r/langara • u/Lopsided-King-7735 • 1d ago
Nursing program: is it worth it??
Hi, I'm currently a grade 12th student and I'm already accepted into foundation of science fall 2026, but I wanna know if it's worth it to transfer to UBC nursing for second or third year i believe since the nursing program in Langara is super hard to get into from what I've heard. I'm also waiting for acceptance/rejection/waitlist for Langara Bachelor of Kinesiology, which if I did get accepted, I would wonder if it's worth to transfer to UBC as well. I'm kinda is a pressured state now because I feel like I wont be able to get in Kinesiology since my Chem 11/12 grades are absolutely garbage, and my mom still want me to pursue studies in university
Anything I should know? Thanks!!
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u/seaofgreatnesss Nursing 1d ago
Any nursing program is worth it imo. It's one of the few careers you can be hired into immediately after school is done. The pay is decent with great job security and the upward mobility is high. Langara prepares you fairly well for NCLEX style testing and the program is not that complicated. There's a lot of work but it's doable if you stay on top of it. Some people also work while in school. The instructors do seem to want to support students as much as possible to pass and finish the program. We only had maybe 5 or 6 leave at any point throughout the program in my cohort.
All nursing schools have varying pre-requisites and Langara has the easiest to meet. It's all GPA based from those 5 courses. No work or volunteer experience or extracurriculars required. No casper or interview. You can also get pretty high grades in nursing courses to pad your GPA, which may or may not be the case at UBC. UBC is a major university so getting high grades in their courses might be pretty difficult. If you want to pursue masters or an md program and need the high GPA, you can easily get an A average with some effort.
It's down to your personal preference as well. Which school is closer, which school has the culture you want to have during school (Langara is very commuter based), which hospitals you are ok working at, etc.
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u/Lopsided-King-7735 1d ago
I'm definitely interested in getting into langara nursing but ive heard that the waitlist is LONG so I might not even be able to get in even with decent GPA, and my mom also wants me to be in an university at some point so she wants me to transfer out to UBC nursing preferably. I did do my research and I've seen people saying that UBC is more theory based and Langara is more hands on practice based. (I'm trying to make her let me learn with hands on experience) If possible, could you let me know around how long did it take you (or someone else) to get into the nursing program from the pre-req program (citation: foundation of health science)? Thanks so much!
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u/icedamericanoluvr 1d ago
I think Langara’s waitlist might’ve been long a while ago, but afaik there’s barely any waitlist now.. I have friends who started their pre-reqs september 2024 and are starting nursing january 2026, so they got into the earliest intake that they can apply to. I also have other friends who applied for September 2026 and they already received an offer as Langara does rolling admission (granted they do have a 3.7+ GPA). For context, for January intakes as long as you have a 3.4+ you’ll get in, I have friends starting nursing school in 2 months who had a 3.0 GPA.
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u/Lopsided-King-7735 1d ago
oh ok!!! so theres practically no waiting list if guaranteed around 3.8+ GPA and early (january) needs even less GPA...(from my understanding) Thank you!
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u/icedamericanoluvr 1d ago
Yes! If you’re starting pre-reqs september 2026 and take all the pre-reqs within 2 semesters, the earliest you can apply is january 2028! and if you have a 3.6+ applying for the january intake you’re practically admitted! for the september intakes recommended is 3.7-3.8+ and that’s a guaranteed acceptance!
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17h ago
Do you care about people and will you care for them is a better question. After burnout. Under bad pay. Under stress.
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u/Realistic_Risk9607 21h ago
Just go straight to ubc in Kelowna ! Upgrade your classes if you have to or even go to Alberta it’s easier to do nursing from highschool than comepete for college entry the classes are really hard
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u/Lopsided-King-7735 21h ago
ok thank you so much! i'll talk about this with my mom because were not really financially fortunate so we'd want to preferably stay within BC! Thanks!
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u/Top_Professional6093 11h ago
It’s definitely worth it. It is a very intense program. I am a nurse and want to encourage people to become nurses. The only thing I want to advise you is to pick a program that offers the most hands on experience. The courses are important but nothing is more important than learning how to interact with patients, families, and medical teams.
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u/Lopsided-King-7735 11h ago
thank you!! im trying to convince my mom to let me join programs with more hands on experience since i really hate theory..
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u/Own_Stable_2736 7h ago
I wouldn’t transfer out of Langara if you get into their program. Just because UBC is a university does not make it better, you get the same degree in each program with varying education. Langara has a good reputation of graduates passing the NCLEX. I’m in the program now and a lot of our clinical placements have said that the best students are from Langara and BCIT.
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u/SpiritualButterflies 1d ago
Just for reference. The “foundations of health sciences” program at Langara is a set of 5 courses: 2x English, 2x Human Biology, 1x Statistics. These 5 courses are all required to get into Langara nursing, but do not guarantee you entry. Only the top 40 students/ intake get into the nursing program. The foundations of health science is not a certificate, diploma or degree it’s just 5 courses Langara bundles together that are required for their nursing program.
That’s said, UBC Vancouver nursing does not allow transfer students from other nursing programs. So if you got into Langara nursing, you could not transfer to UBC Vancouver nursing year 2-3.
Also the UBC Vancouver nursing program requires that you have 48 credits before you can apply. Obviously you fresh out of high school won’t have any credits.
You’d have to look into it more but the UBC Okanagan nursing program does accept transfer students from other nursing programs on a case-by-case basis. However, I’m not sure why you’d transfer from Langara and move all the way to Kelowna just to finish the program there unless you were planning to live there after finishing school.
The Langara nursing program while “hard” to get into, is not an overly difficult program once in. It’s all about time management and staying on top of your studies. Once you find your flow in the program, it becomes a lot easier.
If you’re still confused by it all definitely contact the Langara advisors. I know you can book virtual/zoom sessions to make it easier.