concorde career institute (college) jacksonville fl

34914 · Jul 25, 2010

Hello,

I am interested in associate rn degree at Concorde Career Institute in Jacksonville. Can anyone share their personal experience in this program?

frogger32091 · Jul 25, 2010

anyone ?

Not sure if you have found your nursing school, but most of the ones in Jacksonville that I have looked into require that you take general education classes first then you can apply for the nursing program. However, there is Keiser University and Virgina College that both allow you to take a simple Teas test to enroll. If you pass the test with the marks that they require then you are able to enroll in the course. Of course this is for an AS in nursing and you would get your RN license after you graduate. Virgina College (where I plan to attend for my nursing school) runs about 5,500 per semester but that includes everything you need for the course, books, tuition, uniforms, and lab fees. The only things not included are the stethoscope and shoes. Keiser runs almost 8,000 a semester with a $25 uniform fee and an average of $600 a semester for books. I also perfered Virgina over Keiser because Keiser has their ciriculum set up so that you take one class every month. To mee that sounded a little difficult to finish an entire course in just 30 days. Virgina is set up that you take 3 to 4 classes each semester, and have more time to actually learn the information not just memorize it to pass a test. Both schools though offer several different types of finacial aid to help you pay for your schooling. I liked Virgina's finacial aid better because on top of scholarships, grants, and loans, they also offer a work study program at the school. With you having children, you should qualify for a Pell Grant to help pay at least a portion of your tuition. If you do not like either of these schools, you can go to the local work source office by you and they can give you a complete list of all the schools in Jacksonville that offer the specific nusing program that you are seeking. I know that if you are looking to become a CNA, you can attend Affordable Training for around $800 and it takes 6 weeks to complete the course. You then have the option to add Home Health Aid to your CNA licence and can take that 4 week course for about $400 or so. It is the cheapest CNA training that I have found. As for LPN schools, I am not sure about those. I know that there are some schools that do offer those courses, but not many. I hope that this has helped you, or someone else find a school in Jacksonville that fits exactly what they are looking for. Good luck with your studies. (Oh and a side note, Virgina College just started offering the RN nursing program here in Jacksonville at the beginning of this year 2010, so it is not on their website for Jacksonvile yet, but they have been offering the program at other locations for several years now.)

34914 · Jul 25, 2010

Thank you so much for that information. How long is either program?

patientlywaitinagain · Jul 25, 2010

Hello,
I am interested in associate rn degree at Concorde Career Institute in Jacksonville. Can anyone share their personal experience in this program?

For Concorde: You first have to set up an appointment with a counselor to get all basic information about the program. If you think the program is right for you, then you will be asked to take the Wonderlic test. After you pass the Wonderlic, you will take the TEAS Version V test. If you meet the required score, you will then be eligible for enrollment. You will need your HS diploma and official college transcript (if any) to be evaluated by Financial aid. Your counselor will explain all to you.

It is roughly $40K for the whole program which will take 15 months if everything goes well. It includes everything but your shoes and basic school supplies. I have heard that this program is very accelerated and students do fail and have to repeat if they cannot cope with the pace. From the way it sounds, you will have to have pure dedication and very little distraction. Classes are fulltime during days. Working while going to school might not be a great thing specially if you have a family. Goodluck!

34914 · Jul 27, 2010

Patientlywaitingagain,

Thanks for the info, very helpful. I have schedule an appointment and I was told to prepare to take the TEAS Exam. Can you give me an idea what the exam was like? I took some practice questions, but I am sooo outdated and did not do so well on those. Can a calculator be used?

TimelyLPN · Nov 6, 2010

I'm not sure that their first RN class has graduated yet, but I did do the LPN program with them and graduated 12/2007. I can't say that I agreed with the way that they delivered the information for us to learn but I can say that when I got my first job as an LPN I was confident that I knew what I was doing and to me that's PRICELESS! I have been in situations "on the job" where I was the only one that knew what to do and had to instruct the "RN". Don't get me wrong I'm not bragging I just feel like the education I got prepared me to do an exceptional job and it was worth every penny.

I can't afford to do another expensive program or sit in class again from 8a-2p which is why I did not sign up for their RN program but if I coulda I woulda...lol Right now I'm doing the LPN to RN program at Excelsior College and I love it! Everything I learned at Concorde I'm reviewing with Excelsior, I don't think I would have been able to do Excelsior's program if I did not have my Concorde education. So, I could only imagine how prepared they are making the RN students (Im jealous). EVERYWHERE you go people are going to have an opinion about "whatever" but it is up to you to do the research and make the decision that is RIGHT 4 U!!! If I could do it again I would not have waited so long to go to Concorde but whats done is done and I'm happy with what I got.

I hope this helped, you can always PM me if you have other questions.