u/Icy-Layer-7783

I was born in tbe city. Have a science undergrad offer at the U of A, however I also have an offer for nursing in a rural area (it’s in partnership with the u of a so at the end of it I will still have a BSN from U of A, I didn’t realize I’d wanna do nursing till later on so didn’t apply to the main program at U of A). Because of distance, it’d be more convenient for me to just move there if I take the rural offer so I’d be getting my own apartment and living there for a time that would meet the requirements for eligibility at my province’s med schools.

Is it more worth it for me to js take the typical sciences undergrad and get the shot at research/clubs a big uni would offer? Or is it better for me to seek that out on my own and go rural because I’d qualify for that after living there for that long? Is having a pathway that much more advantageous or is being more traditional lowk the best thing I can do given I was born here so would just be exceeding the cutoff for rural experience by a few months - a year. Would I just end up in a weird position where all the rural applicants are ranked above me for living there longer and all the normal stream applicants are ranked above me for having access to more opportunities?

Alberta specific but pls leave ur input regardless of province cos idk what to do and I got 30 days to accept my U of A offer.

Realistically, is there anything or any connections I can make by doing a regular Bachelor of Science at a bigger university that would get me the opportunity for Derm or is beefing up my CV not something I can make a dent in till I am one day (hopefully) accepted into med. I’ve heard some people say they start connecting w Derm residents and stuff in undergrad just for tips and any opportunities to help them w anything so I wasn’t sure what I should do cause I’m faced with a dilemma here.

I realized mid year I’d lowk want to do nursing as a undergrad. The urban programs for it were all closed but the rural ones werent so I applied and got in to do my nursing degree in a rural area and the time I’d spend living there since I’d be fully moving would make me applicable for the rural pathway here in my province.

Yes it’d be harder to maintain a good GPA in nursing (though ofc id try my hardest, my sister also just finished nursing school w honours so have a good mentor!) but then id qualify for the rural stream and here in Alberta the MCAT is all cutoffs/one school considers CARS so self-studying for it isn’t as big of a deal as if I was in another province or the states. The Alberta schools are also pretty holistic, and I know tend to value an applicant’s overall activities over a perfect 4.0. It seemed rlly nice to me cos then if I do nursing school I’d have a guaranteed job in healthcare after undergrad and be applicable for a stream. Plus I feel like studying in a rural area would also help me in the future as an RN cause I’d have that background.

The only thing that has me questioning is what if I go there right and then even though I’d be eligible for the stream I obviously didn’t grow up there so what if since the other rural applicants have a better connection than me, if that puts me low on the rural list and then also since going rural would give me less opportunities than my peers staying here wouldnt that put me low on the regular stream too 😭. Though I know that since I’d be doing my BSN I’d be exposed to working with rural practitioners and the healthcare system in that area which could give me a leg up in my rural applications essay, and of course I’d be doing my best to involve myself in the community I’d move to bc I want to have a social life ourside of school and enjoy the place I’ll be in haha.

So realistically whats better, I stay in Edmonton, do a regular BSc and try to get opportunities here? Or get my BSN in a rural area and aim to be as successful in that in terms of academics and community involvement as I can?

I’m literally a Brown person but this always gets me. You’ll get people saying “I have the bluest whitest skin! I can’t be warm!!!”. It gives the vibes that they’re the same person who would look at any1 the color of a paper bag and say “no she’s warm! End of discussion! She’s so tan!”.

Baby, you can. It just comes off as weird to me the amount of times I’ll see this when a White person gets typed as warm, the idea of “noooooooooo I’m so pale trust me I’m NOT tan enough to be warm. My foundation is cool af!”

Baby I’m a deep autumn and the foundations that suit me are always neutral (as expected) AND neutral-cool. Neutral warm always runs too orange and yellow on me. And I’m a person that tends to get the “you’re exotic” comments cause I naturally have that medium skin tone that a lot of people tan to get so most people can assume I’m warm. Yk what people always also say to me? That my beat is flawless and ask what brand I be using. So clearly I know my match well.

Foundation isn’t reliable. I am olive, but even olive foundations can sometimes not match depending on the formulation because even as olives we all have different amounts of pheomelanin and eunmelanin. You very often cannot even see your undertone unless you drape. You’re not cool because you have the milkiest whitest skin possible. I’ve met albino women who were Light Springs and dark skinned woman who were clear as day Bright Winters.

The discussion of people’s actual surface colouring in colour analysis is far overstated. The drapes dont lie.