Just popping on the board to say hello to all the new and current EC students. I graduated about 18 month ago through EC's bridge program, and i know there have been some changes with additions of online courses, and gen eds. Just wanted to say that you can do this program if you put your mind to it! =)
A few suggestions from a past grad:
1. download the free content guide/syllabus from EC and USE it
2. buy the practice exams and USE them! =) for each exam you are going to take
3. set up a schedule of sorts on a BIG calendar so that you will stay on track. If you goal is to finish an exam every 3-4 weeks, take the content guide and mark off how many days you will allot to each section for studying. If life gets in the way, re-adjust your schedule but use due diligence to stay on track.
4. Scheduled your exam AS SOON AS YOU PAY FOR IT, to give yourself an "end date" to be done with that "class". For instance, I would pay for an exam on the 1st of the month and schedule my exam for 3-4 wks later. That time in between i would mark on my content guide what areas needed to be read/studied on M, W, and F and when I would move on to the next section.
5. Keep telling yourself everyday that YOU CAN DO THIS, YOU WERE MADE FOR THIS, positive self talk goes a long way.
6. check Facebook, Allnurses and other sites for current students and make friends. I have 5 girls i'm super close with now through social networking and we all graduated withing months of each other!
7. Never let your dreams die, even if you have a setback: family, work, sickness etc...pick up and start at suggestion 1 all over again. Things happen, I failed LS3 twice and it was my last exam. I almost gave up, but i just started the process over and dug my heals in, passed the THIRD try with an A! =) There will always be set backs but anyone can work through them, roll with it and before long you will graduated!!!!
As for me, I immediately enrolled into the BSN program at Excelsior and will finish in December this year. I am in the process of applying to and awaiting provisional acceptance to MSN schools for Family Nurse Practitioner. I have NO debt from my AAS degree by paying for each test as I went, and was offered and took a job making 60K after obtaining my RN license. I have some websites of 3rd party help with the nursing exams and cpne exam if you want them, just PM me. I feel very confident about my education and I truly am proud to say I'm an Excelsior Graduate for AAS and can't wait to say how proud I am to be a graduate of Excelsior for BSN! =)
