ringettegoalie

@StandardDev have you heard back from UBC yet?! I also applied to UBC Nursing for their May intake, as I missed the December 1st deadline by a week after I had only just found out about the program after the deadline had passed. I received my offer of admission on June 13th. However, I had everything submitted(including all my reference letters) in the first week the application was open. Which was about 4-5 weeks from the times submitted my application to the time they recommended me for admission. I did only a little research in my undergrad degree although I did do 2 international placements in my nursing degree. I have also worked as a RN at a level 1 trauma centre in high risk L&D/antepartum and emergency as well as at the children's hospital in paediatrics for the past 4 years. If you have any other questions feel free to PM me.

Hi kayden28! So before I had applied to any schools I did quite a bit of research into MPH programs both in Canada and the USA. I read websites and school websites and tried to get in contact with people who had a previous MPH, etc (for almost a year). Then in the fall before all the applications opened, I actually went and visited all the schools that I thought I was interested in. When I visited Western, I took a campus tour, a residence tour, talked with the grad studies office, talked with Diana Lee (Program Director), had a mini application interview with Diana and another person who ran the program (I am blanking on her name right now), got to sit in on one of the MPH classes and participate in the class with the students and then talk with a few students after the class. I thought Western University went above and beyond any other school welcoming me when I came for a visit. They allowed me to actually see what the program was like and ask questions to the directors and current students. They also gave me free parking for 2 days on campus during my visit. The reason I ended up declining my acceptance to Western was a combination of a lot of things. The tuition price was steep! $30,000 for tuition, $10,000 for their practicum and field trip to NY/Washington over reading break, plus ~$10,000-$15,000 to live there (I would have lived off campus as I thought the housing options were lacking for grad. students on campus), plus the cost to get there and back home (as I live in Alberta). So I was looking at ~$60,000-65,000 for one year! They also had no funding at all as it is a case based program, which is a tough pill to swallow. Also, when I talked with the directors I found out how intense the program is since it is only 1 year. Most of the students who were enrolled that had jobs were quitting their jobs because they had no free time. I remember them telling me a typical day was going to class from 8-12, then lunch till 1pm then group work from 1-4 or 5pm, then readings and whatever else you needed to get done, then repeat. They said there was lots of readings (9 articles/papers to read each night) and lots of papers including 24, 48 or 72hr papers. Which is fine, I totally understand it is a masters program that is only one year, but I felt that it just wasn't for me. I would rather take a bit more time and enjoy the experience compared to my undergrad degree where I worked 3 jobs, went to school and played ringette. I also decided against the program as I was more interested in global health, and women's health than just a general MPH stream degree and I really wanted to do an international practicum and Western at the time wasn't sure where their practicums would be. Turns out I think 4 people in the program did their practicum outside Canada or the USA. So in the end with all of those things in mind, I felt that the program was strong, but just not for me. I wanted to stay a bit closer to home and I preferred a global health MPH program or a program where I could do both nursing and public health, as being a registered nurse, I just felt I couldn't give up that part of my life completely. I also wanted a program over a longer period of time, where if I needed to work, I would be able to do so and still go to school. Everyone has to really think about what they want to get out of the program and where they want to go afterwards, whether that is into a new job/career or back to the same job/field you were in before. Don't get me wrong it was a tough decision and it was hard to say no. If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me!

Hi Everyone! First time poster but long time follower! I actually applied for Fall 2014 admission to UWO (MPH), U of A (MPH-Global Health), SFU (MPH-Global Health) and UBC (MPH/MSN). I was accepted into UWO (around the middle of March) and then ended up declining my offer towards the end of April (they gave you about a month to decide and make the $1000 deposit). U of A lost 2 out of my 3 reference letters, not only once but twice and then deemed my application ineligible! Trying to get answers from the U of A (as to why this happened, as it was their mistake/fault and completely out of my hands) was a nightmare and a half! Talked with over 20 people over a course of two and a half weeks and eventually ended up speaking with the assistant dean in the faculty of Public Health as was basically told: oops, well we will keep your money (because you pay the university and not the faculty, even through it was the faculty that screwed up!) and your application and you can pay and reapply next year using the documents from this year that we have already received or new ones. Um, let me think about that...NO THANKS! What does that say about the school and your program? As looking back at previous years of this blog, this has happened before and is not an isolated incident. Was waitlisted at SFU, but unfortunately I never made it off the waitlist. SFU also refused to let me know how many people were on the the waitlist too. Was accepted into the MSN program at UBC and then a week later was accepted into the MPH program, so I could pursue the dual MPH/MSN degree. I was the only student actually admitted to the dual program to start in Fall 2014 (the inaugural year of the program). But I deferred my admission for one year, so I could pursue a job opportunity that would further advance my nursing career. So I will be attending UBC for the MPH/MSN program this coming fall! I would love to connect with anyone else headed to UBC in the months leading up to September. As for everyone else, don't give up hope and keep your fingers crossed as I heard as early as mid-March and as late as July! Good luck to all those still waiting to hear back!