University of Calgary, University of Alberta or MacEwan????

Fiona59 · Dec 3, 2016

I would say go where accepts ou. The bar seems to be raised every year.

Every student is different but but we are still seeing better skills and attitudes from GMU students.

Common sense seems to be missing from many of the Uof A students.

calgarybound · Jan 7, 2017

Hearing AMAZING things about the MRU program or might want to consider it as well.

ArceusAlpha · Jan 19, 2017

I graduated from the UoA program. It is true that they are trying to move away from CBL, but there is still a decent amount of lectures. It's a difficult program no doubt.

"MacEwan students were more competent and more liked by hospital staff during their clinicals." It's a little disheartening to hear these because it's an attempt to undermine the performance of hard working UoA nursing students; do not let a school define what every single student is from that place. These are simply unfounded rumours.

Competency level will be based on how a student is able to apply knowledge and critical thinking -- some will obviously be better than others.

In terms of clinical experience, UoA students actually get more acute care med/surg rotation than MacEwan students; however MacEwan students get more labour/delivery than us.

In the end, you have all excellent choices.

ArceusAlpha · Jan 19, 2017

I would say go where accepts ou. The bar seems to be raised every year.
Every student is different but but we are still seeing better skills and attitudes from GMU students.
Common sense seems to be missing from many of the Uof A students.

For a healthcare professional, I'm truly shocked to see that you've continued to provide an inclination that ALL UoA students are very different from fellow GMU students. I've seen your previous posts many years back with the same tone.

You've even managed to ridicule many students (who you've never met or witnessed) by saying that "common sense seems to be missing from many UoA students".

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being proud for GMU, but like I said, going around putting a "stereotype" that explicitly undermines fellow nurses based on biased characteristics is absolutely insulting and downright unprofessional.

alimmiller · Jan 20, 2017

I know you didn't mention it, but I just graduated from MRU and I had the best time and received a great education. U of C I do know a bit about. Their first 2 years are all classroom and SIM, they don't start clinical until 3rd year, whereas Mount Royal starts it in first year. This is honestly the biggest deal to me. 1st year we had clinical once a week and all we could do really, was vital signs. But the whole point was getting us to be comfortable talking with patients and providing care. I would spend 5 minutes standing outside patient rooms building up the courage to go take their vitals, it was ridiculous. Second year we really build up the bulk of our skills, we learn it in lab one week, and do it on a real patient the next week. When I was in 3rd year, there was 3rd year U of C students on the same unit. Despite learning all the same skills in lab, they weren't able to do them in clinical yet. They needed an instructor to come with them and quiz them on oral meds, where my fellow students and I were hanging IV meds on our own. I think the MRU program is laid out in a much better way than U of C. I can't speak for U of A or MacEwan though. I was accepted into all 4, as well as Keyano, but after research decided on MRU, even though it was really far from home. Let me know if you have any questions!

c_mmac · Jan 21, 2017

Thanks so much!!

I was kind of unsure about MRU, and didn't apply... now I think it is too late. I don't live in Alberta so I don't think I will be able to get my transcripts to the University before the deadline. I'll look into it more this weekend though! What did you think of MRU in general? How are the residences? Is it a fun university?

alimmiller · Jan 21, 2017

I lived in residence for 3 years and had a ton of fun and made lots of friends. I lived in East res which is townhouse style, West res was apartment style and a lot nicer, but all the best parties were in East res . I think East has been renovated though, when I was there half were done (not mine though). Lots of different opportunities to do with your communities. You have your own room and share common areas (kitchen, living room, bathrooms) with 1 or 3 more people. The university itself is great because of the small class sizes, I think my biggest class was 35 people. Every teacher will learn your name and say hi to you in the halls, even if you haven't had them for years. Labs are smaller, 16 people (bio labs maybe 20 people), so you can definitely get the help you need. Teachers are super approachable. The campus is nice, and small. I love sitting out by the pond in the spring. One of my favourite things I took advantage of at MRU was free breakfast, from 9 until they run out you can get cereal, fruit, toast and juice for free. In the nursing program, you also get the option to fast track, which I did. I went right through the summer after 3rd year (which wasn't bad at all), did my final focus in the fall, finished December 1st and wrote my nclex yesterday. So you can finish in 3.5 years, which has been really nice.

c_mmac · Jan 22, 2017

Congrats on graduating!! I applied to MRU today. U of C was originally my first choice. However, after looking into the program more and hearing what other people have to say about it, it isn't as appealing. What was your high school grade average when you got accepted? I've heard that the nursing program at MRU is pretty hard to get in to. I graduated high school last year with these grades:

Math - 94%

English - 92%

Chem - 77%

Bio - 89%

Hopefully these grades are good enough to get into MRU, if not somewhere else í ½í¸¬

alimmiller · Jan 22, 2017

yay! Good luck! Your grades look good, I had an 87% average but that was 3.5 years ago, so I'm sure its gone up. I think you can ask them what the competitive average is. And holy ****, I'm super impressed with your 94% in math! Math was a struggle for me haha. Sending good vibes your way, let me know if you get in! Even if its months from now! I could show you around campus if you like, or give you insider tips :)