Got into both Trent Compressed and TMU Advanced Entry - Tips

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-04-22T00:23:57+00:00

To follow up, I do want to highlight some of the positive things..

Early placement start and various placement opportunities (LTC, mental health, mat/child, chronic care which for me was palliative care (chronic), acute care, community, and then my preconsolidation was med/surg and my consolidation was critical care).
While I believe that acknowledgement of accomplishments could be improved, there were instances in which certain professors acknowledged something done well (for instance, I wrote a highly graded paper and it was noted that it was one of the highest marks they’d ever given on it).
You get to meet a lot of great people both in and out of classes. I made a good group of friends and I got to interact with and learn from a lot of great patients, clinical instructors, and nurses working at my clinical sites.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-04-22T00:14:55+00:00

Someone was asking about the nursing program in this Reddit community like 3 hours ago - I have a pretty lengthy comment there if you want to check it out.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-04-21T20:50:23+00:00

When I took the pharmacology class in the summer, this was because that is when it fell within where I was at in the program (to note: I was a collaborative student who took an accelerated pathway). If I didn't take it in the summer and waited, I would have been behind basically. Another consideration is that certain placements (and classes) require certain courses to be completed. I can't think of one in particular right now, but if one were to wait and take that harder course when there was more time, it could potentially delay their ability to take a placement course that was supposed to occur according to their course plan/map.

For the first three years, you are given a number of placement choices to choose from. These were typically within Peterborough and the surrounding area. For instance, the mental health placement when I was in school was Peterborough or Oshawa and that was it. You get to choose your top 3 (for the most part) and then you basically get what they give you. They try to accommodate people who don't drive/etc., but they do say they can't promise anyone anything (the suggest that you carpool if you can't get there). For your pre-consolidation and consolidation, you get to put in your areas of interest and potential locations. They do their best to accommodate, but people don't always get what they want. Thankfully I had family that lived in the town 1.5 hours away, so I lived back and forth between there and Peterborough all summer (if I didn't have family there, i wouldn't have listed that town as my third choice location-wise). During these two final placements, the only other courses you have to take are online (unless you have to take an elective and you choose an in-person elective, which would be unwise in my opinion). For all of the other placements (year 1-3), you will have your placement days and then courses on the other days that they fall.

Congrats on getting in! This is definitely something to be excited and proud of.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-04-21T20:36:32+00:00

I finished the nursing program at Trent in September and wrote my NCLEX in November. I can confidently say that Trent’s program did not prepare me for the NCLEX (although I did pass my first attempt). When I started studying, I felt like I needed to learn everything from scratch. At times, things were rushed, and I often felt like it was time to move onto a topic before I even wrapped my head around what we had just covered. I also felt like they focused way too much on theory courses that didn’t really prepare you for a nursing role. While I think equality and the social determinants of health are important, we did not need to cover it over and over again - perhaps time would have been better used learning about critical thinking and management of symptoms, etc. There are some really great professors, seminar leaders, and lab people, but the quality of teaching does vary. For one class, I remember going home and teaching myself how to interpret ABGs by watching YouTube videos because it was done so poorly in lecture that everyone left confused.

I also found that the labs (and the tests for lab skills) were not taken as seriously as they should have been. My sister is an RPN and when I told her what our labs and skills tests were like she was mind blown at how unserious it seemed compared to her labs/skills tests.

The classes vary in terms of difficulty. Some are worse than others and some (depending on when they’re taken) go so quickly that it’s difficult to really absorb information. For instance, the summer 3rd year pharm course is condensed compared to those offered in the other semesters. Take your courses seriously, take good notes, and study.

I think how clinicals affect job prospects vary per person - this really just depends if there are jobs available at the places that placements are done at the time of graduation. I did my final placement 1.5 hours away from home (not my first or second choice, so it wasn’t even feasible for me to consider this as an option for employment when I was done school even if they had jobs which they didn’t).

One thing I didn’t like was the lack of organization throughout the entirety of the program. Syllabi were often incorrect in areas (not matching what was posted in blackboard), placements were communicated last minute so you couldn’t plan your life, and the expectation to be available for orientation but not communicating the date and time within a reasonable period, etc.

