UFV 2012 Fall Intake - Insights and Meetings

[Alka_Selse BSc]

Hello!

I'm starting this topic for two reasons: one, to introduce myself and make connections with anyone else that has also applied for the fall 2012 intake at the University of the Fraser Valley nursing program; and two, to make a few inquiries.

So, I'm a 23 year old resident in Abbotsford. I've recently completed my bachelor of Science with a major in Biology and heavy focus (should have officially done a minor ) in computer science/software engineering. I decided about 6 months ago that Biology was not quite the route I wanted to take, as it's incredibly difficult to find a job without a PhD. And since I much prefer hands-on work and prefer research as a hobby, I figured that 4 years would be better spent persuing something else. I considered Medicine, various tech position and even Health informations, but have settled on Nursing.

I applied at UFV, since it's closest to home and have heard a lot of really great feedback about their nursing program. I considered UBC, but the commute didn't sit well with me (you have little enough time as it is being a nursing student and with the price of gas on the rise, it would be attrociously expensive).

I have just received my notification letter regarding the information sessions on March 7/15 - anyone else going too?? I'm getting really nervous, and have been reading and absorbing everything I can find to prepare, lol. Everyone suggests just taking it easy and being yourself. I'm not worried too much about the grades. I had a 4.2 gpa in highschool (yay for honours classes), and have somewhere between a B+/A- average for university. If I could write off my one bad semester that would bump up to an A-/A average.

Nor am I worried about cost. I managed to pay myself through my first degree somehow, and could do so again, or cave finally and take out a student loan. Either way, I'm supported financially. My family are also all in the health care field, so I'm VERY familiar in that aspect.

I'm a bit worried about my volunteer hours, though. Since I did have to pay my way through university, I didn't really have the luxery of time to spend volunteering. I worked 2 years in a vet clinic - not quite the same, but very similar environment. I do have 40 or so hours of official volunteer time in hemodialysis and ccu at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. But I've been in and around the hospital all my life since my mom works there, and have been involved in St. John Ambulance as well.

I'm also concerned about the essay. I've read what the general interview questions are, but nothing on what I should expect to write for the essay. The notification I got in the mail said that we'd be given 3 questions to write/discuss to test our critical thinking. Any advice?

Anyway, I'd really appreciate any information anyone has to offer on the UFV interview and essay. I'd also like to get to know fellow applicants!

Cheers.

[camp11]

So glad people are seeing this and responding! I decided to wait until next week to go to the info session. I had a friend there and she said it asked three questions that you had to answer in paragraph form and had 45 min to do that. I'm sure it is the same questions as they have had in the past as listed above! She also said there were a TON of people there (there was last intake also) I probably should've gone tonight to just get it over with! Alka_Selse don't worry about volunteer hours - the friend of mine that got in last intake had only 40 hours. You just really never know! I'm just excited this time that I have an interview! I also did the same thing and quickly upgraded my high school marks... I just really want to get in!!

I hope you all did amazing tonight (the ladies that went)

Oh and I would love to join the fb group - I can't find it so it must be private? AND it was erased off here. I also have a few friends applying that would probably like to add themselves also.

[Alka_Selse BSc]

Well, just got home. It wasn't so bad. I got to meet mission1234!

So, your friend is right - you do get 45 minutes to answer 3 questions. The questions that we got tonight were:

1. You've been working the same shifts as another nurse for a few weeks now. One day, she suddenly "blows up" at you. What is your reaction, and what do you have to consider before you reply? How would this be different if it was your superviser?

2. You find out that your friend lies in the interview and is going to get into the class because of it. What are the potential courses of action that you could take?

3. Describe a time that you did not succeed at something. How did you deal with this?

Not too difficult, and they did give you a lot of extra time. I finished after about 30 minutes.

Regarding the facebook thing, apparently posting the actual link was against the terms of service (sorry!). It's not private, though. You can just search for "UFV Nursing 2012 Intake" and you should find it.

Now just the interview next Friday!

[mission1234]

The questions were not difficult, but very thought provoking... Do you rat out your friend? Do you get ****** off at your co-worker? And last but not least... what have you failed at, and how did you deal with it.

Those information sessions are not for the weak. You have to know if this is what you want. 3-4 hours of homework a night and 8+ on the weekends, definitely not for the faint of heart.

This is my first time applying, and if it doesn't work out this semester I know I have done everything I could do (Insert positive self talk here) . I will probably start taking more electives :)

The selection is definitely going to be tough!!! I bet the interview has a big weight for the selection.

[Alka_Selse BSc]

Hmm...after a further inspection, it seems I can only successfully search the group if I'm on an account friended to someone in the group. Weird... I'll try to fix it.

I can't figure out how to change the search settings. It's open, but I still can't find it. This really sucks since I told everyone at the info session just to search it.

[KimS]

Hi everybody!

I have also applied for the fall 2012 intake, going to info session on the 15th and interview on the 27th, first time applying.

Whoever posted the questions from last wednesdays info session is a saint - thank you. They are much more critical this year than they were last year (from what I have heard!)

[Alka_Selse BSc]

Heh, welcome aboard, Kim. And you're very welcome. Honestly, they weren't so bad, though I think I was a little unorthodox with my answers, but *shrug* the tiles shall fall as they do. And I saw you requested to join the facebook group, so I shall accept your invite now!

Oh, on that note - if you would like to, feel free to let next week's information session know about the facebook group. From last I checked, it's not searchable for some reason, but you can give the url or something.

