UBC Nursing - Sep. 2012

BABYGIRLLL · Oct 26, 2011

i went to the info night, it's 120.

sunship88 , thanks for the info! it's a bit saddening to know the average age

is 27... i hope if we are given the opportunity to attend the interviews, they won't discriminate against the younger applicants...

sunship88 · Oct 27, 2011

Yes it's 120, and don't be discouraged, there are still younger people without prior degrees who get accepted. The interview is a great opportunity to demonstrate your previous knowledge/experiences, plus tell them why you would make a great nurse. And at the interview stage, GPA and the supplemental application no longer matter...it's all about the interview! Good luck everyone :)

Also I realized I made an error in my earlier post...they consider your GPA of last combined 30 credits up to Dec 2011, not 2012 (duh!)

Luckyy7 · Oct 27, 2011

Hi everyone I'm also planning to apply for nursing in 2012, I'm just finishing up my undergrad at University of Toronto but I've ALWAYS wanted to go to UBC since I was in high school, I just never got the chance since my parents thought I was too young to leave the nest back then. And now I don't know what to do with my BSc so why not try for nursing rite? =)

Honestly I don't think my prospects are great for getting in, the equivalent of the last 30 credits here at UofT means the last 10 courses and my gpa average is only going to be around 77 by December, hopefully I can pull it up higher by then =( I've also been reading a lot of the previous application threads, and everyone has amazing volunteer activities, I'm only currently volunteering at a nursing home and doing a lot of work for my church so I don't know if I should try to add some more extracurriculars starting now.

Some things I'm confused about though, in the FAQ section they ask for final transcripts by June 15th in 2012, but if they've already given out all the offers in May why do we still need to send in our winter term transcripts?

Also, is anyone planning to apply to Okanagan? They don't require an interview which is easier for me since I'm in Ontario, but I don't know anything about the campus or the program over there, from google maps it looks like its basically in the middle of nowhere lol. A fellow UofTer mentioned in this thread that they've applied to BCIT but someone told me in another thread that they don't accept out-of-province students, although I wanted to apply too =( Good luck to everyone applying!

teeheeuhoh · Oct 27, 2011

They need your final transcripts again to see what grades you've gotten but most importantly for people still doing their pre-requisites during the year that they apply, to see if people successfully finished their pre-reqs. Otherwise I'm pretty sure you lose your spot if you end up failing a pre-req course.

Luckyy7 · Oct 27, 2011

Oh okay that makes sense. Another thing I just thought of, the site doesnt mention course load requirement anywhere but I'm wondering if they'll take that into account. I'm taking 4 courses atm but I'm planning to drop one since I did poorly on the midterm =( So I'll be down to 3 courses this semester which gives me time to take on more extracurricular commitments but as sunship88 mentioned they are looking for students who can handle the heavy workload so I'm wondering if this will dock points off me

teeheeuhoh · Oct 27, 2011

They didn't specifically say but I don't think they really care. As long as you have enough credits to be looked at and they look at your grade in the last 30 credits.

However, just know that the course load for nursing is quite heavy. I've been hearing it's around 40 hrs a week spent on classes and homework, not counting clinicals.

Luckyy7 · Oct 30, 2011

Hey I'm having problems with applying to both nursing programs at Vancouver and Okanagan on the Student Service Centre form, I'm trying to select Vancouver as my first choice but when I get to my second choice, nursing at Okanagan isn't available. Switching the order (Okanagan first and Vancouver second) works but it says if I'm accepted to my first choice they won't consider my second one. Anyone else applying to both programs having this problem?

adagiogirl · Nov 26, 2011

Welcome to UBC Nursing! =) I'm currently in the program and it actually hasn't been too bad. It's not as stressful as some people make it out to be but of course, this depends on your studying habits, etc. But you can totally still have a life!

teeheeuhoh - The course load varies from term to term. Generally around 30-35 credits per term. September is all class except for labs either once or twice a week. Clinicals start in October (2x a week). A typical week has 12 hours of class, 16 hours of clinical, and 2 hours of lab. As for homework, there really isn't that much. There are some online modules they expect you to complete but will give you time off class in order to do so. We've only had about 4-5 assignments so far and they are easily doable within a couple of hours (all group-work so far).

Luckyy7 - they don't care what your course load was. The only thing they care about is the average GPA of your most recent 30 credits. Also, they still request final transcripts because even if you were offered a place, this is conditional on you completing the prerequisites and maintaining that average. If you do not complete the prerequisites, you will not be admitted into the program and your spot goes to someone else.

The GPA to get in isn't as high as some people make it out to be. I was accepted and my GPA was only around 75% or so. If you have a really strong supplemental, this will make up for it. And having a lower average does not at all disadvantage you in the program. As long as you work hard, you will do just fine. My current average in the program is much higher than the one I was admitted with.

I'll try to stop by every once in a while to answer questions if you guys have more.

mtyc · Dec 9, 2011

Hey everyone!

I've been on this site a few times as of the past year but I just registered and am currently following this thread because I'm aiming to get in UBC nursing for September 2012!

So far I've only applied to UBC nursing but I haven't done the supplemental application yet. As far as I know, the last date to do so it January 30th 2012, am I right?

Also, I've read previous posts about UBC only considering the most recent 30 credits counting from December 2011. So does that mean as long as I finish all my prequisites this semester then the courses that I'll be taking in January-April 2012 won't account for my gpa?

Because I still need the credits of the courses that I'm taking next semester to complete the "48 transferable credit requirement"...

Thanks in advance to anyone that can answer my questions!

Luckyy7 · Dec 14, 2011

So I just had an exam today that I'm feeling pretty deflated about now.. I figure even if I do extremely well on my last couple of exams I'll only end up with about a 75-76 average over my last 10 classes. Of course I'm not going to give up since I've never wanted anything so badly, but at the same time I haven't started my supplementals yet either since I've just been putting it off because I think they're nothing special just feeling really hopeless atm ugh

hyoangel · Jan 20, 2012

Hello Adagiogirl,

I am currently applying for the september 2012 intake and I am spending so much time trying to decide who to ask for references. They ask us to provide two people to give a positive recommendation for me, and I can not decide who to ask. Do you think it is alright to ask my highschool music teacher and my volunteer coordinator? My highschool music teacher has known me for 5 years and I am certain he will give an amazing recommendation for me. As for my volunteer coordinator, I volunteer at the ER, which I believe is relevant to nursing therefore she will be able to point out my good qualities that's relates to the hospital environment. However, I am not sure if it will be better to ask UBC professors rather than my highschool teacher or my volunteer coordinator. Who did you ask for references? Could you let me know as soon as you can? Thank you so much for your time!

pastaenthusiast · Jan 21, 2012

Hyoangel- I think your ER volunteer coordinator is a great reference. If you don't have any other previous employers in relavent fields probably the music teacher is your best bet. I think since you have one professional reference a more personal reference who knows you well is probably better than a prof who doesn't know you as well.

I have a few application questions for anyone who may have experience with this! I'm finishing off my application but I'm confused about a few things.

In the Employment and activities record section they give you up to 1000 words per job. Do they want us to actual explain what we've done and the skills we've gained? If we put down our duties and things like that in this section are we not allowed to use those experiences in other parts of our application?

The other major problem I have is the organizations that I've been involved in section. All of the organizations I've been with have been used in other portions of the application. Would it be a disaster to just list them and their dates and explain that they've been elaborated on in other portions of the application?

Thank you so much for your help :) I have a good GPA and a decent amount of experience in health care but I'm so worried I'll mess up the supplemental and not get an interview.