I've been an LPN for 2 years now and also work agency with General Healthcare Resources. I want to get my RN but my husband is in school also for his RN so I have little choice but to do it online if I'm going to do it at all. I went to EC's website and created my EC account. Now what do I do ? How do I know what and how many classes/courses I must take to get my degree? Do I have to pay the $75 fee to apply just to find out if I have to take too many courses? I took a lot of prerequisites at local community college for the RN already.

Also, I cannot find out on my state board of nursing (PA) if they even accept EC degrees- do you know if they do?? I don't want to get into anything I cannot get out of (ie: TCN). Thanks

Kelly

I would like to know also, how much would it cost to go from LPN to RN with Excelsior?

If you can't find the info on the website, then call the PA BRN. You can also look on the EC website. They have this info there somewhere. Again, if you can't find it, then call an advisor at the school. You should write down all of your questions and talk to an advisor at the school. You can also do a lot of research on the distance learning forum here. Just about everything under the sun about EC has been discussed several times in several threads. There is a sticky at the top of the distance forum where you can start. You can pretty much guess that standard courses taken at your community college will be accepted at EC for general ed. You are right that they want to do an official evaluation before you do much else. But, before you enroll, you will want to obtain the study guide/outline for the first test and take it. You will most likely be exempt from the second test with your LPN license. You have to be enrolled before you take the third nursing test. You can get the study guide for the first test off the publications page. You might want to gather your resources too. Remember that in addition to the recommended texts, found in the study guide and listed on the EC bookstore link, you can buy used TCN, Rue, Chancellors study guides on ebay, if you choose. You can also find free info in the files sections of the EC groups on yahoo. Also, http://www.flashcardexchange.com, is a good, free reference. Hope you are able to get through the EC program with no problems. You can always post your questions here and get feedback from current and former students. Good luck.

I would like to know also, how much would it cost to go from LPN to RN with Excelsior?

There is a link on the Excelsior College website, http://www.excelsior.edu, that breaks down this info for students. You just have to look for the link. It has also been posted in threads here before.

I'm also from Pa. doing excelsior. They do accept excelsior grads without problems. I believe you can call excelsior and they will send you the info you need.

Kelly, the first thing you need to do is pay the $75 application fee and have official copies of all transcripts sent to Excelsior so that they can do your evaluation and tell you how many classes/credits you'll need -- that will give you a good starting point, so you'll know what you need without guesswork. In the meantime, you can download the first exam content guide from their publications page and start studying (on your "MyEC" page, click the link on the right-hand side called "FREE Examination Content Guides"). When you're ready to test, you'll create an account with Pearson VUE, pay for your exam, and take your exam. LPNs do not need to enroll until you are ready to take the third exam; you can skip the second. The first exam is "Essentials of Nursing Care: Health Safety." The third exam is "Essentials of Nursing Care: Chronicity."

I recommend downloading the nursing catalog from the publications page (https://www.excelsior.edu/Excelsior_College/My_Excelsior_College/Excelsior_College_Publications_Request) as well as the "2009-2010 Undergraduate Fee Schedule" for cost information.

Good luck, and welcome! :)

Lunah spelled it out for you! Also I wanted to add that EC has a great special if you super motiviated and can finish you nursing test in 12 months. Its called the "ADN option" Call the nursing department and they will give you more details. It cost $1550 dollars and can be split into 12 payments. Its a reall bargain when you break it down. Good luck and pay the $75 and send your transcripts sent!

Hi Lunah...you seem to know alot about Excelsior...I'm an LPN about to enroll. I only have to take a&p, micro and info lit along with the nursing portion. You mentioned in another post how you only have to enroll before your third test, did I understand you correctly? Does that mean I can take a&p and micro before enrolling or can I take all the gen ed courses and the first two nursing tests before enrolling? I only ask because I'm about to go on maternity leave and my husband just got laid off so I really can't afford the $875 enrollment fee right now. Any info you could sgare would be great. Thanks.

sistermaryangelina

The way you state it in your post is correct. You do not have to enroll until you plan to take the third nursing test. It is wise to complete all transfer-in classes and tests, as well as the first nursing exam, prior to enrolling to save money. Be sure that you look at the new package deal that EC is offering to people who do everything as fast as possible. This is another way to save a lot of money.

New to the site. Thinking of going the Excelsior route. If I pay $75 to be evaluated to find out what credits I need, then clep as many as I can before I enroll, do I have to pay $75 to be evaluated again? Is there a time frame between evaluation and enrollment period that I would have to comply with? I have been an LPN for 9 years and recieved it at a career tech center so I think I will require all of the gened credits. Any and all good advice will be greatly appreciated.

Heres an idea for you guys who want to know what credits you need---RUE and publishing companies such as it, have to review your transcripts to determine which modules to receive from them. I believe that they do this for free and you dont actually have to sign the contract until you know what youre "in for"--and of course dont sign the contract. Im not 100% sure if this is true or not, but it was just an idea that I thought of.

Felicia

PS-I went through (or am in contract with) RUE and they were spot on with their assessment of my credits. The only additional credit I needed was Info Lit (which I did through Penn Foster)

Felicia, I've heard that as well -- the publishing companies generally have a good idea of what will transfer. But if a person has to apply to EC and pay their application fee at some point, I'd recommend getting it directly from the source -- EC -- from the beginning. No third-party publisher can say for certain what will and will not transfer because they don't truly have a relationship with the school. Heck, you or I could probably look at the requirements and come up with a pretty good estimate of what anyone would need, if we had transcripts in one hand and the EC brochures in the other. Basically, college credits transfer, so things that were wrapped up into part of a vo-tech type of program probably won't transfer.

lojo534, after you've done had your unofficial eval from EC and you've established an account/student number, you can have CLEP send results directly to EC, and that way they'll receive them first-hand. Also, I enrolled more than 6 months after my initial application/evaluation, and they didn't make me do it over. But you're subject to whichever curriculum is actually in effect when you enroll, so if between the time of your initial application/evaluation and enrollment they decide to add a class or switch things up, you'll be subject to the new curriculum. (Not that I've heard they're changing anything ... they just did that last year, so I doubt they'd do it again anytime soon.)

You will not have to pay another $75. I enrolled in Excelsior about 1 1/2 years ago and then took my Gen Ed classes else where. I am now starting the actual nursing classes. Good luck