I've seen it mentioned several times around the site and, in wake of planning what I eventually want to study/go into later on, I'm interested in knowing a little more about the program. I've been looking over the requirements on the Mac website but could still use a little more info to supplement what their site states.

- To start things off, how competitive is the program? Approximately how many slots are available each year?
- The requirements state that you need:-
a. 6 units of Psychology of which at least three units consist of Introductory Psychology (I'll have this finished in first year)
b. 6 units of Human Physiology OR 6 units of Human Anatomy and Physiology (I believe the two first year Kin courses would fall under this, yes? What other courses (course codes) fall under this requirement?)
c. 6 units of Biochemistry (preferred) OR 6 units of Chemistry AND (How important is it to take Biochem courses over straight chem? Because I could have this requirement finished in first year since I'll be taking both Chem courses. I'll likely be pursuing some area of Biology/Psychology, Neurosci & Behaviour in second year, so is it likely I'll end up taking courses for those programs that will satisfy the biochem portion of this requirement?)
d. 3 units of Statistics (This is straight forward).
- Would this program be 20 months of consecutive study, or the traditional 8 month study period/4 month summer?
- After finishing the program, what else must one go through in order to be able to practice nursing? I read on the website that there's the CRNE you have to apply for - is it anything like the MCAT in terms of preparation/difficulty?

Those are all the questions I can think of off the top of my head. Any information or clarification would be really appreciated!

Thanks in advance =)

Woo I'm applying for this this year!
Competitive - Hopefully marlowe see's this because i'm interested in knowing that too. I know that you need a B+ and a good supplementary to be competitive.
other anatomy codes - BIO 2A03 and BIO 3U03 / 3UU3 i believe can be used. SCS 2159 from U of T, an online course, is fine as well.
Chemistry is fine.. maybe take biochem 2ee3 in your 2nd year.
The program is STRAIGHT 20 months.
And yes the CRNE is the exam.. you just need to pass it. I think it's more application style questions about nursing but I'm not too sure..
Hope that helps!

All right, I'll try to answer as best I can, some of it I'm not 100% sure about.

Competitiveness- There were 33 spots open this year, but I think they open up a few more each year. Obviously the more people who apply the more competitive it is, so it can vary from year to year. I know last year it was about 350 applicants, and I think this year there were quite a few more based on some comments one of the administrators made. Keep in mind though since the application deadline is February and some people won't have the needed marks you could be competing against a lower number of people.

While I'm not 100% sure about this, I think that you make it past the first selection stage just by having the minimum marks, and from there you're picked based on your supplementary application (like Health Sci). Another administrator mentioned that they have taken people with the minimum marks before, so marks might not be something to worry too much about. That said, slacking is never a good idea!

Allie pretty much answered all the other questions correctly, I don't have anything else to add. I don't think there is any advantage to taking Biochem courses over Chem in terms of admission, but you might have an easier time with some of the courses- you start taking courses with other nursing students right away, so stuff covered in their earlier courses is considered assumed knowledge.

That makes me nervous :(.. But you said you got accepted in May right? I hope they look at 2nd term's marks too I need them to boost my cGPA!
PS I'm not 100% but I think you were in my Bio 1M03 tutorial! Do I ring a bell at all? lol

Are you guys planning to do the accelerated program at mac or at another place? Do you guys know if accelerated nursing programs are generally as competitive mac in other schools as well?

Yeah, that was me. I was accepted before some of my final marks were released, but I'm pretty sure the school has access to them earlier than we do, so I think they look at all our marks.

I only looked into Mac's program, as well as a non-accelerated program at UOIT that I didn't end up applying to (it was a backup, and I was accepted at Mac before I had a chance to get my documentation together). However I know a lot of people who were applying to the U of T program from the online anatomy course I took, and it seems very competitive as well. The required courses seem easier (6 units of Physiology, 6 units of any Science, 6 units of any Humanities courses, 6 units of any Social Science courses, 3 units of Stats) because you could basically pick the easiest courses from each faculty to guarantee a good mark. However, they require letters of reference, and want you to talk about your volunteering and community involvement in the supplementary whereas Mac mainly asks about your learning style.

There are also accelerated programs at Ottawa and Trent, but I don't know much about them, sorry.

