Hello Guys
I've honestly never hold a grudge with anyone or anyplace. I've never written a bad review about any location. The fact that I'm going to warn you guys about this place called CNI is a miracle to even me. Here is my experience and what I've learned about this school.
Backstory
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Like many I was desperately looking for a BSN or ADN program to start my life on the right track, I went to West Coast University and it was way too expensive. I heard about CNI through a friend that was going to start their LVN program but dropped out due to a job offering to good to pass up. After seeing they had been barely approved by the Board of Nursing I hurried to make an appointment and meet with them to see if this school was for me.
Arriving At CNI and the journey to my enrollment
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CNI seemed like a wonderful place especially with their young and attractive counselors there to guide you through the process. (Seriously all the counselors were below 30 and weren't ugly) We got a counselor who was cheerful and told us everything about the program and how they didn't have a waitlist and so forth. Seemed so good that me and my girlfriend decided to go ahead and attend this school. First they make you pay a 100 application fee ( in there contract it states it should be 75). They will then have you get a physical, drug test , and a background check. If you attend the facilities they provide to do your physical and drug test everything comes out to about 127 dollars, that is including the background check you do online. After you pass your test you meet with the Dean of Nursing that gives you an interview (EASIEST INTERVIEW EVER JUST TALK TO HER AND YOU WILL MAKE IT IN AT THIS POINT). On the spot she will tell you that you have been accepted, she says this because she knows you got approved for a loan or can pay the ridiculous tuition 59,000. The reason i state she only accepts due to the fact you can pay the tuition is because in their handbook it stated that we are accepted based on our High School/College GPA, volunteer experience and so forth that add up to points, DON never asked for my high school transcript or college transcripts. ALSO CNI didn't let anyone transfer anything from community colleges or Universities. ( ALERT!!!!!!!!!! SCHOOL FOR PROFIT)
Orientation
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After getting approved to start the program we had to attend a 7 hour orientation to sign paperwork at the school. The orientation took place the last friday before class started next week. CNI had us sign a ridiculous amount of papers, the ones that made me feel uncomfortable and made me go what the heck were the ones were you give up your rights to a lawyer if there is any lawsuit versus the school and have to do arbitration, and the acknowledgement of the security cameras they have placed almost everywhere (except the bathrooms). After signing everything you are free to go after the DON gives her speech. Funny thing is before we signed papers the directors all came into class (they looked like they didn't even want to be there) and told us generic welcome cr!p. Made me feel welcomed but their facial expression and body language spoke the truth about them.
Class
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On our first day of class we met our anatomy and physiology professor, and right off the bat the don and professor started bumping heads. The professor didn't want to introduce himself while the don was there, so he waited for her to leave. After the Don spoke she had us use our new laptops to register with pearson online for our classes. The process of registration took about 3 hours because of the ************ internet they provided. After the DON of the school left our proffessor told us he doesn't like following the schools procedure and he will do anything in his power to satisfy our expectations of the class, he then continues to start his lectures. Most of our professors lectures were from the powerpoint, he was literally just reading the power point and asking random question. The professor would ask questions that when students answered he would laugh and just keep walking and saying anyone else. After our first class was over a couple of students went to tell the DON that they didn't like their professor.
Next time we met for class we had microbiology and it was the same professor teaching it, and again we had to watch our professor read through the power points for 8 hours( included breaks). A couple of students after class approached me and told me that the professor didn't believe we should have anatomy and microbiology together, that it was too much. The professor voiced his opinion and what happened next was expected.
The next time we had anatomy we had a brand new professor, and our old professor had gone. It was a surprise to many of us but many were pleased about the change until our new professor started talking. None of the lecture made sense to anyone, everyone agreed that they learned more through reading the book than the lectures.
Personally I don't care if my professors sucks or not, I learn the best reading through the book.
Time came to take microbiology and we met in the lab they had just built. We had a new teacher for Microbiology that was the MRI Teacher for the MRI Tech Program CNI offers. The new microbiology professor didn't even make sense as well, he just taught straight through the power point. When we would have our breaks I would ask most of my classmates if they understood most of what was being talked about and many responded with no, that the lectures were horribly done. Who can learn from a professor who just reads the power point? Many students asked questions and he would answer a few of them wrong, I know this because my friends in the class would google the answers and find the opposite of what he said. Microbiology in the 2nd week was the worst class yet, especially because we had to sit on those lab chairs you see in high school for 3 hours straight. I went to the DON to let her know this was torture and she just said she would take it as feedback. DON what was the point of having us have lecture in a lab if we weren't even going to be doing LAB HOURS. In my 2 weeks there we had no LAB, just pure lecture.
