Thursday, August 30, 2012

GNIE: Tips to get into Kwantlen's GNIE

I saw that a visitor had Googled (from Canada) for "tips to get into gnie program kwantlen" and landed on my "IEN preparing to apply to CRNBC" blog post. I do not know which stage of the process you are at.

Just FYI, if you have already received the CRNBC SEC assessment result informing you that you need to do a nursing re-entry program, then the following reply to Marie on my other blog post "GNIE: Pre-course expenses" may be more relevant to you.

But first a DECLARATION and DISCLAIMER: The following is my personal opinion. I am not an Admissions Officer or in any way qualified to give "student advice" and thus any content from me shall be construed as a sharing of personal opinion, not advice. I do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided by me. Under no circumstances will I or anyone related to this content be responsible for any loss or damage resulting from any reliance on the information or other content posted or linked by me.

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[Here are the comments extracted from my earlier blog post. Selected sections bolded by me for highlight.]

Marie commented on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 4:18:00 PM:
Very informative site here. How long did you wait before you got into Kwantlen University? I heard there is a long waiting list to be accepted to the GNEA program.
Winking Doll replied on Saturday, August 25, 2012 8:15:00 PM:
Hi Marie, 
Firstly, congratulations if you've obtained the SEC result to do a 1 year re-entry program. Having passed through 2 of 3 GNIE semesters, I am happy to share that I find the GNIE program a very useful and helpful step-by-step integration into the B.C. healthcare system. 
FYI, I applied for GNIE on 01-Jul-2011, I received the confirmation for the Summer-2012 (i.e. May-2012) GNIE intake on 12-Jul-2011. Yes, that's 10 months before the actual course date. My group was lucky in that the B.C. government decided to sponsor an additional cohort and we brought forward our enrolment to Spring-2012 (Jan-2012). 
As far as I understand, for each cohort, there are often more than 200 applications received for the limited 30 to 35 places. Thus it is a good idea to ask the Kwantlen Admissions Officer (in Langley since the Nursing School has moved to there) for the details required for the application, prepare in advance and logon to apply AT EXACTLY 12 MID-NIGHT on the application opening date. Within 15 minutes, all the seats were taken up for my cohort -- that is all 35 of us were either on previous intake's wait-list or had stayed up that night to "bid" online for our GNIE seat. 
That is how competitive it is. Some of my classmates even passed their information to their spouses/friends and had several simultaneous application attempts to ensure that they get their application completed at the earliest possible time [i.e. depending on which friend completed typing in the details and submitting the online registration fees fastest]. I am not recommending that you do that, just wanted to show you how COMPETITIVE it is. 
I heard that in the rare instances if/when the computer system should fail (i.e. for some reason the online application for GNIE was not available on the specified application date OR the [Kwantlen] computer system crashed), your best bet is to get your friends to continue trying online (on your behalf), while you camp overnight outside any Kwantlen campus to be amongst the earliest in the Admissions Office queue when it opens. If there really was a computer flaw and there isn't any valid online application received, they will accept applicants on a first-come first-serve basis. E.g. The 1st 4 GNIE applicants in the [Admissions Office] line from each campus location get the seats. Yes, this is not a joke. It had happened before. Think of it this way, suffer "camping" one night and you get your place confirmed. 
Please be proactive about your application for the GNIE program. I have heard from my classmates that there are people who did not bother to stay awake to submit their applications at 12 midnight and year-after-year they are still "waiting" to get a place. Good luck! 
Cheers, WD.
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So to the anonymous visitor who Googled for "tips to get into gnie program kwantlen": I hope the above is helpful. Good luck on your nursing journey in Canada!

2 comments:

  1. Your blog is very helpful, thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nirastar,

      You're welcome. Good luck on your nursing journey!

      Cheers, WD.

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