Excelsior LPN to RN

Nursing Students Excelsior

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Hello Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone is currently taking the Excelsior LPN to RN ... and how goes it??!!

I'm not sure of this program, but I thought I would bite the bullet & try to pass the 1st of the 7 exams required.

I am also wondering why it is that you do not have to enroll to take the 1st two exams - Health Safety & Transition? Are they easier than the 5 remaining exams, and is this their way of getting you to take the worm? Or, are they harder than the 5 remaining exams - which would "weed out" the serious from those who aren't?

Thank you!

Helper-T.

Is there anyone familiar with the company THE COLLEGE NETWORK? Ive been approached by their rep that tells me by going through them they will give you condensed material to study that is on Excelsiors exams instead of all the articles and other material you have to read in order to study for tests. I was also told that Excelsior is a regionally accredited school , which means that your credits are accepted by the "real" colleges when you go to transfer for your BSN, IS that true? Iam so afraid at this time, Iam so not sure whether to go this route Online School or the traditional class room, I do want to obtain my RN degree as quickly and and with the least amount of debt as I can, but I don't want it to be in vain, Please someone give me some advice!!!!

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Is there anyone familiar with the company THE COLLEGE NETWORK? Ive been approached by their rep that tells me by going through them they will give you condensed material to study that is on Excelsiors exams instead of all the articles and other material you have to read in order to study for tests. I was also told that Excelsior is a regionally accredited school , which means that your credits are accepted by the "real" colleges when you go to transfer for your BSN, IS that true? Iam so afraid at this time, Iam so not sure whether to go this route Online School or the traditional class room, I do want to obtain my RN degree as quickly and and with the least amount of debt as I can, but I don't want it to be in vain, Please someone give me some advice!!!!

The College Network sells expensive study guides & is not affiliated with Excelsior.

If you don't want much debt I would look into colleges & universities in your state. Stay away from degree mills like ITT Tech where you will have nothing but debt after you graduate. Good luck.

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Is there anyone familiar with the company THE COLLEGE NETWORK? Ive been approached by their rep that tells me by going through them they will give you condensed material to study that is on Excelsiors exams instead of all the articles and other material you have to read in order to study for tests. I was also told that Excelsior is a regionally accredited school , which means that your credits are accepted by the "real" colleges when you go to transfer for your BSN, IS that true? Iam so afraid at this time, Iam so not sure whether to go this route Online School or the traditional class room, I do want to obtain my RN degree as quickly and and with the least amount of debt as I can, but I don't want it to be in vain, Please someone give me some advice!!!!

You should be able to find plenty of threads and posts regarding TCN on this site. In general, best to stay away from them. If you want their study guides, look on ebay where you can find them for sale for $10 - $20, rather than the $600+ in the TCN contract that the salesman will attempt to get you to sign.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Telemetry.

Excelsior NO. Local BSN program, yes.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Telemetry.
I'm curious, I'm currently in the LPN-RN bridge in my college. This school seems kinda fishy. Where's your clinical experience? 2-3 days for a clinical practical and then boards? Wow.

DON'T DO IT. DO NOT GO TO EXCELSIOR COLLEGE. GO TO A TRADITIONAL BSN PROGRAM: I tell you from experience, please go to a traditional BSN program. In the long run you will save yourself time and money and you will get a much better education that will be more accepted by employers and the community. The College Network is not a college, its just a publishing company with hell of a marketing scheme and has NO affiliation with Excelsior College. They will charge you thousands of dollars for their materials and they are not quality materials anyway. At least Excelsior College has textbooks for all of their course that are the actual text books used by the other comparable colleges. Excelsior is actually a good school, but your credits will not be accepted for transfer to some other colleges and universities. Some state boards do not accept Excelsior and will not license those nurses. When I saw Melissa Nave's story on youtube all I could do was cry. And I'll tell you something else, most of the hospitals are starting to phase out associate degree nursing, regardless of the school its obtained from and will only hire BSN. Even RN jobs outside of the hospital are starting to only hire BSNs. Why waste your time and money on a degree that most likely won't be marketable. My story is not quite as bad as Melissa's, but bad enough. I live in upstate NY and none of the hospitals would hire me with my Excelsior Associates Degree RN. Now they won't hire associate degree nurses from any school and its getting like that everywhere. I got into a hospital because I worked for a temp agency there as an LPN, the manager on that unit liked my work, found out I was an RN, pulled some strings and hired me as an RN (this was before they stopped accepting all ADN nurses). I was excellent at what I did. She was a wonderful manager and person, but they fired her at the end of the year because her boss wanted to give her best friend the job. My new manager was very catty, set me up every chance she got and set out to ruin my nursing career along with a brand new doctor who made many dangerous mistakes who hated me for not fitting into his click. Together they made my life a living hell. The hospital put more and more work on us and unsafe patient loads and began harassing all of us nurses like you wouldn't believe. The horizontal violence became too much along with the physical and mental stress of the job and I left that hostile environment. I had to think about my license and my own well being. So after all these years do I want to work in a hospital? No. They can kiss my ass. I know the kind of RN and person I am and I sure as hell deserve and can do better than that. So can you. Just get your BSN. Do a hospital for a year or two and then go outside to something else. Just get in with your BSN, get your experience and get out. Nursing is a beast. You just have to know how to tame it.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Telemetry.

