Which School is Right For You?

Finding the right college for you, as an individual, can be challenging, stressful, and rewarding all at the same time. There are a lot of factors that play into choosing YOUR college.

First, unless you're a super genius and/or have an incredible resume to begin with, you have a 0.05% chance of being accepted into the paramedic program at any community college (this is an estimate based on the 50 students that most colleges accept. This number is however variable due to the number of actual applicants!). Okay, take a deep breath! I am not saying this to try and deter you from applying or in any way attempting to squash your dreams. This is the hard reality of entering this competitive world. If becoming a paramedic is a passion and a dream, pursue it with everything you have! DO NOT let the statistics scare you away!

For me, returning to school for paramedicine was a crazy hard challenge, but SO worth it. As my previous post stated, becoming a paramedic was everything I ever wanted to do, but it was a journey. I have a lot of passions and I knew that I needed to explore different avenues before beginning my career. I will save the details of that chapter of my life for another post, IF YOU WANT TO READ IT (comment below)! After being away from the whole Biology and Chemistry world for over seven years, I knew that to get the grades I wanted I would need to take a refresher course. I looked into different options and found the Pre-Health option at Conestoga seemed to be the best option for me. My reasoning for this was if I were to take this certificate program through Conestoga, my chances of being accepted into their paramedic program would increase exponentially, which is true. What I was NOT told during all my questioning and research was that they would not take my grades from the Pre-health course as I would not be able to have my midterm marks submitted by February 1st. This was frustrating for me as I did not find this out until a week before the deadline for every community college in Ontario! Let's just say the week of midterms suddenly became a whole lot more stressful as I was calling around to different colleges and applying like crazy! When you're 25 and returning to school, TIME matters! My cousin (who is a supervisor with Niagara Emergency Services) recommended a private college. I was super hesitant at first, as I knew the reputation of a lot of the private college paramedic programs within hiring services is super low. However, upon further research and talking with different people I knew, within the paramedic services, I felt confident in sending my application into Ontario College of Health and Technology.

The month of March was crazy busy! It consisted of driving around to different colleges, taking their entrance exams, and getting all my paperwork together. I knew deep down that everything would work out, but leaving my full time job to come back to school was a huge deal and I needed to make sure I was doing everything right. Making hasty decisions just because you want something SO BAD, is never the right choice! Always make decisions your future self will thank!

I will never forget the day I drove down to Stoney Creek to meet with the dean of OCHT for my interview. I was so nervous! The interview went really well and I knew walking out of the school that day that I would 100% be coming back, KNOWING that I would have the support I needed to start this program! ALSO, I would be able to complete one semester early if chose OCHT over a community college. The cost and time commitment would prove to be the hardest challenge, but I wouldn't trade my education experience for anything!

I was approximately half way through my first semester at OCHT when the invites for all the other schools started to come in. However, I knew I had made the best choice for me! I am in no way trying to knock other schools, they might be right for you! For me, the small classroom environment was exactly what I needed. The instructors were always ready and willing to sit down with me and answer any questions or go over any theories I wanted to discuss/debate.

The paramedic program is intense. You need to find the school that is right for you, that will be able to give you the support that YOU need! You are allowed to be selective, this is the REST of your life you are planning! I guarantee you will have hard days, stressful weeks, months you will go without much social interaction, but believe me, your FUTURE self will thank you! #noregrets