls to determine preventative measures for older adults). Perhaps the biggest commitment of mine was with the Big Sisters of BC organization where I'm currently a mentor to a 'Little Sister'. I did do some research with Fraser Health and SFU on a study that evaluated the impact of exercise programs on kidney dialysis patients and their mental health. With all this being said, I think the most important thing is to highlight your passion and why you want to pursue nursing. I wrote about how my mom came from India and pursued nursing (and then became an ICU nurse) with two kids + balancing a full-time job.

In terms of CASPer, focus on a specific method of answering the questions-- I think I explained this in one of my earlier posts! Try to outline the problem, explore both sides (pros and cons), and explain your reasoning. I hope this helps a little bit!

Just a side note-- everyone on this forum is extremely qualified in their own different ways, so it's hard to say what UBC looks for.

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Specializes in PACU.
38 minutes ago, hihey27 said:

Hello,

This is my first time commenting here. Congrats on your acceptance!

I have a similar situation (immigrant single mom who came to Canada on her own and became an RCA to provide for my siblings and I). I didn’t focus on this and I really should have. My mom is my inspiration too and she’s the main reason why I want to purse a career in healthcare.

Aww ❤️ I’m so glad!! Our immigrant mothers truly are our inspirations, you know? They had to work extremely hard to find their place - their purpose - in a foreign country without any help! I also mentioned my mom’s language barrier as something other people looked down on her for, and she would prove them wrong by having such generous selfless and exemplary work ethic while, at the same time, standing up for her rights as an immigrant.

It’s okay!!! You always have a second chance to focus on the important things! I totally believe my supplemental represented my personal ideology of healthcare and Nursing as not just confined to a hospital and helping others, but an interconnected thing: personal drive + socioeconomic background and how they come together to make us better Nurses as we help others...to better sympathize with people - to a diverse public. It’s about letting them know they’re not alone!

(Also I love how I’m not the only one who described their immigrant mothers/parents in their applications! Amazing!!)

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Specializes in PACU.
10 minutes ago, sss29 said:

Hey!

I had a 3.97/4.33 or a 3.87/4.0, which came to about 85% on my last 30 credits. I've been volunteering at a care home leading recreational activities for about ~5 years now + supplemented that experience with research in a lab (we analyzed videos of falls to determine preventative measures for older adults). Perhaps the biggest commitment of mine was with the Big Sisters of BC organization where I'm currently a mentor to a 'Little Sister'. I did do some research with Fraser Health and SFU on a study that evaluated the impact of exercise programs on kidney dialysis patients and their mental health. With all this being said, I think the most important thing is to highlight your passion and why you want to pursue nursing. I wrote about how my mom came from India and pursued nursing (and then became an ICU nurse) with two kids + balancing a full-time job.

In terms of CASPer, focus on a specific method of answering the questions-- I think I explained this in one of my earlier posts! Try to outline the problem, explore both sides (pros and cons), and explain your reasoning. I hope this helps a little bit!

Just a side note-- everyone on this forum is extremely qualified in their own different ways, so it's hard to say what UBC looks for.

You had such a well-done broad supplemental and I’m not surprised you got accepted!

Also, SAME, YAY for your hardworking mom/parents from India! It’s really, really admirable.

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WOW Congratulations lovely people!!!!! Gosh I really hope I get in off the waitlist so I can be part of your cohort ? I feel like we’re already friends ?

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10 hours ago, caityj said:

Congratulations to everyone accepted. I received my email and I am number 1 on the waitlist. I am very pleased with my results as I was sure I would not be accepted compared to all the impressive applications everyone else seemed to have. I got a 4 for admission average, 3 for supplemental, and 1 for CASPer.

I applied with a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology and a certificate from SFU. My grades were not the best, I think about 3.3 GPA. I have volunteer experience from a nursing home helping those with Alzheimer's and dementia. I have various work experience: Tim Hortons, ECE assistant, warehouse prodction, accounting assistant, etc. I am not sure how they choose who is accepted or not, but it seems they really care about the CASPer results.

I also applied to BCIT and got into the top 15 waitlist. But UBC is my first choice. Very glad I will have the opportunity to go to UBC nursing!

Congratulations! You will definitely make it in ? I think your status proves that they really do value CASPer results above all else!

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6 hours ago, laurel1 said:

Hi everyone! I have been following this thread for a while and am posting for the first time! Congratulations to everyone that was accepted! I got on the reserve list and I was just wondering if anyone can tell me when the acceptance offers need to be accepted? ? thanks!!

Based on what i've read from the forums from the last 2 years, people were offered seats from the reserve list in the second/third week of June. These people claim that Ruxanna had advised them that admissions offers are sent out to reserve applicants shortly after June 15th (the deadline for accepting offers). Therefore, those of us still on the reserve list still have to play the waiting game ? However, I am still happy with my results, as I did better than I thought I was going to do!

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11 hours ago, ChantelleD said:

Thanks! And thanks for finding that. Do you know the date it was posted?

It was posted on June 21st!

Further, people on the reserve list in the mid-20's got admissions offers for the 2017 cohort on June 26th!

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6 hours ago, hihey27 said:

Congrats again to everyone who got accepted. ?

I’d love to know more about your guys’ grades, supplemental application and CASPer prep! Please message me here if you don’t mind. I can’t seem to send messages yet. Thank you!

Hello!

I am currently #7 on the waitlist. Although I didn't get an initial acceptance, i'll still provide my profile, as it might be of some help to those for future applications!

Grades, ranked #1: 3.95/4.33

Supplemental, ranked #1: Here is what I applied with: 5 years of paid healthcare experience, volunteer experience with seniors and children, experience living abroad in two countries, teaching experience, experience working in a regulated profession according to a code of ethics, a diploma, and two years of university credits from SFU and UBC. Instead of simply listing my experience, I provided specific details regarding my responsibilities, and stated what I had learned from these experiences. In my personal statement, I described what led me to pursue nursing, why it was important to me, how specific past experiences had led me to my decision, and what I wanted to do with my nursing education/as a nurse. Further, I included comments on why I specifically want to go to UBC to obtain my nursing education by providing examples of how UBC Nursing's values and objectives align with my own.

CASPer, ranked #3: Since I ranked quite high on the other two categories, it is clear that my CASPer results are what placed me on the reserve list rather than direct acceptance. I knew I didn't do well on this as I was taking the test, and after I completed it. I think I could have done more to prepare for this, such as doing more timed practice problems. I am not too down on myself for not doing well on this, however, as I know that with actual hands-on learning that I will obtain in nursing school, I will become better at making on-the-spot ethical decisions.

Lastly, I don't think it really matters if you have a completed Bachelor's degree or not. If you take a look at the education profiles of UBC BSN faculty and leadership, you will see that a lot of prominent members have UBC BSN as their first degree ? As long as you can prove that your work, volunteer, and/or life experiences have readily prepared you to handle an accelerated program, and a career in Nursing, you can be considered a competitive applicant!

Lastly lastly, I did get direct acceptance for BCIT for the Sep 2019 cohort, so it doesn't hurt to apply to as many programs as you can! For me, due to the prerequisites I had completed, I could only apply to UBC and BCIT (which were my main choices anyways).

Hope this helps, and good luck to future applicants (and those who are also on the waitlist!)

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