What I say might not sound nice. But one thing I will do is tell you the truth like I wish someone would have told me years ago. You want the truth about a school, talk to its students and graduates. You may get different stories, but you will get it straight. If you want me to add a little sugar, I could, but that may not necessarily give you all the tools you need to make an informed decision.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

EC2010RN, I am sorry you had a bad experience. EC was a great program for me. I was hired directly into an ED, went back for a BSN, and commissioned into the Army Nurse Corps. I am now working on an MSN-FNP. None of this would have been possible without EC at the beginning.

By the way, EC fought hard (and prevailed) to get its graduates the ability to endorse RN licenses into the state of Maryland. That nurse you reference would have been eligible for licensure when the rules changed a couple of years ago.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, OR, ICU.

EC was a great program for me as well. It requires a great amount of independence and motivation but I truly enjoyed it and glad I choose that route. Didn't find it nearly expensive as others I looked into. has accepted several credits I obtained through EC. No issues with licensure nor employers.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Telemetry.
Is there anyone familiar with the company THE COLLEGE NETWORK? Ive been approached by their rep that tells me by going through them they will give you condensed material to study that is on Excelsiors exams instead of all the articles and other material you have to read in order to study for tests. I was also told that Excelsior is a regionally accredited school , which means that your credits are accepted by the "real" colleges when you go to transfer for your BSN, IS that true? Iam so afraid at this time, Iam so not sure whether to go this route Online School or the traditional class room, I do want to obtain my RN degree as quickly and and with the least amount of debt as I can, but I don't want it to be in vain, Please someone give me some advice!!!!

Oh am I? I am so familiar with this company. DON'T DO IT. The College Network is NOT a college at all, its just a publishing company with hell of a marketing scheme and has "NO" affiliation with Excelsior College. They will charge you thousands of dollars for their materials and they are not quality materials anyway. At least Excelsior College has textbooks for all of their courses that are the actual text books used by the other comparable colleges. If you do go the Excelsior route, using the books in the study guides for each exam that comes directly from Excelsior College bookstore along with its online conferences, and practice exams will give you the best possible grade, give you a wealth of knowledge and critical thinking skills, give you excellent prep for the boards, and at the same time you'll save yourself thousands of dollars. On the other hand, Excelsior College itself also has some risks. Its a good school and is accredited, but unfortunately there are a lot of bad factors that outweigh the good. There is a clinical performance exam at the end that is highly subjective and may not test you fairly. You can only fail this exam 2 times. Some of the best nurses and students fail this exam because of its high subjectivity. Some of the clinical examiners are extremely rude and unprofessional. On the 3rd failure, they dismiss you from the program and fail you for the entire program and all the money and time you put into the program is lost. Excelsior is much harder than a traditional program. Even its prereques are considerably harder. Your credits from Excelsior may not always be accepted for transfer to other colleges and universities. The associates degree in nursing from Excelsior is not accepted by some employers and now a lot of employers are not accepting associate degree nurses from any school. Some state boards of nursing do not accept Excelsior and will not license us. What may seem quicker and easier may not always be the best option. So overall, your best option may be to go straight through an on campus acredited traditional BSN program.

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Specializes in Nsg. Ed, Infusion, Pediatrics, LTC.

Excelsior graduate from NY here... I had no issues being hired onto a local hospital's Med/Surg floor right after I passed the NCLEX. My Excelsior credits transferred to a local, private four year university where I obtained my Bachelor's degree. Right now, I teach nursing at the vocational level, and I'm currently in graduate school. Excelsior is pretty well regarded in my geographical location.

I'm sorry to hear your story but it's not the norm, at least where I'm from.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Only one state board of nursing refuses to license Excelsior grads...California. The other 50 will license EC grads now if not by examination then by endorsement with documented paid RN experience or a clinical preceptorship.

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Excelsior RN grad here. It was the only program that allowed me to pursue an awesome career as a travel nurse and go back to school seamlessly. I took exams in Texas, Philadelphia, and Florida with my CPNE in Wisconsin. All of this for less than 6k and I got into several RN-BSN programs with no problem.

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