unitek college

I agree with everyone above, Unitek is NOT worth the money.. I know alot of people that went that route and have not passed the boards, could not keep up with the pace, didn't like the teachers.. I mean the list goes on.

I know exactly how you feel about wanting to get in and get out but you have to weigh out the options, do you get want to get in and get out and have a possibility of passing the boards or do you want to get a solid foundation of nursing education?

I know the wait times are horrible, the lottery system sucks but you get an solid foundation, a good education that will set you apart from the rest when you job hunting. I'm a single parent, an immigrant to this country, english is my second language, it took me 5yrs to get all of my RN pre-reqs done, while working full time, 3yrs of waiting to get into a program, gave up, reapplied into a LVN program got accepted the first time, I will graduate with my LVN in December and then will do the LVN-BSN program thru ISU.

The other thing you have to look at the state of our economy, there are NO new grad RN positions anywhere, most of the hospitals are on hiring freezes unless of course you have 2-3yrs+ experience.

I would really think about all the options available to you, taking pre-reqs for the LVN are program online, they are not as many as RN, do the LVN program thru JC then do LVN-BSN- yes it will take you alittle longer, but there are really no short-cuts on becoming a Nurse, you have to pay for it somewhere rather pay in time now than get out in the field and not know what you are doing.

Good Luck with whatever you decided.

Check out St. Francis Career College in San Jose off of Story Rd. They have a really good LPN program, and a 100% pass rate for the boards (can't go wrong there can you?) Their only pre-requisites (which you can either do before or during the program) are general psychology and human growth and development (or its sometimes called human development) which can easily be taken online or on campus from a community college.

I could not agree with you more..Boston Reed has done nothing but cause me headache and problems! I am so disgusted with them. They have some great staff I will admit. But some of there teachers that teach the actual class have no idea what they are doing. I am sure they are great nurses but teaching is a whole different world. Some of the admin staff from Boston Reed is very rude and un-professional I have found. So its hard to actually file a formal complaint when its one of the higher-ups. I am glad though that some people have had better times there than I.

I went to Unitek and I do think it's worth it because I couldn't stand the waiting lists at regular colleges. I finished all my prereqs and just got sick of waiting to get into an RN program. I definitely recommend you doing your prereqs at a regular college and then going to an LPN program and then you are free to enter the RN program whenever you like.

I think there's alot of valuable information from everyone that posted, what I want to mention is that I am going to graduate from LVN school in about 3weeks, I went to our local JC college.. I was originally an RN major but because of the "stupid" lottery system ended up waiting 3yrs before applying for the LVN program.

I currently work as a Medical Assistant - the year before i started LVN program my annual income was $47k, the program is 3semesters long, it didn't cost as much as the private schools do - however I had to go part-time - so for those of you looking at the money that you will invest think about this;- this year working part time my annual income was barely $29k that is a whooping $18k drop of income, so yeah the JC college program is not expensive but if you break it down it actually cost me $20k.

I graduate in 3weeks and luckily for me I went into an agreement with my manager that once I will be done, I can work full time again, so looking at what it will cost you is scary.. but I honestly feel that it's worth the money whichever route you take especially if you have alot of working years.. and if especially if you are still young.

I mentioned before that it took me 5yrs to get all my pre-reqs done, 3yrs of waiting, 1.5yrs doing the LVN and then another 3yrs to get my RN ( I will be doing the ISU program) thats alot of years - whereas had I paid like I see some my co-workers or friends they are almost done and some are even graduating from RN school this year..

So you really have to look at ALL of your options, don't worry about the money as much as getting into a good school.. and there is no price on education.

Wish you all the best and good luck in making the right choice because I know it's not easy!