Discovering the schools was offering a dead end Degree and lying to my face.
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During one of my breaks of my microbiology class one of my fellow classmates came up to me to show me a message a West Coast Counselor had left her. (They were friends)
The counselor stated that the school wasn't regionally acreddited and that none of the classes taken there would transfer anywhere, he also went on to state various information on how hospitals will only be accepting BSN starting 2015 and that it will get harder for ADN'S to even find work. After hearing the message I got scared and that same day me and my classmates( 2 of them) decided to go ahead and call hospitals and schools to see if this was true. All the hospitals and schools verified the information was true. Me and my girlfriend went up to the DON and she said it was a lie that most hospitals were hiring adn's and that it was in 2020 not 2015 when the change would take place. We heard from hospitals that most of the ADN nurses had to go back to school and get their bsns. I got so mad and furious at the idea that the school was charging me 59,000 for a dead end degree and lied to me in my face when asked if I could transfer my credits from the school or if the hospitals didn't want anymore adn's. I and 3 of my classmates decide to drop the next day after verifying all the information.
Dropping my Enrollment.
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On the 2nd week on friday me and my girlfriend decided to drop our enrollment at CNI. We talked to the DON to see if she wouldn't lie to our faces one more time about transferring credits etc, she avoided most of the questions and had us talk to the main financial aid advisor about certain things. The FA guy pretty much took our questions and the funny thing was that he was saying different answers to the same questions we had asked the DON. One of the questions was that if we had to come back to CNI for three more months after graduating before we would be allowed to take our nclex exam to get our RN License, he said yes the DON said no. On the contract it states that we have to stay for an additional time to complete our nclex prep before we are allowed to take the nclex. We asked various other things and the answers didn't add up. I finally just decided enough was enough and told them I'm dropping my enrollment. We wrote letters to financial aid explaining why we were dropping. The whole time through the dropping process my counselor and the don made us feel guilty. Our counselor told us how she was disappointed on us, and that other people from the waitlist could of gotten in and so forth. (Word between the workers at CNI was that they barely even got enough people to fill up the class) My counselor gave me a lecture on many things trying to convince me to stay but most of the time she was on the offensive. My girlfriend and me were shocked on how everyone's behavior completely turned around. Finally we signed our agreement to drop from the school and the main FA advisor told us we couldn't return any of the books that we would have to pay for them. On the contract we signed agreeing to our enrollment it stated that if we would drop or cancel that any books handed out wouldn't be returnable but there was another contract we signed that stated that if we returned the items in good condition we would be allowed to return them. I also stated various other things in their handbook and contracts that didn't add up and contradicted each other. Pretty much they told me to come back Wednesday to talk to the director about the whole thing.
Conclusion
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Long story short the school didn't charge me a dime and I felt so relieved I would be paying for a few hours and most of my supplies. We returned all our items wrote a letter stating we returned all the books and were allowed to leave. I felt so relieved leaving that I wouldn't be attending this school that I went out to celebrate.(SERIOUSLY)
CNI is a school if all you want is an ADN Degree. Sadly most nurses to be even competitive in california and have a chance at landing a job will need to have a BSN or some type of connection to find work. The school advertised that they would help you find work, but many students who have graduated from the LVN program state that they never ever received a call back from them when they asked for help. The DON when confronted with questions would carefully word her answers to the point she wouldn't answer your question, she would also misinform you on various matters going on in the Nursing world just to make sure you don't drop or cancel your enrollment. The education is horrible, they do not provide good professors who know the material well, if you were to read the book it would make more sense than them reading a powerpoint for 8 hours a day. I have never spoken bad about a school because the experience you get from it is all up to you, but being lied to misinformed on purpose and put down is never a good experience. Please people do your research when coming to this school, do not trust the employees and remember this in my experience here, this school just cares about the money.
If you guys have any questions let me know.
I am just doing it the right way and attending a university to get my bsn.
If you guys have any experience I would also love to hear them.
*This story is based on my experience at the school. In no way am I trying to slander the school or make up lies. I'm a straight A student and was the most excited to start the program. The 4 people who dropped were the people who formed study groups and groups to help everyone in the class with the material.
Thanks for Reading and hopefully my bad grammar doesn't confuse you all.M