Ottawa takes only 25 students in english and require anatomy stats social sci humanities and research methods.. pretty competitive
U of T prefers students that have degrees already..they take aroudn 200 students and 700 apply and yeah like Andrew said they require reference letters and personal statements
Queen's has one ..similar requirements they're all posted on their websites somewhere..and again only take 30 people

and awesome iknew it was! I always bump into you I should look into the UOIT program too as a back up.. unfortunately ottawa and queen's don't accept my u of t course for the anatomy component :( (n)

Thank you so much for the info! I'll have to keep in touch with you later on to hear your experiences in the program =)

Originally Posted by Marlowe

All right, I'll try to answer as best I can, some of it I'm not 100% sure about.

Competitiveness- There were 33 spots open this year, but I think they open up a few more each year.

Woah, I actually had no idea there were so few spots lol.

By the way, I'm also in Accelerated Nursing class of 2012. To answer some of the questions in this thread, I think they probably put a great deal of weight on your supplementary application because I didn't have the most stellar marks (damn you, first year!). Obviously, you have to have decent marks (in the high B range), but I think you also gotta really reflect on why you want to go into nursing at McMaster and express those reasons in your supplementary. Good luck to everyone applying next year!

By the way, does anyone know if we have to request for our transcripts to be submitted to the school (which would be pretty stupid)? Or will they just see the marks automatically? I'm 99% pretty sure it's the latter but just wanted to make sure, haha

Originally Posted by drhorrible

Woah, I actually had no idea there were so few spots lol.

By the way, I'm also in Accelerated Nursing class of 2012. To answer some of the questions in this thread, I think they probably put a great deal of weight on your supplementary application because I didn't have the most stellar marks (damn you, first year!). Obviously, you have to have decent marks (in the high B range), but I think you also gotta really reflect on why you want to go into nursing at McMaster and express those reasons in your supplementary. Good luck to everyone applying next year!

By the way, does anyone know if we have to request for our transcripts to be submitted to the school (which would be pretty stupid)? Or will they just see the marks automatically? I'm 99% pretty sure it's the latter but just wanted to make sure, haha

First off, yay! You're the first accelerated person from our year that I've seen on MI (and still the second overall). Were you at the info session last week?

Mac can see your marks for any courses you took at Mac, but you'll need to request a transcript for courses from other schools.

Hehe, you're the second person I know of in our program too.

I wasn't able to make it to the info session last week... were you there? Did I miss anything important? I just got my package in the mail yesterday and wow... it feels so weird to not have to stress out over SOLAR for courses this year.

Honestly, most of it wasn't too important. A lot of the info was targeted toward people who were coming from other schools, so it was just about the financial aid office and stuff. We did get our timetable (was that in the package?)- we possibly have Fridays off first term, and definitely have Fridays off for second term. We also got warned by someone who just finished their first year in the program that it involves a lot of work- while the timetable looks pretty easy, we'll need to be spending a lot of time outside of the class working on PBL/practicing techniques.

The program code is 6382, and our MUNS (McMaster University Nursing Society) rep is Laura Davison ([email protected]) . We also have access to a simulation lab in Health Sci 1M1 at 4-7 Mon-Thurs, for practising on bodies.

They also told us a bit about the courses we were taking, but just the type of stuff from the course calendar. Apparently when we start 3LL3 (Health Assessment) in second term, we should be practising the techniques we learn every week.

I didn't get a package yet, did it have info about the immunizations we need?

Thanks so much for the info! I am definitely dreading the amount of time PBL will probably take up from my life.

The package includes the timetable, a checklist of things we need to get done and all the forms we will need to get filled out for immunization. Speaking of which, I still have to get my CPR training done...

I am currently finishing up the last few weeks of the spring/summer term of the accelerated program => things are quite busy. I will try to answer any questions posted in this thread as soon as possible.

I have a tonne of questions about how clinical works, because at the info session they weren't really clear about that (which I guess is because they haven't finalized which hospitals it will be taking place at).

What's the selection process like? Do we get any say over where we do our clinical, or is it just a lottery? Do most people end up with clinical outside of Hamilton? Does everyone do their clinical in the same sort of setting (ie Medical, Psych, etc) or does it vary with placement? If it differs, do you get any choice?

Is there anything you weren't prepared for/wish you knew going into the program? How much work is involved during the summer term?

Sorry to throw so many questions at you at once, lol. Obviously just answer them whenever you get a chance.

Thanks so much!