UBC Nursing - Sep. 2012

hystaeria · Jan 25, 2012

Ive applied to the Nursing program this year (Sept 2012) and was interested in knowing whether anyone had any suggestions as to how to prepare for the interview. If I'm not mistaken, they have various stations and situations that one has to rotate through rather than a traditional one-on-one interview session like McMaster? If any of you current UBC students remember the kinds of questions you were asked and have any advice, that would be wonderful. Thank you!

A

chojo87 · Feb 2, 2012

Woooo! Application submitted!

Had a bit of a scare with transcripts (mailed them in myself), but managed to get my university to send them on Monday, so it should be post-marked for the 30th. How does everyone feel about their applications?

adagiogirl · Feb 4, 2012

Sorry I haven't checked back in a while - life's been busy!!

Regarding references, they don't check. They don't care who you put there because they're not going to check. **** tells you this if you attend the information sessions. They figure that no one you put is going to badmouth you so why waste their time in checking?

mtyc - that's correct. You just need to pass all the courses from January - April. Your average will only be based on the most recent 30 credits starting from December 2011 and going backwards.

Luckyy7 - I think my admission average was only around mid-70s. Don't sweat it. If you have a really strong supplemental application (this counts for 40% of your total 'score'), then you should be fine.

hystaeria - There's really no way to prepare for the interview. There are (if I'm remembering correctly) 6 stations. You're assigned a chunk of time to read the scenario at each station and then you go in and discuss it. No current UBC student is allowed to disclose the questions - we had to sign an agreement at the beginning of the interview session - but you can google sample MMI questions to see what they're like. They don't have any right/wrong answer, they just want to see how you think and respond.

Also - if you guys don't already know, once you get offered an interview, whatever score you achieved from your initial ranking based on your average + supplemental gets reset to 0. They will rank everyone based on their initial score, offer the first (I think) 180 or so an interview. If you're offered an interview, you're on equal playing ground again. They will rerank you at the end of the interview and offer the first 120 spots.

hopingfor2012 · Feb 8, 2012

My first post to this forum. Hello everyone, and thanks to all the current, prospective and past nursing students for posting their experiences on here.

I've been following these threads religiously, so I thought I'd make a contribution myself. I've also applied to the 2012 winter session. I know there's nothing that I can do right now but wait, but I am still so nervous. I keep asking myself if there was something I could have done differently, whether I should have made a more "emotional appeal" in my supplemental or whatnot... argh :)

Good luck to all.

hopingfor2012 · Feb 13, 2012

Hi all,

I have a question for current or past UBC Nursing students. I would love your feedback if any of you have the time.

I currently live about an hour's drive from UBC. If I were to get into the nursing program, I'd want to put in as much time into the nursing program as possible. I have looked at the program timetable and it looks as though you are physically on campus about twice a week (asides from a few busier months).

I was wondering if it is worth it to move closer to campus for the program? This way, I would save around 2 hours per on-campus class day that I could use towards studying, and am wondering if the course load is heavy enough that every hour counts. This would be my second university degree, and I am more motivated than ever to do well.

Is it worth it to move closer to campus?

Thanks :)

hopingfor2012 · Feb 13, 2012

One more question - has anyone out there who is in the program or who has been in the program worked as an ESN (Employed Student Nurse)? What is it like and how easy is it to balance working with being in nursing school? It sounds like the nursing program at UBC is a full-time commitment, so when do you even find the time to ESN? Is it better to just focus on your studies? Does ESN-ing actually improve your chances of being hired after schooling is done? Reading about some previous graduates' experiences of not being able to find work locally (and having to move outside of Vancouver) after graduating in order to obtain employment concerns me, and I am wondering if ESN-ing improves the chances of getting hired after graduating.

adagiogirl · Feb 14, 2012

Assuming that the schedule doesn't change too much (I don't think they're restructuring too much for next year though), Term 1 will have you on campus 3x a week and in clinical 2x a week. Moving closer to campus won't necessarily do you any good - some clinical placements are as far out as White Rock and Surrey.

In terms of course load, everyone says it's a really intense program but honestly, the readings are just for clarification (I didn't bother to do any of the readings because the lectures were taught quite well and I did pretty decently in first term) so don't feel like you have to do them all. There's 2 courses that run straight through Term 1 and then there are 3 thread courses. One starts in September, done by October. Another one starts end of Sept and runs through Nov. And the last starts in Oct and runs through to the first week of December. The 2 main courses will have labs that you have to prep for as well as midterms (1 per class). The thread courses are super short but have more assignments to hand in. You will still have a life! It just depends on how you cope with their lecturing style (sometimes difficult because there are many many guest lecturers).

I haven't done ESN yet as we aren't finished our first year but as far as I understand it, you ESN the entire month of August in between first year and second year and then when school starts up again, you work 1 - 2x a month or something like that, depending on which health organization you are with. No firm details though but maybe someone else will chime in. There will be information sessions once you get in and you can think about it then.

hopingfor2012 · Feb 14, 2012

Assuming that the schedule doesn't change too much (I don't think they're restructuring too much for next year though), Term 1 will have you on campus 3x a week and in clinical 2x a week. Moving closer to campus won't necessarily do you any good - some clinical placements are as far out as White Rock and Surrey.
In terms of course load, everyone says it's a really intense program but honestly, the readings are just for clarification (I didn't bother to do any of the readings because the lectures were taught quite well and I did pretty decently in first term) so don't feel like you have to do them all. There's 2 courses that run straight through Term 1 and then there are 3 thread courses. One starts in September, done by October. Another one starts end of Sept and runs through Nov. And the last starts in Oct and runs through to the first week of December. The 2 main courses will have labs that you have to prep for as well as midterms (1 per class). The thread courses are super short but have more assignments to hand in. You will still have a life! It just depends on how you cope with their lecturing style (sometimes difficult because there are many many guest lecturers).
I haven't done ESN yet as we aren't finished our first year but as far as I understand it, you ESN the entire month of August in between first year and second year and then when school starts up again, you work 1 - 2x a month or something like that, depending on which health organization you are with. No firm details though but maybe someone else will chime in. There will be information sessions once you get in and you can think about it then.

Thanks for your detailed and thoughtful response!

BABYGIRLLL · Feb 26, 2012

good luck to everyone♥♥♥

& the wait is the [color=#808080]worst part....

aburns7 · Mar 15, 2012

has anyone heard anything from UBC yet?? still waiting :'(

hopingfor2012 · Mar 17, 2012

^Nope, still waiting just like you. Last year, looks like offers came out around March 22. Based on that, I'm thinking... next week?

Luckyy7 · Mar 20, 2012

Well shouldn't be much longer now.. good luck everyone!