Lisa Arends study guides

Hi there, I'm also an ec student just about halfway through the concept exams. I haven't taken an exam in a long time but have recently started up again. I have only read good things about her notes on the different grps. There are several ec study grps on yahoo... you can find lots of notes in the "files" section. I hope this helps.

If you're going to buy notes off of ebay I'd only buy hers.

But like SandGram said, most of the notes that are selling on ebay are found free in yahoo groups in the files section.

A popular group is rnstudygroup. A few others are RNstudentsforum, allexcelsiornurses, and Excelsior_College_CPNE. They all tend to have similar information.

Lisa Arends also has a study group on yahoo that she invites you to if you buy one of her products.

I have actually purchased her notes from ebay. They follow the content guide and are very comprehensive and have a lot of extras to help with remembering things. I have found the notes on yahoo under the files to be kind of all over the place and not as detailed and comprehensive as hers but they are free so what can you say.

With that said. I have not relied on her notes alone to pass the exams. I may try that in the future but I'm worry that I might miss something.

I didnt read all the chapters. I'd by a second hand study guide. I prefer the Chancellors. I would print the content guide off of Excelsior's sight and then print the notes (Lisa's notes)and the SETH test from the yahoo group file. The only textbook I had was the Fundamentals of Nursing one.

1. I would compare the Notes and the Chancellor's guide with the Excelsior's content guide. If information was missing or incomplete then I would look for it in the textbook and update the notes.

2. Then I would read the Chancellor's guide one time and do the quizzes at the end of the chapters. Plus read and update the notes.

3.Then I'd take the SETH Test. Whether I got the answer right or wrong I would use the notes and the study guide to find the rationals. If I couldnt find a rational in my notes or the study guide I would look it up in the textbook and update the notes. I would then repeat the SETH test once or twice more until I had the answers and rationals practically memorized.

4. After that I would take the practice test in the back of the Chancellor's study guide. And just like the SETH test I would look up the rationals in my notes and my study guide. If information was missing, I'd find it in the text and update my notes. I would repeat the test until I had a good grip on the information.

5. By now you should have very good notes to review. I'd then read my notes and the study guide again. If you need more practice tests, Excelsior sells them.

6. In the end you should know the information pretty well. I would continue to read my notes periodically until I took the actual test.


Depending on the amount of information for the test, it would take me about 2 weeks to study. I made all As and Bs. I'm sure someone has an easier way. But this system worked for me. Good luck.

Has anyone passed the tests by using one or the other only? I got suckered into signing with Distance Learning Systems of Indiana(I DO NOT recommend them), but would like something else to study. DLS sends you one book per "tutorial" you are registered in. So needless to say, it takes me about 2 months for each "tutorial". I would like to knock out some of the the other classes while in these tutorials. Can you use these notes only and pass the excelsior exams? My background is that of a 911 Paramedic x4 years. Which system is better of the two?

To your question I haven't. But I can say in my review of both study materials, I would choose Studygroup101 over LisaArends ANYDAY. SG101 is more of a study guide rather than notes. And it prints up very well at Office Depot or Kinkos. They are very professional. But the do have some typos and grammatical errors, but still and all are the best I've seen including TCN and Chancellors. Their guides I will say are worth the ten bucks, although free is still my best friend.

Arends' notes are just notes.

Why not buy the texts and just do the reading the Excelsior study guide says to do? That's how I got through all of my classes.

I am using the Distance Learning Systems study material. It is just the condensed information from the text books. I would just rather not use the text books at all. That is one reason I paid all of this money. Each one of their books is still 200-400 pages depending on the class. I am more of less looking for a secondary study source and something I could possibly use to pass NC7. I have done NC1 and NC2. I am currently doing NC3.

As far as studygroup 101 and Lisa Arends notes, I am looking to see which is better. I do not want to purchase both sets.