Uoft vs ubc nursing

[JayKayAay]

Hi all,

i recently got accepted to both uoft and ubc. I am originally from toronto but have been living in vancouver since september, and on/off since 2016. I’m having an extremely difficult time in making a decision and so i would appreciate any advice or input if you have any! I do plan on living/working in vancouver no matter what... but things could always change! I’ve made a list of pros/cons for each.

uoft

pros: 4-5 major hospitals within walking distance to school; guaranteed placements in 5 units (med/surg, pediatrics, mental health, geriatrics, maternity); they take into account where you live/mode of transportation so that they can place you closer to home; so much variety for food! (I love caribbean food! Something vancouver lacks); closer to family; lots of breaks between school (fall reading week, long christmas break, winter reading week, summer break from july to aug)

cons: making friends i’ll have to move away from as i plan to move back to vancouver; potential networking opportunities would be a bust since i would be leaving the toronto area; finish end of july: transferring livense from on to bc

ubc

pros: vancouver living is amazing, love the weather and activities i can do here!; making friends that i’ll most likely have for a lifetime (and staying geographically close for a while lol); networking opportunities esp at whatever placements i get!; finish end of may

cons: placements could be FAR and require a car (can’t afford insurance...); away from friends/fam; short breaks between school (winter reading week, one month for summer); possible clinicals on weekends

questions:

are there guaranteed placements in med-surg at ubc? Was finding a way to clinical difficult if they were far like in abbotsford, langley, coquitlam?

has anyone moved from toronto to vancouver immediately after graduating from an ontario school? How lengthy was the licensing process? Was it hard to obtain a job in vancouver since you had little to no experience as a nurse?

I hope someone can give me some advice.. been awake for 3 hours (since 3am lol). My brain won’t be quiet!

[Khow89]

Are you sure that ubc don't take into consideration where you live for placements? It just seems odd if they don't.

You can prob find the answer to your med-surg question if you asked the school possibly.

[JayKayAay]

On 5/15/2019 at 7:53 AM, Khow89 said:

Are you sure that ubc don't take into consideration where you live for placements? It just seems odd if they don't.

You can prob find the answer to your med-surg question if you asked the school possibly.

Pretty sure! They do have a top 10 survey type of thing but i heard that some people didn’t even get into one of their top 10 for some placements. Just really depends on who/what hospital is accepting students at that point and how many.

[Khow89]

If you're 100% planning to live in Vancouver after you graduate, I would suggest ubc. I think overall it will be much easier for you after graduation in terms of friends, being familiar with the surroundings and having your foot in the door for the hospitals you do clinical for.