[invictus, BSN]

Where is the FB group...I cant seem to find it

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

this is a gentle reminder that posting links to other websites sucha s facebook is prohibited by allnurses.com's terms of service. tos

"you are not allowed to post any messages anywhere on this site that are primarily for the promotion or advertising of any website, email address, business, mlm, activity, personal blogs, or other entities that you have an affiliation with (ie. no self-promotion).you are not allowed any form of commercial advertising in posts, avatars, or signatures.you may not make any self-promotional post announcing websites to gain exposure, including non-profit sites.you may not invite, solicit or coerce others to join other community websites through posts, email, pm, use of allnurses.com, inc membership list or any other resource within the allnurses.com, inc. we allow linking to other information websites, as long as it is for informational purposes and not for self promotion advertisement. staff members may remove or edit links at it's discretion."

please refresh your memories as to just what is okay and what isn't.

[Alka_Selse BSc]

So, the next info session is in a few days - how's everyone's prep going for it? Are you finding the questions useful? Would you like any assistance with anything? And does anyone have their interview before friday? I'm getting nervous, myself, and wouldn't mind knowing a bit of what's to come. o.o

p.s. - invictus, I wasn't aware of the specificity of the ToS, so I can't give you the url to the group.

[KimS]

Im getting super excited!!! I've been waiting for this for a longgg time now. I've basically written out every question they could possible ask me and have good answers for all of them. I've been attending UFV for a year and a half in nursing studies, and I've talked to many people.. those who got in, who didn't get it, who are in fast track... everything. What I can basically share with you about the interview from what I gather is that it's not super intense, I mean, after all you are dealing with nurses - sweetest ladies ever!!! They are not intimidating but they do want to be sure that you're going to be able to handle the program... So questions like: Who are your main supports? (saying your boyfriend of 5 months is not a good answer), How are you going to be able to pay for it, they want to know do you have kids, do you have huge financial obligations to take care of while in the program (a house, car, other investments, etc.) If you do have those things, how are they going to be taken care of for four years while your busy studying? Do you have any illnesses that are going to prevent you from studying your little heart out? (upon acceptance to the program you have to get your doctor to approve that you are fit for the program - so theres no point in lying...) Things like that. They ask these questions because the last I heard they have about 150-200 applicants... They can only accept 48 and on average, 7 drop out in their first year, which is a huge bummer for those of us who could have taken their spots considering we DONT have these things to deal with. Now this isn't to say that people with a busier lifestyle are not going to be accepted; you have just as good a chance as the rest of us but they want to know that you've thoroughly thought these things through and have a solid plan. OH - and I hope none of you are planning on holding down a job while in the program, they don't want you to work because you simply wont have time for it. (besides summers of course)

They are also most likely going to ask you questions about the field, make sure you KNOW what a nurse does start to finish, what your career options are as a nurse, what the difference between an LPN and an RN is. And then of course the good old "why nursing?" Have something better prepared than "because I care about people". Think about the different aspects of nursing, what the job entails, what nursing means to you, how your volunteer work has contributed to you growing as a prospective nurse and how it has prepped you... Have all your answers prepared, as a nurse you need to constantly be on your feet and this interview will be a test of that!

Alka_Selse BSc im sure you're going to to do GREAT! Lets us know how you think it went! If you have questions i'll do my best to answer them given my knowledge of how the program works - hope this helped you :loveya:

[KimS]

I should also share with you what I know about how they 'decide' (Also just from what I've learned from other prospective nurses at UFV). First off is marks, the minimum grades they ask for are C+'s I think? They haven't accepted anybody with a C+ in like five years. On average I think you need a GPA of the four courses (bio12, chem11, math11, english 12) of at least 3.5. One intake the lowest was 3.8... But if you don't have decent enough grades, you wont even get a letter for the interview so i'm sure that most of you have the grades. Next is the "essay", they grade you on that and then they grade you on the interview, on a points system. A recent high school graduate can apply right out of high school with straight A's and 200 volunteer hours, but if the interviewer doesn't feel she is mature enough for it she will get rejected - and i've heard of this has happening many of times. They look for life experience, work experience, experience in the field, post secondary experience. If you've ever upgraded any of your high school courses i'm pretty sure you get at least one extra point for that... So basically is a huge mix up of those three things, and LOTS of people nail the essay and interview, but when it comes down to 70 great candidates with good interviews it goes to marks... and who had the highest GPA's.

Also - you have a better chance of getting in for the september intake rather than january because September they take 48 students and january they take 36 - so obviously the average gpa for september wont have to be as high for september.

If you DONT get in - phone them immediately and ask what you can do to make sure you get in next time. I had a friend that did this and it benefited her greatly... They love persistence. If you have to - upgrade your high school marks, get ALL your electives done (stats, eng, social science), nail out those volunteer hours, broaden your knowledge. Chances are if you didn't get in the first time and you try to better yourself for the next one they will recognize and appreciate that...

[mission1234]

KimS, your awesome! Thank you for all your comments :loveya:. I really hope that everybody on this post gets accepted. By the sounds of it, we have all done everything we could do for the intake, and still look for support and resources to better our knowledge. I spent the last three years working full time and taking upgrades and electives for my application. I wanted to make sure I was completely ready before I applied for the exact reasons you mentioned above.

This is going to sound like a silly question, but why did you guys decide you wanted to be a nurse?

Both my parents are in health care, and when I graduated I really thought I wanted to be a paramedic. I applied to the Justice Inst. and actually did some ride alongs and visited the emergency call centre down town, But I didn't like the feeling of not being able to help them once the patient was dropped off at the hospital. I worked full time as a level three first aid attendant while I did my upgrades/electives, volunteered for two years in Abbotsford ER department, and here I am.

It's weird to think we will know in a month and a half if we are accepted. I am excited for the interview, the last hurdle. It's kinda like a summery of everything you have done to prepare for the program.