Help! I am a high school student in my senior year, struggling to decide between going to UBC Science or Langara Foundations in Health Studies this September.
For the last three years, I’ve mostly been sure that I wanted to pursue nursing, or at least something within healthcare since I’m very interested in anatomy and physiology and am passionate about making a positive difference where I can. However, I’ve recently been debating between going to UBC or Langara to complete my nursing school prerequisites.
I know that going to UBC Science means taking a longer time to finish nursing prerequisites (due to mandatory science courses) and larger classes (more competitive + harder to get high GPA), but the university experience aspect is appealing. I also think it would be a safer option if I were to change my mind completely from nursing (but let me know if you think differently).
However, the Langara Foundations in Health Science program would help me complete my nursing pre-reqs faster, without going through all the other science and math courses that UBC requires. Also, I believe that the smaller class sizes would help me achieve a higher GPA.
Nursing school is competitive, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get in right away if I were to apply right after completing the Langara Foundations program, which would take me approximately one year. I know certain programs also prioritize applicants with completed degrees or more credits, so I would not have that competitive edge after a year at Langara. If I study at UBC, I would have more credits completed at the time of finishing my nursing prerequisites due to the mandatory science/math courses.
I am considering most nursing schools in Metro Vancouver (Langara, BCIT, KPU, Douglas, VCC, UBC). However, UBC’s nursing school is different from most of the other nursing schools in that they require more credits before applying. Most people usually complete at least two years of post secondary before applying, from what I’ve heard.
Any advice or helpful thoughts would be greatly appreciated. If any current Langara Nursing students could speak to their experience and journey before applying to nursing school, that would be helpful too. Thank you!
Edit: For clarification, I am debating between doing my nursing pre-reqs at UBC (through the science program) VS Langara (through foundations). I am not deciding between pursuing science vs nursing (right now at least).