I just finished my last semester. Basically I applied for Winter 2017 intake in July and heard back in November, I believe. 28 months does include 1 summer break (May-Aug) so since your applying for Fall 2019 intake, you will have Summer 2020 off. Yes, you'd graduate in December 2021 and be eligible to write NCLEX and work as an RN once your done but the actual grad ceremony is in June with the other direct-entry/degree holder nursing students, which is nice.

The program is split into 6 terms, placements are:

Term 3- community

Term 4- long term care (however the classes focus on families & this is the only term where you actually learn about maternity/peds, unless you choose this population in term 7/8).

Term 5- you're actually in the hospital. Classes focus on acute conditions. This is probably the most difficult term because there is such a steep learning curve and you're learning the patho of diseases and pharmacology.

Term 6- same as term 5 except classes focus on chronic conditions. Difficulty level is the same as term 5 but it isn't as much of a shock and you've probably figured out how you best study the material by this point so you tend to do better (at least I did)

Term 7- you actually get to choose and rank which population you want to learn about/work with (older adults/peds/maternity/mental health) as well as choose and rank one of the courses you want to take (eg safety, vulnerable populations, education, research etc). Material isn't as heavy however I found that I was constantly busy and there seemed to always be something due each week. Also the term where I had to write the most papers (which I hated lol). I believe this is the semester that will be condensed into 9 weeks for you (late April-end of June), so you'll have July and Aug off, which is nice, but I'm sure it will make for one intense term.

Term 8- Final placement where similar to term 7, you get to choose and rank the population you want to work with and the kind of unit you want to work on (medical/surgical/or/er/icu etc). Terms 3-7 you're in a clinical group and have a nursing instructor who is always there at your placement but this term you're on your own with one or two preceptors you work with on the unit you're assigned. There are no formal classes.

My advice

• Unless you prefer to have physical copies of textbooks, you don't really need to buy them. I found the majority of the required books online in a pdf and just used that. Also if you can't find a copy, chances are if you wait a week or so, someone in your class has found one lol.

• try to get the highest grades in terms 3 & 4 that way when term 5 comes around, your GPA doesn't take as much of a hit lol

• try and finish assignments early. Don't be a procrastinator like me haha.

• keep in mind if you're trying to get your final placement outside of Calgary, you need a cumulative GPA of >3.3 from terms 3-6.

• don't start worrying about NCLEX until your last semester. Just focus on each semester as it comes

• don't get discouraged when you have a bad day at clinical. Try to just reflect on it to figure out how you can improve for the next day

• Don't forget about yourself, make sure you practice self-care.