From college to university

[Dratos]

Hello,

 

I was wondering if anyone had any experience graduating from a college and pursuing a university degree. Was there any specific changes that you made? I completed nursing and after a lot of thinking I have decided to enroll in the bachelors of science program. I have not decided on a major but because of interest in nursing and medicine I felt bio-med may be most congenial for me. I would like to know what to expect and perhaps come to understand the expectations of university. Any insight would be wonderful.

 

Thanks a lot!

[Dratos]

still looking for some feedback please

[tdunks]

I did the pre health sciences program at conestoga. It was only a 1 year program but I found that it helped me quite a lot. If you finished a nursing diploma (RPN i take it?) why not upgrade to RN which is a full BSc and with it you will be able to apply to med school if that is your wish. By doing that rather than another degree you can save a year.

[Dratos]

The BScN will not fully serve the scope of my interests. I would like to pursue more science courses than what the nursing stream can allow. I also don't believe I will be adequately prepared for the MCAT. Additionally, I'm going to run into precedented problems regarding clinical rotations, pass/fail courses, so and so forth. Lastly, after speaking with a number of academic advisers they had suggested if medicine is what I truly want to pursue than nursing in not the most practical way to go about it.

[Dratos]

Still looking for information with those who have completed college and have experience university. Please refrain from derailing from the topic as the above poster has.

 

Thanks in advance!

[JB.]

Still looking for information with those who have completed college and have experience university. Please refrain from derailing from the topic as the above poster has.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

You might get more responses if you were a little nicer to people who were trying to help.

 

I read some of your previous posts. You mentioned that you achieved a 70% avg first year of college and 75.5% second year. University is much faster paced than college and the information given is far more in depth. If you're struggling in college, I have my doubts that you will be able to obtain high marks in uni. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you can't do well, just that you're going to have to find different strategies if you are serious about med. If you're looking for strategies, find a tutor, form a study group, make flash cards etc. You will have to experiement based on your learning style.

 

Most people that come from a college to uni seem to struggle with the heavyworkload and the in depth sciences. If you don't have a strong science background, you are going to struggle. I've seen a lot of people in shock that the first day of gen chem covered everything they learned all semester in college, so be aware.

 

Most of the university science courses have three or four exams per semester. Your entire grade is based on these exams- you need to know your stuff and be able to recall it quickly and accurately because the tests are long and difficult. It will probably feel like there is not nearly enough time to complete the test in the alloted time.

 

I find most lectures go quickly- some profs let you ask questions during lecture, others not so much. Most that let you ask questions don't like going off on tangents (they have material to cover) and will quickly answer and move on. If you still have questions, you'll need to see them or a TA after class. If you get confused at the opening part of an O chem lecture it's going to be a long class. Ask me how I know. LOL

 

Overall, I don't find the actual work to be that difficult, but it requires huge time committments to carry a full courseload and to build meaningful ECs. It can get overwhelming quickly if you don't stay on your "A game".

[Dratos]

Thanks JB.