LPN-RN EC pre-req questions??

Nursing Students Excelsior

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Hello. I have been lurking the boards for the past month gathering information regarding a LPN-RN program. I have learned a lot from your threads, so first of all THANK YOU =)

Secondly, I am taking my first steps into doing the EC program. I have submitted my transcripts and have received the "unofficial" transcript summary. I am lacking A&P, Micro and Psych. I have seen on the boards that tothers have "CLEP" out of these courses. Question 1, was that through EC? I have also read where folks are directed to "straightliner.com". Question 2, is this the most cost efficient route? Question 3, are study guides given to prepare for exams? Question 4, what study materials would be recommended for these 3 courses? Question 5, how much study time should one give themselves prior to scheduling the exam?

I am a single mother of 3 kiddos, work fulltime and juggle the kids' extracurricular activities. I need something that is managable and cost efficient in order to not have to retake exams. I cannot budget for failure. I have never done any sort of independent study, and at times can be a proscastinator. However, I need to get this done sooner rather than later. So once i officially start there is no holding back. Any advice or expertise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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

Welcome to allnurses! I moved your post to the EC-specific forum (Excelsior College Online Nursing Degrees - Nurses / Nursing Students).

I used CLEP in place of EC's sociology and lifespan development psych requirements. You can find CLEP information here: Get Started With CLEP | CLEP. The CLEP exams are less expensive than EC exams, generally speaking. However, there aren't CLEP exams for A&P or Micro. I think others have used straighterline.com for A&P, but I'm not 100% sure about that -- I did A&P and Micro through EC.

EC provided exam content guides that outline the material on the test, and these guides do suggest textbooks. A lot of students have used notes from studygroup101.com as well as Saunders NCLEX-RN review guides to supplement their studies. How you schedule your exams is up to you ... I found that scheduling my exam gave me a deadline to work with, which kept me focused. I didn't (and don't) have kids, though. You sound busy! :)

Good luck!! There is a ton of info here, feel free to poke around and ask questions.

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Thank you for your response. On the CLEP website there are 3 psych courses would I choose the Intro to Psych?

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

I'm not sure which ones EC is accepting these days -- I did the program in 2008. You should probably email/speak with an advisor.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

For Clep: I took Intro to Psych, Intro to Sociology and Human Growth & Development. The HGD was for their Life Span Development Requirement. The other two were Humanities and Social Sciences.

For Straighterline: I did English I/II, Biology, Chem with Lab, Macroeconomics, Business Communications and a bunch of others.

My A/P were thru Edukan.

My Micro was thru EC via exam, used Micro Demystified and VangoNotes from Audible for the Micro Textbook that EC uses.

I doubt I could have passed Biology and Chem via clep. I did the monthly thing at Straighterline for $99 and each course then cost me $39, finished English I & II in one month along with Macro and Algebra. I was working on these for many hours a day. In total, I finished a ton of S/L courses in 2-3 months. Loved the format and ease of use. Highly recommended it!

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Nervous1: Thanks for your input!

I forgot to mention I also need the Information Literacy is that best to go through EC?

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Specializes in Cardiac.

NOOOOOOOO! Get approval from EC to use Penn Foster's Info Lit, its only $115 and very, very easy! EC's class is like $300 or more,

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Specializes in LTC.

It's $80 until the end of March with Penn Foster.

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So I just earned the easiest A ever with Penn Foster for Info Lit. The cost was $70, thanks for the tip! If only all online courses/exams were that easy. l0l

With the CLEP exams, the process is to purchase the study guide, study, schedule/pay for exam and be done?

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Schedule/Pay then study or vice versa...whatever floats your boat. I like to schedule ahead of time to keep me on track. I did minimal study for CLEPS and DSSTs since most area pass or fail in EC's eyes, or at least the ones I took were.

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I am just starting the EC program too! I have my first Clep test tomorrow at 3 for developmental pysch. I plan to Clep American Lit next. Will let you guys know how things go. I am nervous, but excited!!

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