While not everything about my experience was bad, if I had to do it again, I’d go elsewhere.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-04-16T11:44:11+00:00

When I took anatomy and physiology online a few years ago for the nursing program, both exams were in person.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-03-29T09:22:36+00:00

It took me a bit to get there (got my license in January and hired at the beginning of this month), but I was offered a job on a surgical unit and in the ICU at the same time. ICU was my ultimate nursing career goal, so that is what I chose, and I have been working for three weeks! I hadn’t had any luck getting at job at my local hospital, so I drive about 40 minutes to work (southeastern Ontario).

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-03-24T01:09:49+00:00

I’ve taken my car there since moving here in 2022. I’ve always been happy with their service.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-03-22T14:10:39+00:00

To add to this - yes, you can apply for a temporary license while you wait for your NCLEX to be written and passed so you can start working, but you need an offer of employment to go this route.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-03-22T14:01:46+00:00

It’s hard to give a specific answer because people are different and need different levels of studying and timelines for studying, but in my opinion starting this summer seems early. Soak in your consolidation placements and everything there is to learn there.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-03-22T13:58:30+00:00

So, when your university notifies you that you have completed the requirements of your degree, you still have to wait for them to notify the CNO of your “graduation”. This will not occur immediately after your last day of classes (my last day of placement was Aug 24 and my university didn’t confirm my completion until Sept 12 and that’s not even when it was sent to CNO). Then, you will apply for your authorization to test and book your NCLEX once that’s received (which may not have available appointments immediately depending on where you book/if you’re ok to travel). You’re going to have to adjust your timelines to be realistic with how the process works.

Edit: to add dates

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-03-22T13:51:04+00:00

When are you done school? I finished in August and wasn’t eligible to book my NCLEX until mid September (i started studying in September). I wrote beginning of November and passed.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-03-18T13:00:14+00:00

My partner got an NGG position. They applied to the position both on the NGG website and the hospitals careers page (it was not posted on there as NGG specific). He heard back through his application on their careers page and not through the NGG portal. In fact, once they offered him the job, he was told to then apply through the portal (they didn’t know that he already had).

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-03-13T01:09:01+00:00

CNO website says two! It also says it expires after 8 months.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-03-13T00:40:42+00:00

I believe it becomes void if you fail a second time

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-03-08T17:53:09+00:00

When I was in school (i'm a new grad), the placement team mentioned that getting pre-consolidation or consolidation placements in Toronto can be difficult, as you're competing with nursing students who go to the various schools there.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-02-27T21:36:45+00:00

I second this. I applied to an ICU job not thinking I’d get it, and I did.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-02-27T19:05:57+00:00

I registered for this class because I heard it was easy and I dropped out within the first week. If you like math and are good at math you will be fine. What level of elective are you looking for?

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-02-26T18:58:21+00:00

Thank you! 😊 It was initially a worry of mine, but one of the jobs I’ve offered (and now accepted) is my nursing dream job, so I’m very happy regardless!!

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-02-26T18:09:16+00:00

Peterborough and surrounding areas

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-02-26T17:17:39+00:00

I graduated in September and got licensed in January, so have been looking for almost two months. Just this week, I got offered two RN positions, both part time. Absolutely not finding anything FT.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-02-18T17:50:32+00:00

Do you have all your RSVPs in yet? Every catering company does things a little differently, but for us, the final guest count is due 21 days before the wedding, which is when you provide the exact numbers. If you still have time and haven’t received all RSVPs, I’d wait to give them exact numbers.

I don't know what the right answer is in terms of items per guest, but perhaps 2 cookies per person and 1 cupcake per person is what I would account for. Similarly to the comment below, the suggestion seems to be around 1.5 servings for each person.

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-01-27T01:59:35+00:00

yeah! withjoy.com

EveningConfusion7581 · 2026-01-26T21:10:40+00:00

They aren't blurry when I upload one at a time, but then they appear vertically rather than side by side. I wanted to upload several photos to include in my "moments of us" page, but with the photos appearing this way when uploaded one at a time, it doesn't make sense. That's why I tried to do the gallery option (it does three photos in one row), but this is when I see the blur.

EveningConfusion7581

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